_Godfried Schalcken_ (Dutch: 1643-1706).
Schalcken was probably a pupil of Gerard Dou (see 192), whose
delicate finish he sought to rival. "But the smooth, polished
surface of his works is unpleasant, and the labour bestowed
upon them is too obvious" (Burton). He spent the greater part
of his life at Dort, but he was employed for some time in
England by King William III. In addition to his _genre_ pieces,
Schalcken painted numerous portraits, and also attempted sacred
subjects. He especially excelled in pictures of candle-light.
A picture in illustration of a Latin poem, as befits a painter whose
father was headmaster of a Latin school (at Dort). Lesbia is weighing
jewels against her sparrow, which she loved better even than her own
eyes--
Mourn, every Venus, every Love!
Gallants gay, mourn every one!
My darling had a favourite dove,
That she did prize
As her own eyes--
Her dove is dead and gone.
G. R., from _Catullus_, iii.