_Dirk van Delen_ (Dutch: 1607-1673).
This painter was born at Heusden. He lived at Arnemuiden in
Zealand, of which town he was burgomaster. He worked also at
Haarlem, Delft, and Antwerp.
A picture by a rare master--interesting to students of the history
of architectural taste. In 992 we are shown the struggle between the
old Gothic style and the new Renaissance architecture; here we see
the full victory of the latter. Dirk van Delen loved to depict the
costly and variegated marbles on splendid palaces in the style of the
late Renaissance. He will not be defrauded, even by considerations of
distance, of any of his details, and every statue and ornament is shown
us as minutely as if it were on the level of the eye. The classical
style has pervaded too the fountain; note the gilt bronze group of
Hercules and the Hydra.