_Jan Siberechts_ (Flemish: 1627-1703).
It is very fitting that this painter, whose works in
Continental galleries are rare, should be represented in ours;
for it was the Duke of Buckingham, who brought him into
vogue. Passing through Antwerp, the Duke was attracted by his
work, and took him in his train to England, where, according
to Walpole, he was much employed by the aristocracy. "Among
the landscapes of the Flemish school," says an enthusiastic
critic (A. J. Wauters), "there is not one of whom we think more
highly. If his colouring lacks the brilliancy and the soft
transparency of the tones of Rubens, it offers others both
rare and unexpected at a time when the Flemish landscape was
yet enslaved by conventional laws. Sieberechts boldly met the
difficulties offered by open-air scenes and foreshadowed the
daring colouring attempted by modern realism. His landscapes
are true pastorals. He understood the art of giving his
farm-girls and hinds real attitudes, taken from life; and how
to make the various hues of vermilion and silver, blue and
yellow of their costumes harmonise boldly together, which makes
his works so charming, and gives them such a free and entirely
personal character."