Everything that came from his pencil was precious, even in his
life-time. Houbraken says that his great patron, Mr. Spiering the
banker, allowed him one thousand guilders a year, and paid besides
whatever sum he pleased to ask for his pictures, some of which he
purchased for their weight in silver; but Sandrart informs us, with more
probability, that the thousand guilders were paid to Douw by Spiering on
condition that the artist should give him the choice of all the pictures
he painted. The following description of one of Gerhard's most capital
pictures, for a long time in the possession of the family of Van Hoek,
at Amsterdam, will serve to give a good idea of his method of treating
his subjects. The picture is much larger than his usual size, being
three feet long by two feet six inches wide, inside the frame. The room
is divided into two apartments by a curtain of curiously wrought
tapestry. In one apartment sits a woman giving suck to her child; at her
side is a cradle, and a table covered with tapestry, on which is placed
a gilt lamp which lights the room. In the second apartment is a surgeon
performing an operation upon a countryman, and by his side stands a
woman holding some utensils. The folding doors on one side shows a
study, and a man making a pen by candle light; and on the other, a
school, with boys writing, and sitting at different tables. The whole
is lighted in an agreeable and surprising manner; every object is
expressed with beauty and astonishing force. Nor does the subject appear
too crowded, for it was one of his peculiar talents to show, in a small
compass, more than other painters could do in a much larger space. His
pictures are generally confined to a few figures, and sometimes to a
single one, and when he attempted larger compositions, he was generally
less successful. The works of this artist are not numerous, from the
immense labor and time he bestowed upon a single one; and from this
circumstance, and the estimation in which they are held by the curious
collectors, they have ever commanded enormous prices. They were always
particularly admired in France, in the days of Napoleon, there were no
less than seventeen of his pictures gathered into the Louvre, most of
which were, after his downfall, restored to their original proprietors,
among which was the famous Dropsical Woman, from the collection of the
King of Sardinia. At Turin, are several pictures by Douw, the most
famous of which is the one just named--the Dropsical Woman, attended by
her physician, who is examining an urinal. This picture is wonderfully
true to nature, and each particular hair and pore of the skin is
represented. In the gallery at Florence is one of his pictures,
representing an interior by candle-light, with a mountebank, surrounded
by a number of clowns, which is exquisitely finished. The great fame of
Gerhard Douw, and the eager desire for his works, have given rise to
numerous counterfeits. We may safely say that there is not an original
picture by this artist in the United States. Douw died, very rich, in
1674.