g with the appreciation of black draperies which he held in common
with Rubens, was specially fond of painting white or blue satin. He is
said to have used a brown preparation of pounded peach-stones for
glazing the hair in his pictures.

In the end, with all the aids that critics may have given him, and all
the faults they may find in him, Van Dyck was a great, and in the main
an earnest portrait painter. Perhaps 'Charles in white satin, just
descended from his horse,' is the best of the single portraits which
were held to be Van Dyck's forte.

I must try to give my readers some idea of Van Dyck's 'Wilton Family.'
It has been so praised, that some have said 'it might have been covered
with gold as a price to obtain it;' on the other hand, it has not
escaped censure. One critic asserts that there is no common action
uniting the figures, and that the faces are so different in
complexion--one yellow-faced boy appearing either jaundiced or burnt by
a tropical sun, that the family might have lived in different climates.

This is the story of the picture. 'Earl Philip of Pembroke having
caused his family to meet, informs them with great emotion of the
necessity of his eldest son Charles, Lord Herbert, going into the army
of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, there to acquire military honour and
experience, notwithstanding his having just married Mary, daughter of
George, Duke of Buckingham. Lord Herbert is receiving the news with
ardour, the young bride is turning aside her fair face to hide her
tears. (Charles Lord Herbert was married Christmas, 1634, went to
Florence, and died there of small pox, January, 1636.)

'In the Pembroke picture (or "Wilton Family") there are ten figures. The
Earl and Countess are seated on a dais, under a coat of arms. He wears a
great lace collar, an order on his breast, a key at his girdle, and has
great shoes with roses. She has flowing curls, hanging sleeves, arms
crossed, necklace on the bare neck. (The Countess of Pembroke was the
Earl's second wife, Anne Clifford, daughter of George, Earl of
Cumberland, the brave lady who defied Cromwell, and was fond of signing
her name with the long string of titles derived from her two husbands,
"Anne Dorset, Pembroke, Montgomery.") Robert Dormer, Earl of Carnarvon,
is introduced with his wife, Lady Anne Sophia Herbert, daughter of Earl
Philip; they are on the Countess's left hand. The daughter-in-law, about
to be parted from her husband, stands on the lowes