46-1828) was a student in Rome, and
after his return to Spain lived in fine style in a villa near Madrid. He
was painter to Charles IV., and was always employed on orders from the
nobility. He painted portraits and religious pictures, but his chief
excellence was in painting caricatures. He was never weary of painting the
priests and monks in all sorts of ridiculous ways. He made them in the
form of apes and asses, and may be called the Hogarth of Spain, so well
did he hold up the people about him to ridicule. He painted with great
boldness and could use a sponge or stick in place of a brush. Sometimes he
made a picture with his palette-knife, and put in the fine touches with
his thumb. He executed engravings also, and published eighty prints which
he called "Caprices." These were very famous; they were satires upon all
Spanish laws and customs. He also made a series of plates about the French
invasion, thirty-three prints of scenes in the bull-ring, and etchings of
some of the works of Velasquez. Portraits of Charles IV. and his queen by
Goya are in the museum at Madrid. Works of his are in the Louvre and in
the National Gallery in London. His pictures sell for large prices. In
1870 his picture of Charlotte Corday sold for five hundred and eighty-four
pounds.

CHAPTER VI.

PAINTING IN FRANCE.

The French school of painting does not date earlier than the sixteenth
century, and the painters of that time were few in number, and little is
known of them. Before the time when a French school could be said to exist
the kings of France employed foreign artists to decorate their palaces and
churches, and they naturally turned to the Italians for all that they
needed. Hence it happened that in its earliest days the French school was
almost entirely under Italian influence, and I shall first speak of French
masters who studied in Italy.

NICHOLAS POUSSIN (1594-1665) may be said to belong to the seventeenth
century, since he was born so late in the preceding one. Poussin was born
in Normandy, and early began to draw and paint. He studied somewhat in
France, and when thirty years old went to Rome, where, in reality, his
artistic career began. He was a pupil of Andrea Sacchi, and received some
instruction from Domenichino also; but he formed his style principally by
studying the works of the ancients and those of the great Raphael. He was
so devoted to the study of the habits and customs of the Greeks that he
almost beca