Schalcken seems to
have been a man of great brusquerie, if two stories told by Ireland
of his sojourn in England are true. William III., for example, when
sitting for his picture, with a candle in his hand, was suffered by
Schalcken to burn his fingers. "One is at a loss," says Ireland, "to
determine which was most to blame, the monarch for want of feeling,
or the painter of politeness. The following circumstance, however,
will place the deficiency of the latter beyond controversy. A lady
sitting for her portrait, who was more admired for a beautiful hand
than a handsome face, after the head was finished, asked him if
she should take off her glove, that he might insert the hand in the
picture, to which he replied, he always painted the hands from those
of his valet." The most attractive picture by Schalcken that I have
seen is a girl sewing by candle light, in the Wallace Collection. It
pairs off with the charming little Gerard Dou at the Ryks--No. 796.
Dou said that the "Prince of his pupils" was Frans van Mieris of
Delft, who combined the manner and predilections of his master with
those of Terburg. He was very popular with collectors, but I do not
experience any great joy in the presence of his work, which, with all
its miraculous deftness, is yet lacking in personal feeling.
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