OF THE OLD PAINTERS. BY THE AUTHOR OF "THREE EXPERIMENTS OF LIVING:" "LIFE AND TIMES OF MARTIN LUTHER: STEREOTYPE EDITION. LONDON: JOHN CHAPMAN, 142, STRAND. MDCCCLII. 210.m.244. "Is Protogenes at home?" inquired a young man, as he entered the painting-room of the artist. 66 No, master," replied an old woman, who was seated near a panel prepared for painting. "No, master; he has gone forth to breathe the fresh air; and much does he need it after toiling here all day. It is his custom, at the approach of evening, to go down to the sea-shore, and sniff the breezes that come skimming over the water from the Grecian Isles." "Is he then so laborious?" said the stranger. 66 Ay, to be sure he is. They say he is determined to excel Apelles of Cos. Be that as it may, he never thinks his pictures are finished; but it is no business of mine, else I might say life is too short, to spend three or four years in lingering, still unsatisfied, over the same picture." "Thy life does not seem to have been a short one, mother," said the stranger, examining the lines of care and sorrow, which had strongly marked a face that might once have been handsome. She looked earnestly at him without replying. B |