The particular choice of subject in this sketch shows further in its literary connection a lover of the horse. The subject, as we know from the words _equi Achillis_ on a scroll in the left corner of the picture, is the horses of Achilles, said for their swiftness to be the sons of the wind Zephyrus: in the upper part of the picture is a sketch of a zephyr's head. "The gentleness of chivalry, properly so called, depends on the recognition of the order and awe of lower and loftier animal-life, ... taught most perfectly by Homer in the fable of the horses of Achilles. There is, perhaps, in all the _Iliad_ nothing more deep in significance--there is nothing in all literature more perfect in human tenderness, and honour for the mystery of inferior life, than the verses that describe the sorrow of the divine horses at the death of Patroclus, and the comfort given them by the greatest of the gods"[98] (_Fors Clavigera_, 1871, ix. 13). 157. A LANDSCAPE: SUNSET. _Rubens_ (Flemish: 1577-1640). _See_ 38. For Rubens's landscapes see under 66. "It is to be noted, however, that the licenses taken by Rubens in particular instances are as bold as his general statements are sincere.... In the Sunset of our own Gallery many of the shadows fall at right angles to the light" (_Modern Painters_, vol. i. pt. ii. sec. i. ch. vii. § 15). 158. BOORS REGALING. _Teniers_ (Flemish: 1610-1694). _See_ 154. 159. THE DUTCH HOUSEWIFE. _Nicolas Maes_ (Dutch: 1632-1693). _See_ 153. "There are few pictures in the National Gallery," says C. R. Leslie (_Handbook for Young Painters_, p. 243), "before which I find myself more often standing than at this." Its great attraction, he adds, is "the delight of seeing a trait of childhood we have often observed and been amused with in nature, for the first time so felicitously given by art." The Dutch housewife sits intently engaged in scraping a parsnip, whilst the child stands by her side "watching the process, as children will stand and watch the most ordinary operations, with an intensity of interest, as if the very existence of the whole world depended on the exact manner in which that parsnip was scraped." Note the Flemish _kruik_, or beer-jug, so often introduced into the pictures of Maes. Signed and dated 1655. 160. A "RIPOSO." _Mola_ (Eclectic-Bologna: 1612-1668). _See_ 69. The Italians gave this title to the subject of the Holy Family resting on the way in their flight to Egypt,--"the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt." 161. AN ITALIAN LANDSCAPE. _Gaspard Poussin_ (French: 1613-1675). _See_ 31. Gaspard travelled largely in Italy in search of the picturesque, and this striking landscape may be a recollection of the mountain scenery in the North--possibly near Bergamo. The spray of foliage prominent on the left is characteristic of Gaspard's method:--