In etching his method is as personal as in his painting. He entirely disregards all the accepted canons of the art. Line, _as line_, hardly exists in his plates; it is scribble, scribble, everywhere. The tree trunks, the rocks, foreground and distance, often the foliage itself, all are as “wrong as wrong can be,” so far as accurate representation is concerned. Yet Corot, great artist and great nature poet, can transgress every rule and still succeed in conveying his message. In the best of his etchings he _does_ succeed admirably. _Souvenir of Italy_ and _Environs of Rome_ of 1865 (Corot was then nearly seventy years of age) are among the most interesting prints of the period. In these plates, and others like them, Corot has given free rein to his poetic and imaginative powers and has drawn upon his memory of the Italy of his youth. In method, in their disregard of line, form and texture, they are shining examples of what etching should _not_ be. In decorative quality, poetic suggestion, and sentiment they are altogether delightful. [Illustration: CAMILLE COROT. SOUVENIR OF ITALY Size of the original etching, 11⅝ × 8⅝ inches In the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston] [Illustration: JEAN-FRANÇOIS MILLET. THE GLEANERS Size of the original etching, 7½ × 10 inches In the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston] In MILLET’S etchings the landscape and the figures are so inter-related as to make any separate study of them unavailing. They are models of significant draughtsmanship and profound feeling, in which nothing is introduced that does not bear directly upon the main theme. _Shepherdess Knitting_, _Peasants Going to Work_, _Two Men Digging_, and above all the _Gleaners_, have each their perfect setting. The wide-stretching plain, slightly undulating, shimmers in the hot summer sunshine, which bathes in a golden glow the three women gleaning, the harvesters gathering in the rich fruits of their toil, and the little village, snuggling amid its trees in the far distance to the right.