He brought to his homeliest pictures a beauty of arrangement, a sense of style, and a dignity worthy of the most majestic subjects. He came at this time under the influence of the Dutch landscapists, and stole from them the solidity of their massing in foliage, the truth of their character-drawing, the close observation of their cattle and animal-life, their cloudy skies, and the finish and force of their craftsmanship. Whether he went into Holland is disputed. He was too keen an artist, his was too original a genius, to imitate their style or take on their Dutch accent. He simply took from them such part of their craftsmanship as could enter into the facile gracious genius of France without clogging its grace. He is now content with his house and garden for scenery, with his family for models. He realises that an artist has no need to go abroad to find "paintable things." The "Heureuse Fécondité," the "Visit to the Nurse" (the second one), the "Schoolmistress," the "Good Mother," the "Retour au logis," the "L'Education fait tout," the "Dites donc, si'l vous plaît," are of this period. In all he did he proves himself an artist, incapable of mediocrity, bringing distinction and style to all that he touches. Fragonard also excelled in the painting of miniatures. And there are small portraits under fancy names to be seen at the Louvre, painted with a breadth and force that prove him to have known the work of Franz Hals. The figure of a man, known as "Figure de Fantaisie" or "Inspiration," is stated with a directness and vividness worthy of the great Dutch master. Indeed, there is much in the direct handling of the paint and the life of the thing that recalls Franz Hals--the very arrangement of the dress and the treatment of the hand being a careless attempt to recall the habits and fashions of the Dutchman. "La Musique" repeats the impression. And even the more pronouncedly French style of the pretty woman in "La Chanteuse" does not disguise the inspiration of Franz Hals in the painting of the bodice, the cuffs, and the details--the high ruffle is "dragged in" from Hals's day. The "Music Lesson" at the Louvre was painted about the same time. Fragonard's old master, Boucher, for some time had been "going about like a shadow of himself." The year after Fragonard's marriage the old painter was found dead, sitting at his easel before an unfinished picture of Venus, the brush fallen out of his fingers--the light of the "Glory of Paris" gone out.