truthful representation of nature which he always sought to attain. On his second visit to Italy he chiefly studied in Rome. He again changed his style: his coloring became more what the Italians term “sfumato,” or hazy; and he returned, to some extent, to his early general soberness of tone, rarely introducing bright colors into his last pictures. Velasquez’s second and third manners, as well as his first, are fully represented in the Madrid Gallery, which contains no less than sixty of his pictures, or almost the whole of his genuine works. The “Borrachos” have already been mentioned as an example of his first manner. The fine portrait of the Infante Don Carlos, second son of Philip III., is another. In his second manner are the “Surrender of Breda,” perhaps the finest representation and treatment of a contemporary historical event in the world; the magnificent portrait of the Count of Benavente, and the four Dwarfs. In his third, the “Meninas,” and the “Hilanderas.” By studying these pictures the student will soon be able to distinguish between the three manners of the painter, and to decide for himself as to the genuineness of the many pictures which pass for Velasquez’s in the public and private galleries of Europe. It was principally as a portrait-painter that Velasquez excelled. Although he wanted the imagination of Titian, and gave less dignity and refinement than that great master to his portraits, yet in a marvelous power of rendering nature, and in truthfulness of expression, he was not his inferior. In the imaginative faculties he was singularly deficient, as his “Forge of Vulcan,” the “Coronation of the Virgin,” and other works of that class in the Madrid Gallery, are sufficient to prove. However, the “Crucifixion,” in the same collection, is a grand and solemn conception, which has excited the enthusiastic admiration of some critics. Velasquez was essentially a “naturalistic” painter. In the representation of animals, especially dogs, and of details such as armor, drapery, and objects of still life, he is almost without a rival. His freedom of touch and power of producing truthful effects by the simplest means are truly wonderful. His aerial perspective his light and shade, his gradations of tone and color, are all equally excellent, and have excited the admiration of Wilkie, and of the best judges of art. The high offices which Velasquez held at court gave him but little time to paint. The number of his pictures is, therefore, comparatively small. They were principally executed for the royal palaces; those which have escaped the fires that destroyed so many great works have been removed to the Madrid Museum. The portraits which are attributed to him in many public and private collections out of Spain are, for the most part, by his pupils, or imitators and copyists. One of the most skillful of the latter was a certain Lucas, who, not many years ago, succeeded in deceiving many collectors.