| _WOMEN GLEANING_ | LII | 298 | | | 613A| MANET— | | | _OLYMPIA_ | LIII | 302 | | | | | | | ENGLISH SCHOOL | | | | | 1809 | CONSTABLE— | | | _HAMPSTEAD HEATH_ | LIV | 304 [1] This picture has not yet received an official number. INTRODUCTION To form a just appreciation of the magnificent collection of paintings which the Louvre to-day contains would require an exhaustive study which might be spread over a term of years spent in the famous French capital itself. In the limited space at our disposal we can only touch lightly upon the historical events, the sociological causes, the grandeur of royalty, and the taste of the people, all of which contributed towards bringing about the formation of the great Musée National du Louvre as we now know it. It has been our endeavour to throw into prominent relief the outstanding features in the history of the Gallery and to sketch them in chronological order. The architectural claims of the building, its priceless collections of statuary and of _objets d’art_ of every age do not here immediately concern us; it is to the formation of the superb collection of paintings that we primarily desire to call our readers’ attention.