I do not pretend that this is a great picture--none of Holbein's are. Henry the Eighth was a man of strong material tendencies, who liked things tangible, and who was without a particle of imagination, tenderness, or ideality in his composition, and therefore this German materialist exactly suited him. Hans painted men and women as he saw them, without attempting much in the way of grouping or posing; he painted them hard and fast in their extravagant costumes, with all their family jewelry upon them, and as many accessories round them as he could possibly cram in, because he loved to work and did not think to spare himself a week or two longer of patient energy, care, and labour; but he painted well what he did paint; therefore I recommend him to the young student who is disposed to become ambitious, Frenchy, dashy, and careless before he has learnt how much, or rather how little, his brushes can do to bring his ideal to fruition. In 'The Two Ambassadors' the student will find all sorts of articles crammed in for the purpose of giving the painter something more to do. He had no higher aspiration than his august master had, therefore he exactly suited him, but he possessed the talent of infinite patience; and so I offer you Hans Holbein as the best mechanical workman of his country. He is a typical German in the hardy sense, as much as his countryman, Albert Dürer, was in another and a loftier sense; for they are, like the Scotch, either sure or hard-headed materialists or else seers and dreamers: often both combined. We turn from hard Holbein to Murillo with a sigh of relief. We have done our dry-as-dust task; now let us take our fill of solid pleasure, of which there is no let in the works which this painter has given us: 'A Spanish Peasant Boy,' 74; 'St. John and the Lamb,' 176; 'The Birth of the Virgin,' 1257; and 'Boys Drinking,' 1287. I like all his pictures, but I like his boy best of all; in fact, if you want good solid practical painting--stuff which will help you on in life, and give you real comfort as a painter or as a looker-on--go either to the Dutchmen or the Spaniards. Look at that kneeling figure, 'A Franciscan Monk,' 230, by Francisco Zurbaran, for chiaroscuro and bluff power; 'The Dead Christ,' 235, by Spagnoletto, for vigour and strength of touch; 'The Dead Warrior,' 741, by Velasquez. Could any man want to paint better? For the Dutch and Flemish, turn to Gallery XII., and be satisfied that you have got real men to deal with and to copy, instead of flimsy Italian sentimentalists, like the Church-bred early masters.