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39 RUISDAEL, JACOB VAN 1628 or 9-1682 A WATERFALL — "The composition of this superb pictures exhibits on the left a lofty rocky hill, partially covered with verdure and crowded with a cluster of trees of varied foliage, above the tops of which appears the spire of a neighboring village church; through a ravine in the same hill rushes a volume of water, which falls in a foaming cataract into a channel beneath, along which it rolls in rapid eddies towards the left and gurgles amidst stones over a great portion of the foreground. A high bank of broken form, on which lie the trunks of three trees, makes the boundary of the stream on the right, from hence the eye is conducted to a rustic bridge, over which a shepherd is driving a flock of sheep. The aspect is that of a fine day." "It is impossible to commend too highly this beautiful production of art, for nothing ever came from the pencil of the painter more faithful to nature, or more perfect in its mechanism and general arrangement." See Smith's Catalogue Raisonné, Part VI, p. 70, 71, No. 222. Signed below on the rock to the right of centre, "J. Ruisdael." Canvas: W. 33 1/2; H. 39 1/2. Collection: Baron Lockhorst, 1826. John Smith, author of the Catalogue Raisonné, London. The Earl of Onslow, Clandon Park, Guildford, England. 30