purpose of recreation, his disciples frequently obtained access to his studio, by means of bribing an old servant who kept the keys; and on one of these occasions, while they were all eagerly pressing forward to view the great picture of the Descent from the Cross (although later investigations concerning dates seem to indicate that it was some other picture), Diepenbeck accidentally fell against the canvas, effacing the face of the Virgin, and the Magdalen’s arm, which had just been finished, and were not yet dry.  Fearful of expulsion from the school, the terrified pupils chose Vandyck to restore the work, and he completed it the same day with such success that Rubens did not at first perceive the change, and afterwards concluded not to alter it.  Walpole entertains a different and more rational view respecting Rubens’ supposed jealousy:  he thinks that Vandyck felt the hopelessness of surpassing his master in historical painting, and therefore resolved to devote himself to portrait.  One authority states that the above mentioned incident only increased Rubens’ esteem for his pupil, in perfect accordance with the distinguished character for generosity and liberality, which that great master so often evinced, and which forms very strong presumptive evidence against so base an accusation.  Besides, his advice to Vandyck to visit Italy—­where his own powers had been, as his pupil’s would be, greatly strengthened—­may be considered as sufficient to refute it entirely.  They appear to have parted on the best terms; Vandyck presented Rubens with an Ecce Homo, Christ in the Garden, and a portrait of Helen Forman, Rubens’ second wife; he was presented in return, by Rubens, with one of his finest horses.

VANDYCK’S VISIT TO ITALY.

At the age of twenty, Vandyck set out for Italy, but delayed some time at Brussels, fascinated by the charms of a peasant girl of Saveltheim, named Anna van Ophem, who persuaded him to paint two pictures for the church of her native place—­a St. Martin on horseback, painted from himself and the horse given him by Rubens; and a Holy Family, for which the girl and her parents were the models.  On arriving in Italy, he spent some time at Venice, studying with great attention the works of Titian; after which he visited Genoa, and painted many excellent portraits for the nobility, as well as several pictures for the churches and private collections, which gained him great applause.  From Genoa he went to Rome, where he was also much employed, and lived in great style.  His portrait of Cardinal Bentivoglio, painted about this time, is one of his masterpieces, and in every respect an admirable picture; it is now in the Palazzo Pitti, at Florence, hanging near Raffaelle’s celebrated portrait of Leo X. Vandyck was known at Rome as the Pittore Cavalieresco; his countrymen there being men of low and intemperate habits, he avoided their society, and was thenceforward so greatly annoyed by their