ADRIAN VAN, an eminent painter of the Dutch school, was born at Lübeck in 1610, and studied at Haarlem, in the school of Frank Hals. His genius was early developed, and soon struck out a path for itself in the province of art. He chose for his principal subjects the gambling pastimes, the uproarious merry-makings, the scottish drinking-bouts, or the drunken frays of a country ale-house. He was also fond of painting an alchymist's laboratory, the office of a country lawyer, and the interior of a peasant's cottage. All these scenes, so mean and humble in themselves, were invested with the charms of consummate artistic skill. The characters were well distinguished by different physiognomies, the accessories were successfully arranged, the colouring was warm and harmonious, and the chiaroscuro was unrivalled. Accordingly, the artist enjoyed an extensive reputation and patronage, from the beginning of his career at Haarlem till his death at Amsterdam in 1685. His numerous works have also continued to rise in the public estimation ever since his demise. Specimens abound in several of the English collections, in the galleries at Amsterdam, the Hague, Dresden, Munich, and Vienna, in the Hermitage at St Petersburg, and the Louvre at Paris.

ISAAC VAN, the brother of the preceding, was born at Lübeck in 1617. Although a pupil, and at first an imitator of Adrian, he soon adopted a manner of his own. A frozen canal covered with sledges and skaters, and the yard of a country inn bustling with huntsmen, waggons, and travellers, were his favourite subjects. He painted these with a knowledge of the principles of art which would probably have gained for him a reputation equal to that of his brother, had not death prematurely closed his career at the age of thirty-seven.