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GERMAN SCHOOL. cooooooo WILHELM. occcoooo MUNICH GALLERY.

SAINT CATHARINE,

SAINT HUBERT AND SAINT HIPPOLYTUS.

This is another composition where the painter has brought together several personages who do not seem to have any relation to each other, and who were probably the patrons of the person who ordered the picture, or rather the particular saints of the chapel or abbey which this painting ornamented. It is unnecessary to repeat here the history of saint Catharine, which has been related at no 25.

Saint Hubert is believed, to have been born in Aquitaine of noble parents; when hunting, a stag with antlers in the form of a cross is said to have appeared to him, which determined him to devote himself to the service of heaven. He became bishop of Maestricht in 708, the see of which he transferred to Liege, where he died in 721.

Hippolytus is a name appertaining to several saints, one of whom was a bishop, another a priest, a third deacon, a fourth monk, and finally one more a soldier, whose conversion took place while guarding the dead body of saint Lawrence. The lance and coat of mail shews that it is the soldier-saint the painter, Wilhelm, meant to represent. Besides the city of Cologne pretending to have the head of this martyr, it is natural to suppose that the picture represents by preference a saint honoured in that country.

This picture, precious for its colouring and details, belongs to the collection formed by M. Boisserée; at present it is in the king of Bavaria's gallery.

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