IT IS always reassuring when an attribution made solely on the basis of style is later found to be supported by documentary evidence. This is precisely the case with Paying the hostess (Fig. 1), which appeared on the art market in 1956 as a work by Gillis van Tilburg. In spite of a prominent Pieter de Hooch signature which presumably appeared as a result of a subsequent cleaning, the painting was taken away from that artist in 1978 and attributed to Ludolf de Jongh. Because of the painting's strong stylistic kinship with the art of De Jongh, the signature was judged to be either false or an original Ludolf de Jongh signature that had been altered to read as De Hooch's. It was only recently, however, that documentary support for De Jongh's authorship was found in a near-contemporary transcription of an English auction catalogue of 1751, in which a painting by De Jongh entitled An officer paying his landlady is recorded as entering the collection of Sir William Beauchamp. And it was from the Beauchamp collection that the painting discussed here, which is, evidently of the same subject, emerged in 1956.

is recorded as entering the collection of Sir William Beauchamp. And it was from the Beauchamp collection that the painting discussed here, which is, evidently of the same subject, emerged in 1956.

THE exhibition Les Frères Le Nain at the Grand Palais in 1978 allowed a radical re-assessment of the Le Nains. In the accompanying catalogue, the work of the three brothers was convincingly separated by Jacques Thuillier from that of copyists and close contemporaries. In the immediate aftermath of the exhibition, articles by Jean Cuzin and Pierre Rosenberg addressed the far thornier problem of distinguishing the separate hands of Antoine, Louis and Mathieu, working sometimes separately, sometimes together. Although many works are signed and some dated, none carries a Christian name. None is dated after 1648, when both Louis and Antoine died, leaving Mathieu to continue working until his death in 1677. Fifteen years on, in his recently published catalogue raisonné, Rosenberg reviews the evidence and the debates, and divides the œuvre among the brothers. One hand he identifies as Mathieu, since costume and style suggest that some of the paintings in the group must be later than 1650. The two other hands are given to the two elder brothers, using Antoine and Louis as names of convenience, to be confirmed or reversed should a signature or a document subsequently appear.

among the brothers. One hand he identifies as Mathieu, since costume and style suggest that some of the paintings in the group must be later than 1650. The two other hands are given to the two elder brothers, using Antoine and Louis as names of convenience, to be confirmed or reversed should a signature or a document subsequently appear.

THE development of infra-red reflectography by the physicist J.R.J. van Asperen de Boer in the late 1960s provided an important new tool in the non-destructive examination of paintings. The main disadvantage of the technique has always been that the images produced are of relatively low resolution, with the consequence that only small areas of a painting can be examined at one time. Traditionally, a permanent record has been created by taking photographs of the images on a television monitor and painstakingly sticking them together to form a 'mosaic', but the time and skill required are so great that few establishments could consider assembling mosaics except in exceptional circumstances. Over the past two years, thanks to a grant from the Leverhulme Trust, research has been carried out at the National Gallery into the use of computer digital imaging techniques to assist in the assembly of infra-red reflectogram mosaics.

JUST over one hundred years ago, Emile Biais, municipal archivist at Angoulême, reported in an obscure publication that he had traced two early portraits by Delacroix to a house in a local village, which he did not name. One was a portrait of the gamekeeper Fougerat, who had been employed by Delacroix's brother-in-law and sister, Raymond and Henriette de Verninac, on their property twelve miles north of Angoulême, in the forest of Boixe. The other was an autograph replica of a portrait of Delacroix's nephew Charles de Verninac that had been painted in the same period as the Fougerat, on one of Delacroix's autumn visits to the forest between 1818 and 1820. Neither picture seen by Biais was known to scholars, nor did any information beyond his summary descriptions come to light until the 1970s, when both paintings found their way into the hands of a Paris dealer. The original portrait of Charles had been known to Alfred Robaut, but is neither illustrated nor described in his catalogue of Delacroix's œuvre. It had also been exhibited in Paris in 1864 and 1885. It was not, however, until 1968 that it was published fully in THE BURLINGTON MAGAZINE together with Delacroix's letters to his nephew, after I had traced it to a descendant of the owner recorded in the catalogue of the 1885 exhibition (Fig.38).

. It had also been exhibited in Paris in 1864 and 1885. It was not, however, until 1968 that it was published fully in THE BURLINGTON MAGAZINE together with Delacroix's letters to his nephew, after I had traced it to a descendant of the owner recorded in the catalogue of the 1885 exhibition (Fig.38).

IN a recent letter to the editor, Andrew McClellan reattributed the Almanach historique et raisonne des Architectes, Peintres, Sculpteurs, Graveurs et Cizeleurs, to the Abbe Le Brun, chaplain 'des dames chanoinesses augustines du Saint Sipulcre de Jerusalem, dites de Belle- chasse'. The purpose of this note is to confirm McClellan's findings, to show how the circumstances of the publication and reception of the Almanach reveal the identity of the author, and to establish a few further facts about the Abbé and his career.

reveal the identity of the author, and to establish a few further facts about the Abbé and his career.

HEIDI HEIMANN, who died in April, was widely admired among medievalists particularly for her work on the iconography of English eleventh and twelfth-century manuscripts and of twelfth- century French sculpture.

JACOB BEAN was born in 1923 in Stillwater, Minnesota, and grew up in San Marino, California. His professional life was centred in New York, where he died on 8th September 1992. Bean pursued undergraduate studies at Harvard but did not take a degree, a fact that attests both to his independence and to his realisation that the discipline he wished to learn was not acquired through formal training. While at Harvard, he was admitted to Paul Sachs's Fogg Museum course, normally reserved for graduate students, which gave him his first experience of studying drawings. From 1957 to 1960 he pursued and refined this interest as a volunteer worker (Chargé de mission à titre étranger) at the Cabinet des Dessins of the Louvre. During this time he produced, in collaboration with Roseline Bacou, later Conser- vateur-en-chef du Cabinet des Dessins, two exhibition catalogues for the Louvre, and one for the important group of Italian drawings in the Musée Bonnat at Bayonne, inaugurating his notable series of publications of this type.

) at the Cabinet des Dessins of the Louvre. During this time he produced, in collaboration with Roseline Bacou, later Conser- vateur-en-chef du Cabinet des Dessins, two exhibition catalogues for the Louvre, and one for the important group of Italian drawings in the Musée Bonnat at Bayonne, inaugurating his notable series of publications of this type.