Excerpt from The Masters of Past Time, or Criticism on the Old Flemish Dutch Painters<br><br>I warn you then to expect no method of any sort or continuity in these pages. If you find in them many gaps, many preferences and omissions, you must not think that this lack of balance reflects on the importance or worth of the works I may leave unmentioned. I shall, on occasions, refer to the Louvre, and shall not hesitate to recall your attention thither, to the end that my illustrations may be nearer at hand to you and more easily verified. Possibly some of my views may run counter to accepted Opinions: whilst I am not inclined to the revision of such ideas as would naturally give rise to these differences, I shall not go out of my way to avoid it. Ionly ask you not to see in this the Sign of the carping critic, who seeks to make his mark by sheer effrontery and who while traversing beaten tracks fears he will be charged with observing nothing, if his judg ments are not at odds with all others.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.