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-- possessing in a greater degree the excellencies which distinguish him than any I have yet seen, that breadth of light & shadow & [[strikethrough]] artful [[/strikethrough]] insen[[^si]]ble, artful unison, one with the others joined to exquisite harmony & delicacy of tint, is here seen in a most conspicuous manner -- the subject tis true was favorable to it & most likely he choose it on that account principally, it hangs now by the side of his St. Jerome, which though of greater celibrity, [[strikethrough]] is [[/strikethrough]] owing no doubt to some local or accidental circumstance & not to its superior beauties, is certainly inferior to it in the effect of the Chiaroscuro, the latter looks spotted [[^in comparison]] from the lights being broken & scattered. I have already dead coloured my Copy which is the size of the original & hope in the course of two months to be able to complete it, however I will spare no time nor pains about [[^it]] for I aim at making a good copy not a tolerable [[^one]] & will feel mortified if I don't succeed. The subject may not be chaste enough for the more chaste & modest Americans, at least to be displayed in the house of any private individual to either the company of the Parlor or drawing room, but on that account it may attract a greater crowd if exhibited publickly, & the subject may thus invite some who are [[incable]] of being entertained by the merits the pictures may possess as a work of art -- so soon as I have done this I hope my circumstances will allow