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RETURN TO VALEKCIENNES. 25

I cannot discover in any of the authorities that I have heen
able to consult any reliable dates to serve as landmarks in the
history of this part of the master's life. About seven years
have to be accounted for between his arrival at Paris in 1702,
and his gaining of the prize at the Academy in 1709 ; but
virhat portions of this period of apprenticeship he spent at the
Opera, at the Pont Notre Dame, with Gillot and with Audran
respectively, I have not been able to ascertain.
One author states that it was during his residence at the
Luxembourg that Watteau worked for the Academy prize ; but
M. de Caylus arranges it otherwise, although it appears probable
that the desire to revisit his native city ripened with his first
substantial success.
However this may be, it is obvious from the following part of
the narrative of M. Gersaint, that although Watteau may have
profited by the opportunities of study afforded him during his
employment under Audran, his remuneration for his work was
not such as to enrich him : and his master, however talented,
was not more disinterested or generous in his treatment of
Watteau than Gillot or the wholesale dealer. The same sus-
picion attaches to Gersaint himself, friendly and intimate as his
relations with the painter became, and still more strongly to the
father-in-law of Gersaint, who, as we shall see, subsequently hid
him away in a corner out of sight of the world, while he bought
his pictures of him.
