CRAYER

crayer, gaspard de (1582-1669), flemish painter, was born at antwerp, and learnt the art of painting from raphael coxcie. he matriculated in the guild of st luke at brussels in 1607, resided in the capital of brabant till after 1660, and finally settled at ghent. amongst the numerous pictures which he painted in ghent, one in the town museum represents the martyrdom of st blaise, and bears the inscription a deg. 1668 aet. 86. crayer was one of the most productive yet one of the most conscientious artists of the later flemish school, second to rubens in vigour and below vandyck in refinement, but nearly equalling both in most of the essentials of painting. he was well known and always well treated by albert and isabella, governors of the netherlands. the cardinal-infant ferdinand made him a court-painter. his pictures abound in the churches and museums of brussels and ghent; and there is scarcely a country chapel in flanders or brabant that cannot boast of one or more of his canvases. but he was equally respected beyond his native country; and some important pictures of his composition are to be found as far south as aix in provence and as far east as amberg in the upper palatinate. his skill as a decorative artist is shown in the panels executed for a triumphal arch at the entry of cardinal ferdinand into the flemish capital, some of which are publicly exhibited in the museum of ghent. crayer died at ghent. his best works are the "miraculous draught of fishes" in the gallery of brussels, the "judgment of solomon" in the gallery of ghent, and "madonnas with saints" in the louvre, the munich pinakothek, and the belvedere at vienna. his portrait by vandyck was engraved by p. pontius. crayfish (fr. _ecrevisse_), the name of freshwater crustaceans closely allied to and resembling the lobsters, and, like them, belonging to the order macrura. they are divided into two families, the _astacidae_ and _parastacidae_, inhabiting respectively the northern and the southern hemispheres. the crayfishes of england and ireland (_astacus_, or _potamobius_, _pallipes_) are generally about 3 or 4 in. long, of a dull green or brownish colour above and paler brown or yellowish below. they are abundant in some rivers, especially where the rocks are of a calcareous nature, sheltering under stones or in burrows which they dig for themselves in the banks and coming out at night in search of food. they are omnivorous feeders, killing and eating insects, snails, frogs and other animals, and devouring any carrion that comes in their way. it is stated that they sometimes come on land in search of vegetable food. [illustration: crayfish (_cambarus_ sp.) from the mississippi river. (after morse.)] on the continent of europe, _astacus pallipes_ occurs chiefly in the west and south, being found in france, spain, italy and the balkan peninsula. it is known in france as _ecrevisse a pattes blanches_ and in germany as _steinkrebs_, and is little used as food. the larger _astacus fluviatilis_ (_ecrevisse a pattes rouges_, _edelkrebs_) is not found in britain, but occurs in france and germany, southern sweden, russia, &c. it is distinguished, among other characters, by the red colour of the under side of the large claws. it is the species most highly esteemed for the table. other species of the genus are found in central and eastern europe and as far east as turkestan. farther east a gap occurs in the distribution and no crayfishes are met with till the basin of the amur is reached, where a group of species occurs, extending into northern japan. in north america, west of the rocky mountains, the genus _astacus_ again appears, but east of the watershed it is replaced by the genus _cambarus_, which is represented by very numerous species, ranging from the great lakes to mexico. several blind species inhabit the subterranean waters of caves. the best known is _cambarus pellucidus_, found in the mammoth cave of kentucky. the area of distribution occupied by the southern crayfishes or _parastacidae_ is separated by a broad equatorial zone from that of the northern group, unless, as has been asserted, the two come into contact or overlap in central america. none is found in any part of africa, though a species occurs in madagascar. they are absent also from the oriental region of zoologists, but reappear in australia and new zealand. some of the australian species, such as the "murray river lobster" (_astacopsis spinifer_), are of large size and are used for food. in south america crayfishes are found in southern brazil, argentina and chile. (w. t. ca.) crayon (fr. _craie_, chalk, from lat. _creta_), a coloured material for drawing, employed generally in the form of pencils, but sometimes also as a powder, and consisting of native earthy and stony friable substances, or of artificially prepared mixtures of a base of pipe or china clay with prussian blue, orpiment, vermilion, umber and other pigments. calcined gypsum, talc and compounds of magnesium, bismuth and lead are occasionally used as bases. the required shades of tints are obtained by adding varying amounts of colouring matter to equal quantities of the base. crayons are used by the artist to make groupings of colours and to secure landscape and other effects with ease and rapidity. the outline as well as the rest of the picture is drawn in crayon. the colours are softened off and blended by the finger, with the assistance of a stump of leather or paper; and shading is produced by cross-hatching and stippling. the art of painting in crayon or pastel is supposed to have originated in germany in the 17th century. by johann alexander thiele (1685-1752) it was carried to great perfection, and in france it was early practised with much success. amongst the earlier pastellists may be mentioned rosalba carriera (1675-1757), w. hoare (1707-1792), f. cotes (1726-1770), and j. russell (1744-1806); and in recent years the art has been successfully revived. (see pastel.)