[Suggested translation, Marije Osnabrugge:] This is the first that a good Artist should aim for, that his work does not seem to resemble the scenes of other famous Masters in everything; if it happens nonetheless that the whole occurrence of his work shows a certain similarity to the previous pieces of other artists; then he should secondly take care that he appears to have made this similarity not by accident but on purpose, It is open to everyone to highly esteem some Artist or another because some virtue: what is important to me, those artists, in my opinion, beat the lot, who practice the old Art diligently regarding a new subject, to fill their Paintings by this means with the pleasant entertainment of an uneven similarity. As such we can remark here as well, that this should be done by them the most when they are driven by a praiseworthy envy to express this gracefulness of a uneven evenness in such works that only resemble the striking Pieces of previous Master in the able treatment.

Junius discusses the complexities of the concept of ‘gelijkheid’ (similarity) in art. He is not opposed to the idea that one can point out elements that are taken from the work of another artist, it is however important for the artist to make clear the resemblance is made on purpose. As such, it is necessary to practice producing ‘ongelijcke ghelijckheydt’(uneven similarity), that is to make the resemblance evident but not overall. This text fragment is much more elaborate in the Dutch edition than in the English and Latin (1694) editions. [MO]