Great Artists, Vol 1. | Page 8

no ordinary child, either, that she holds, for He sees beyond this world into eternity and that His is no common destiny;--at least, one feels these things as we gaze at the lovely apparition on its background of clouds and innumerable angel heads. St. Sixtus on one side would know more of this mystery, while St. Barbara on the other is dazzled by the vision and turns aside her lovely face. Below are the two cherubs, the final touch of love, as it were, to this marvellous picture.
It is said that the picture was completed at first without these cherubs and that they were afterwards added when Raphael found two little boys resting their arms on a balustrade, gazing intently up at his picture.
This painting has a room to itself in the Dresden Gallery, where the most frivolous forget to chat and the thoughtful sit for hours in quiet meditation under its magic spell. One man says, "I could spend an hour every day for years looking at this picture and on the last day of the last year discover some new beauty and a new joy."
There was now great division of opinion in Rome as to whether Angelo or Raphael were the greater painter. Cardinal de Medici ordered two pictures for the Cathedral of Narbonne, in France, one by Raphael and one by Sebastian Piombo, a favorite pupil of Angelo's. People knew that Angelo would never openly compete with Raphael, but they also felt sure that he would assist his pupil. The subject chosen by Raphael was "The Transfiguration." But suddenly, even before this latest commission was completed, that magic hand had been stopped by death. The picture, though finished by Raphael's pupils, is a great work. The ascending Lord is the point of greatest interest in the upper, or celestial part, while the father with his demoniac child, holds our attention in the lower, or terrestrial portion. At his funeral this unfinished picture hung above the dead painter, and his sorrowing friends must have felt, as Longfellow wrote of Hawthorne when he lay dead with an unfinished story on his bier,--
"Ah, who shall lift that wand of magic power, And the lost clew regain? The unfinished window in Aladdin's tower Unfinished must remain."
[Illustration: TRANSFIGURATION. Raphael.]
Raphael died suddenly on his birthday in 1520, from a fever contracted while searching for remains among the ruins of Rome. He realized from the first that his sickness was fatal, and he immediately set about disposing of his property. His works of art he gave to his pupils, his palace to Cardinal Bibbiena, and his other property was distributed among his relatives, and to his sweetheart, Margherita. He was buried with honors in the Pantheon at Rome, beside Maria Bibbiena.
For many years there was exhibited at St. Luke's Academy, in Rome, a so-called skull of Raphael. In 1833 some scholars declared that they did not believe this to be the skull of the artist. They urged the authorities to open the grave to prove their position. After five days of careful digging the coffin was reached and there lay the artist's skeleton complete. For many days it was exposed to view in a glass case. A cast was taken of the right hand and of the skull, and then, with splendid ceremonies, they buried the artist a second time.
Mention has often been made of Raphael's personal beauty. Only thirty-seven when he died, his seraphic beauty was never marred by age.
In his palace he lived the life of a prince, and when he walked abroad, he had a retinue of devoted followers. He had for friends princes and prelates, artists and poets, while the common people loved him for the fine spirit they knew him to be.
Judged by the moral standard of his time, he was absolutely spotless. Seldom, in any man, have all good qualities joined with a versatile genius to the extent that they did in Raphael. No wonder that his friends caused to be inscribed on his tomb these words--"This is that Raphael by whom Nature feared to be conquered while he lived, and to die when he died."
REFERENCES FOR RAPHAEL.
Life of Raphael by Bell.
Life of Raphael by Sweetster.
Life of Raphael by Vasari.
Schools and Masters of Painting by Radcliffe.
History of Art by Luebke.
History of Art by Mrs. Heaton.
Great Artists by Mrs. Shedd.
The Fine Arts by Symonds.
Early Italian Painters by Mrs. Jameson.
SUBJECTS FOR LANGUAGE WORK.
1. The Boy Raphael at Home.
2. My Favorite Madonna.
3. Stories of St. Francis of Assisi.
4. What I know of Fresco Painting.
5. Looking for Buried Treasures in Rome.
6. A Day in the Roman Forum.
7. A Day with the Boy Raphael.
8. The Legend of the Madonna della Sedia.
9. Raphael and His Friends.
10. Raphael the Student.

[Illustration: COURT IN THE ALCAZAR.]
MURILLO AND SPANISH ART
"Velazquez is in art an eagle; Murillo is an