Notes and Queries, Number 187, May 28, 1853 | Page 9

Note on a passage in All's
Well that ends Well ("N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 426.) was posted for you
some time before the appearance of A. E. B.'s Note on the same
passage ("N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 403.). The latter coincidence is more
remarkable than the former, as the integrity of the amended text was in
both notes discussed by means of the same parallel passage. Apropos of
A. E. B.'s clever Note, permit me to say, that though at first it appeared
to me conclusive, I now incline to think that Shakspeare intended Helen
to address the leaden messengers by means of a very hyperbolic figure:
"wound the still-piecing air that sings with piercing" is a consistent
whole. If, as A. E. B. rightly says, to wound the air is an impossibility,
it is equally impossible that the air should utter any sound expressive of
sensibility. The fact of course is, that the cannon-balls cleave the air,
and that by so cleaving it a shrill noise is produced. The cause and
effect may, however, be metaphorically described, by comparing air to
Bertram. I believe it is a known fact that every man who is struck with
a cannon-ball cries out instinctively. Shakspeare therefore might, I
think, have very poetically described the action and effect of a
cannon-ball passing through the air by the strong figure of wounding
the air that sings with the piercing which it is enduring.
In concluding this Note, I beg to express what is not merely my own,
but a very general feeling of disappointment in respect of MR.
COLLIER'S new edition of Shakspeare. To it, with a new force, may
be applied the words of A. E. B. in "N. & Q.," Vol. vi., p. 296.:
"But the evil of these emendations is not in this instance confined to the
mere suggestion of doubt; the text has absolutely been altered in all
accessible editions, in many cases silently, so that the ordinary reader
has no opportunity of judging between Shakspeare and his improvers."
That MR. COLLIER should be the greatest of such offenders, is no

very cheering sign of the times.
C. MANSFIELD INGLEBY.
Birmingham.
Dogberry's Losses (Vol. vii., p. 377.).--I do not know whether it has
ever been suggested, but I feel inclined to read "lawsuits." He has just
boasted of himself as "one that knows the law;" and it seems natural
enough that he should go on to brag of being a rich fellow enough, "and
a fellow that hath had lawsuits" of his own, and actually figured as
plaintiff or defendant. Suppose the words taken down from the mouth
of an actor, and the mistake would be easy.
JOHN DOE.
* * * * *
THE COENACULUM OF LIONARDO DA VINCI.
I have in my possession a manuscript critique on the celebrated picture
of The Last Supper by Lionardo da Vinci, written many years ago by a
deceased academician; in which the writer has called in question the
point of time usually supposed to have been selected by the celebrated
Italian painter. The criticisms are chiefly founded on the copy by
Marco Oggioni, now in the possession of the Royal Academy of Arts.
Uniform tradition has assumed that the moment of action is that in
which the Saviour announces the treachery of one of his disciples
"Dico vobis quia unus vestrum me traditurus est." Matth. xxvi. 21.,
Joan. xiii. 21., Vulgate edit.; and most of the admirers of this great
work have not failed to find in it decisive proofs of the intention of the
painter to represent that exact point of time. {525}
The author of the manuscript enters into a very detailed examination of
the several groups of figures which compose the picture, and of the
expression of the heads; and he confesses his inability to find in them
anything decisively indicating the period supposed to be chosen. He

remarks that nine at least of the persons, including the principal one,
are evidently engaged in animated conversation; that instead of that
concentrated attention which the announcement might be supposed to
generate, there appears to be great variety of expressions and of action;
and that neither surprise nor indignation are so generally prominent, as
might have been expected. He inclines to think that the studied
diversity of expression, and the varied attitudes and gestures of the
assembled party, are to be regarded as proofs of the artist's efforts to
produce a powerful and harmonious composition, rather than a natural
and truthful representation of any particular moment of the transaction
depicted by him.
The work in question is now so generally accessible through the
medium of accurate engravings, that any one may easily exercise his
own judgment on the matter, and decide for himself whether the
criticism be well