,,great ,,artists       ,art manifests  
whatever is most exalted1 and     it    
manifests it to all6--,,taine           
,,great ,,artists     ,,raphael         
,,murillo     ,,rubens     ,,durer      
,,by      ,,jennie ,,ellis ,,keysor     
,author of ,sketches of ,american       
,authors      ,,educational ,,publishing
 ,,company     ,,boston     ,,new ,,york
  ,,chicago  ,,san ,,francisco          
,,copyrighted     ,,by ,,educational    
,,publishing ,,company1     #ahii4      
,illustration  ,a ,,word ,,to ,,the     
,,teacher4   ,the following brief       
sketches are presented in fear and in   
hope--in fear lest they prove in no wise
 adequate for so glorious a subject2 in 
the hope that they may encourage not    
only the pupil1 but the teacher1 to     
study the lives and the works of the    
great artists and to make every possible
 effort to have copies of masterpieces  
ever before them to study and to love4  
,the field of art study is a wonderful  
one from which to draw for language     

work4 ,a double purpose is thus served4 
,interesting subjects are secured and   
pupils are given a start in acquiring a 
knowledge of the beautiful that         
fortifies them for the sorrows and cares
 of life2 and1 what is even better1     
prevents their own life from being      
commonplace4  ,would the teacher wish to
 study further1 a list of valuable      
reference books is appended to each     
sketch1 any one of which will greatly   
assist in acquiring a more extended     
knowledge of the subject4  ,in the study
 of an artist1 take care to have a      
liberal supply of reproductions of his  
pictures at hand4 ,these may be         
photographs1 half-tones1 like the       
illustrations in this book1 or          
engravings4 ,good work cannot be done   
without such pictures4  ,above all1 work
 to cultivate a love for good pictures1 
not to fill young minds with uninspiring
 facts4      ,j4 ,e4 ,k4                
,illustration3 ,,sistine ,,madonna4     
,raphael4  ,,raphael ,,santi  ,,the     

,,perfect ,,artist1 ,,the ,,perfect     
,,man4   ,we are about to study         
,raphael1 the most generally praised1   
the most beautiful1 and certainly the   
most loved of all the painters of the   
world4 ,when all these delightful things
 can be truthfully said of one man1     
surely we may look forward with pleasure
 to a detailed study of his life and    
works4  ,often in examining the lives of
 great men we are compelled to pass over
 some events which1 to say the least1   
are not creditable4 ,of ,raphael this   
was not true4 ,he was gifted with all   
admirable qualities1 and so many-sided  
was his genius that1 while we think of  
him first as a painter1 we must not     
forget that he also carved statues1     
wrote poems1 played musical instruments1
 and planned great buildings4  ,so much 
was he endeared to his pupils that1     
after he grew to be famous1 he never    
went on the streets unless he was       
followed by an admiring throng of these 
students1 ever ready to do his bidding  

or to defend his art from any possible  
attack by malicious critics4 ,he lived  
at a time when artists were fiercely    
jealous of each other1 and yet wherever 
he went harmony1 like a good angel1     
walked unseen beside him1 making        
whatever assembly he entered the abode  
of peace and good-will4 ,it is a        
beautiful thing that such a strong1     
lovable man should have had for his name
 that of the chief of the archangels1   
,raphael1 a name beautiful of sound and 
ever suggestive of beauty and           
loveliness4  ,there seemed to have been 
special preparation for the birth of    
this unique character4 ,not only were   
his parents of the ideal sort1 loving   
the best things of life and thinking    
ever of how best to rear the little son 
that ,god had given them1 but the very  
country into which he was born was      
fitted to still further develop his     
natural tenderness and sweetness of     
disposition4  ,webmo1 the birthplace of 
,raphael1 is a secluded mountain town on

 a cliff on the east slope of the       
,apennines directly east of ,florence4  
,it is in the division known as ,umbria1
 a section noted for its gently broken  
landscape1 such as in later years the   
artist loved to paint as background for 
his most beautiful ,madonnas4 ,here the 
people were shut off from much of the   
excitement known to commercial towns4   
,they were slower to take up new things 
than the people in the coast cities     
where men live by the exchange of goods 
and1 incidentally1 of customs4 ,the     
inhabitants led simple1 religious lives4
 ,we must remember1 too1 that hardly    
fifty miles away was the village of     
,assisi1 where ,saint ,francis1 the     
purest of men1 had lived and labored and
 where1 after his death1 a double church
 had been built to his memory4  ,to this
 day there is a spirit of reverence that
 inspires the visitor to this region4   
,no wonder that1 in ,raphael's time when
 this spirit was fresh and strong1 it   
gave a character of piety and sweetness 

to the works of all the painters of     
,umbria4 ,from these two causes1 the    
secluded position of the region and the 
influence of ,saint ,francis1 arose what
 is called the ,umbrian school of       
painting4 ,all painters belonging to    
this school made pictures very beautiful
 and full of fine religious feeling4    
,one ,april morning in #adhc1 to the    
home of ,giovanni ,santi1 the painter1  
and his wife ,magia1 a dear little boy  
came1 as millions of boys and girls have
 since come1 to cheer and to bless4 ,the
 father and mother were very proud of   
their little son1 and feeling perhaps   
that a more than ordinary child had been
 given them1 they gave him the name of  
,raphael1 as one of good omen4  ,if we  
were to visit1 in ,urbino1 the house    
where ,raphael was born1 we would be    
shown a faded fresco of a ,madonna and  
,child painted by ,giovanni and said to 
be ,magia and the child ,raphael4  ,from
 the earliest years the child was       
carefully tended4 ,when he was only     

eight1 the fond mother died and left the
 father to care for his boy alone4 ,in  
due time a step-mother was brought home4
 ,she was a kind woman and loved and    
cared for the beautiful lad as if he    
were really her own child4 ,later when  
the father died1 leaving the boy        
,raphael and his little half-sister1 no 
one could have been more solicitous for 
the boy's rights than his step-mother4  
,she and his uncle together managed his 
affairs most wisely4  ,we have no record
 that1 like ,titian1 the boy ,raphael   
used the juice of flowers with which to 
paint pictures of his childish fancies1 
but we do know that very early he became
 greatly interested in his father's     
studio and went in regularly to assist4 
,now1 it must be remembered that1 at    
this time1 when a boy1 wishing to learn 
to paint1 went to the studio of a master
 he did not at once begin to use colors1
 brushes1 and canvas4 ,instead1 he      
usually served a long apprenticeship1   
sweeping out the studio1 cleaning the   

brushes1 grinding colors1 and performing
 other common duties4 ,raphael's        
assistance to his father must have been 
largely of this humble sort4 ,we can    
imagine1 however1 that his fond father  
did not make his hours long1 and that   
there were pleasant ramblings in the    
woods nearby1 and that many a bunch of  
flowers was gathered for the mother at  
home4 ,there were happy hours1 too1 when
 the father and his son read together   
great books of poetry in which tales of 
love and knightly encounters were       
interesting parts4 ,and then1 ,i am     
sure1 there were other happy hours when1
 tuning their instruments together1 they
 filled the time with music's sweetest  
discourse4    ,illustration3 ,,raphael4 
,this was indeed a happy childhood1 a   
fit beginning for an ideal life4        
,meanwhile the boy grew strong1 and his 
beauty1 too1 increased4 ,the dark hair  
lay lightly upon his shoulders1 and a   
certain dreaminess in his eyes          
deepened1--he was about to feel a great 

sorrow1 for the father1 so devoted1 so  
exemplary1 died when his boy was but    
eleven years old4 ,we cannot help       
wishing that he might have lived to see 
at least one great picture painted by   
his son4 ,we can easily imagine his     
smile of joy at the first stroke that   
surpassed what he could do4  ,just what 
to do with the boy on the death of his  
father was an important matter for the  
step-mother and uncle to decide4 ,they  
showed wisdom by their decision4 ,now1  
the greatest of all the ,umbrian        
painters1 before ,raphael1 was a queer  
little miserly man named ,perugino1 who 
at that time had a studio in ,perugia1  
an ,umbrian town not far distant from   
,urbino4 ,although he was of mean       
appearance and ignoble character1 he had
 an unmistakable power in painting      
mild-eyed ,madonnas and spotless saints 
against delicate landscape back-grounds4
 ,people disliked the man1 but they     
could not help seeing the beauty of his 
art1 and so his studio was crowded4     

,hither was sent the boy ,raphael and   
when ,perugino noted the lad and some of
 his work1 he said1 ,let him be my      
pupil3 he will soon become my master4   
,as nearly as we can learn1 he remained 
in this studio nine years1 from #adie to
 #aejd4  ,perugino's style of painting  
greatly pleased ,raphael4 ,he was       
naturally teachable and this1 with his  
admiration for ,perugino's pictures1    
made his first work in the studio very  
much like his master's4 ,indeed it is   
almost impossible to tell some of his   
earliest pictures from those of his     
teacher4 ,let me tell you about one4 ,it
 is called ,the ,marriage of the        
,virgin2 and you would have to go to the
 ,brera gallery in ,milan to see it4    
,the legend runs thus3 ,the beautiful   
,mary had many lovers all wishing to    
marry her4 ,now here was a difficulty   
indeed1 and so the suitors were required
 to put by their rough staves for a     
night4 ,the promise was that in the     
morning one would be in blossom1 and its

 owner should have ,mary for his wife4  
,we can imagine that these lovers were  
anxious for day to dawn1 and that all   
but one was sad indeed at the result4   
,in the morning there were the rods1 all
 save one1 brown and rough and bare1 but
 that one lay there alive with delicate 
buds and flowers1 and all the air was   
full of fragrance4 ,this was ,joseph's1 
and he went away glad and brought his   
young bride4 ,this first great picture  
of ,raphael's represented this marriage 
taking place at the foot of the ,temple 
steps4 ,the disappointed lovers are     
present and1 ,i am sorry to say1 one of 
them is showing his anger by breaking   
his barren rod even while the marriage  
is taking place4  ,the first and the    
last work of a great man are always     
interesting1 and that is why ,i have    
told you so much about this picture4    
,you will be still more interested in   
,raphael's last picture1 ,the           
,transfiguration4  ,while in the studio 
he made many friends4 ,with one he went 

to ,siena to assist him in some fresco  
painting he had to do there4 ,of course 
you know that fresco is painting on wet 
plaster so that the colors dry in with  
the mortar4  ,the conversation of the   
studio was often of art and artists1 and
 so the beautiful city of ,florence must
 often have been an engaging subject4   
,think of what ,florence was at this    
time1 and how an artist must have       
thrilled at its very name6 ,beautiful as
 a flower1 with her marble palaces1 her 
fine churches1 her lily-like bell-tower6
 ,what a charm was added when within her
 walls ,leonardo da ,vinci was painting1
 ,michael ,angelo carving1 ,savonarola  
preaching4 ,in the early years of       
,raphael's apprenticeship1 the voice of 
the preacher had been silenced1 but     
still1 with the ineffable left hand1 ,da
 ,vinci painted1 and still the marble   
chips dropped from ,angelo's chisel as a
 ,david grew to majesty beneath his     
touch4  ,to ,raphael1 with his love of  
the beautiful1 with his zeal to learn1  

,florence was the city of all others    
that he longed to see4 ,at last his     
dream was to be realized4 ,a noble woman
 of ,urbino gave him a letter to the    
,governor of ,florence1 expressing the  
wish that the young artist might be     
allowed to see all the art treasures of 
the city4 ,the first day of the year    
#aeje greeted ,raphael in ,florence1 the
 art center of ,italy4 ,we can only     
guess at his joy in seeing the works    
here and in greeting his fellow artists4
  ,angelo and ,da ,vinci had just       
finished their cartoons for the town    
hall1 ,the ,bathing ,soldiers1 and ,the 
,battle of the ,standard1 and they were 
on exhibition4 ,all ,florence was       
studying them1 and of this throng we may
 be sure ,raphael was an enthusiastic   
member4 ,while here he painted several  
pictures4 ,among them was the ,granduca 
,madonna1 the simplest of all his       
,madonnas--just a lovely young mother   
holding her babe4 ,it is still in       
,florence1 and to this day people look  

at it and say the ,grand ,duke1 who     
would go nowhere without this gem of    
pictures1 knew what was beautiful4      
,illustration3 ,,raphael ,,in ,,his     
,,studio4  ,raphael did not stay long in
 ,florence at this time1 but soon       
returned to ,perugia4 ,his next visit to
 ,florence was of greater length4       
,during these years1 #aejf to #aejh1 he 
painted many of his best known pictures4
 ,in studying the works of ,raphael you 
must never tire of the beautiful        
,madonna1 for it is said that he painted
 a hundred of these1 so much did he love
 the subject and so successful was he in
 representing the child ,jesus and the  
lovely mother4 ,some of his finest      
,madonnas belong to this time4 ,let us  
look at a few of them4  ,one1 called    
,the ,madonna of the ,goldfinch1 shows  
,mary seated with the ,child ,jesus at  
her knee and the young ,john presenting 
him with a finch1 which he caresses     
gently4 ,the ,madonna has the drooping  
eyes1 the exquisitely rounded face that 

always charm us1 and the boys are real  
live children ready for a frolic4       
,another1 called ,the ,madonna of the   
,meadow1 represents the ,virgin in the  
foreground of a gently broken landscape 
with the two children playing beside    
her4 ,we must not forget1 either1 as    
belonging to this time1 the very        
beautiful ,la ,belle ,jardiniere1 or the
 ,madonna of the ,garden which now hangs
 in the ,louvre1 the art gallery of     
,paris4  ,like all his great ,madonnas1 
the ,virgin and ,children are of        
surpassing loveliness4 ,it is finished  
in such a soft1 melting style that to   
see it in its exquisite coloring1 one   
could easily imagine it vanishing       
imperceptibly into the blaze of some    
splendid sunset4 ,while we are talking  
of ,raphael's color it may be           
interesting to call your attention to a 
very remarkable fact about his          
paintings4 ,he lays the color on the    
canvas so thin that sometimes one can   
trace through it the lines of the       

drawing1 and yet his color is so pure   
and beautiful that he is considered one 
of the greatest colorists of the world4 
,the next time you see an oil painting1 
notice how thick or how thin the paint  
is laid on1 and then think of what ,i   
have told you of ,raphael's method of   
using color4    ,illustration3 ,,la     
,,belle ,,jardiniere4      ,raphael4    
,now while ,raphael was painting these  
drooping-eyed1 mild-faced ,madonnas and 
learning great lessons from the masters 
of ,florence1 a wonderful honor came to 
him4 ,he was called to ,rome by the     
,pope and given some of the apartments  
of the ,vatican to decorate in any way  
he wished4  ,the ,pope at this time was 
,julius ,,ii4 and he was a very         
interesting man4 ,he was a warrior and  
had spent many years fighting to gain   
lands and cities for the ,church4 ,when 
peace returned he was still anxious to  
do honor to the ,church and so1 wherever
 he heard of a great architect1 painter1
 or sculptor1 he at once invited him to 

,rome to do beautiful work for the      
,church4 ,already he had set ,michael   
,angelo to work on a grand tomb for him4
 ,bramante1 a relative of ,raphael's1   
was working hard to make ,st4 ,peter's  
the most wonderful ,church in all the   
world4 ,now the young ,raphael was to   
beautify still further the buildings    
belonging to the church4  ,julius did   
not pretend to be an artist or a        
scholar1 and yet by his patronage he    
greatly encouraged art and literature4  
,the story is told that when ,angelo was
 making a statue of the ,pope for the   
town of ,bologna1 the artist asked      
,julius if he should place a book in the
 statue's extended left hand1 and the   
,pope retorted1 almost in anger1 ,what  
book8 ,rather a sword--,i am no reader6 
,in earlier years ,florence had been a  
glorious sight to our artist and now in 
#aejh1 standing in the ,eternal ,city1  
he was more awed than when first he     
beheld the city of the ,arno4 ,here the 
court of ,julius1 gorgeous and powerful1

 together with the works of art1 like   
,st4 ,peter's1 in process of            
construction1 were but a part of the    
wonders to be seen4 ,in addition1 the   
remains of ancient ,rome were scattered 
all about--here a row of columns1 the   
only remains of a grand temple1 there a 
broken statue of some god or goddess1   
long lost to sight1 and all the earth   
about so filled with these treasures    
that one had only to dig to find some   
hidden work of art4 ,the ,roman people1 
too1 were awake to the fact that they   
were not only living out a marvelous    
present1 but that they were likewise1 in
 their every day life1 walking ever in  
the presence of a still more wonderful  
past4 ,i wish1 while you are thinking   
about this1 that you would get a picture
 of the ,roman ,forum and notice its    
groups of columns1 its triumphal arches1
 its ruined walls4 ,you will then       
certainly appreciate more fully what    
,raphael felt as he went about this city
 of historic ruins4    ,illustration3   

,,madonna ,,of ,,the ,,fish4            
,raphael4  ,the ,pope received the young
 artist cordially and at once gave him  
the vast commission of painting in      
fresco three large rooms1 or stanze1 of 
the ,vatican4 ,in addition1 he was to   
decorate the gallery1 or corridor1      
called the loggia1 leading to these     
apartments from the stairway4 ,with the 
painting of these walls ,raphael and his
 pupils were more or less busy during   
the remainder of the artist's short     
life4 ,a great many religious and       
historic subjects were used1 besides    
some invented by ,raphael himself1 as   
when he represented ,poetry by ,mount   
,parnassus inhabited by all the great   
poets past and present4 ,in these rooms 
some of his best work is done4 ,every   
year thousands of people go to see these
 pictures and come away more than ever  
enraptured with ,raphael and his work4  
,in the loggia are the paintings known  
collectively as ,raphael's ,bible4 ,of  
the fifty-two pictures in the thirteen  

arcades of this corridor all but four   
represent ,old ,testament scenes4 ,the  
others are taken from the ,new          
,testament4 ,although ,raphael's pupils 
assisted largely in these frescoes they 
are very beautiful and will always rank 
high among the art works of the time4   
,raphael's works seem almost perfect    
even from the beginning1 yet he was     
always studying to get the great points 
in the work of others and to perfect his
 own4 ,perhaps this is the best lesson  
we may learn from his intellectual      
life--the lesson of unending study and  
assimilation4 ,he was greatly interested
 in the ruins of ,rome and we know that 
he studied them deeply and carefully4   
,this is very evident in the ,madonnas  
of his ,roman period4 ,they have a      
strength and a power to make one think  
great thoughts that is not so marked in 
the pictures of his ,florentine period4 
,illustration3 ,,the ,,archangel4       
,detail from ,madonna of the ,fish4     
,raphael4  ,the ,madonna of the ,fish is

 one of the most beautiful of this time4
 ,it was painted originally for a chapel
 in ,naples where the blind prayed for  
sight1 and where1 legend relates1 they  
were often miraculously answered4 ,the  
divine ,mother1 a little older than     
,raphael's virgins of earlier years1 is 
seated on a throne with the ever        
beautiful child in her arms4 ,the babe  
gives his attention to the surpassingly 
lovely angel1 ,raphael1 who brings the  
young ,tobias with his fish into the    
presence of the ,virgin1 of whom he     
would beg the healing of his father who 
is blind4 ,on the other side he points  
to a passage in the book held by the    
venerable ,st4 ,jerome4 ,this is        
doubtless the book of ,tobit wherein the
 story of ,tobias is related1 and which 
,tobias translated4 ,whatever the real  
purpose of the artist was in introducing
 ,st4 ,jerome1 a very beautiful result  
was attained in contrasting youth and   
age4 ,like a human being of note1 this  
picture has had an eventful history4 ,it

 was stolen from ,naples and carried to 
,madrid and then1 in the ,french wars1  
it was taken to ,paris4 ,it has since   
been restored to the ,prado of ,madrid1 
and there to-day we may feast our eyes  
on its almost unearthly loveliness4 ,in 
it the divine painter showed that he    
knew the heart of a mother and the love 
of a son2 that he appreciated the       
majesty of age and the heavenly beauty  
of the angels4  ,hardly less beautiful  
is the ,madonna ,foligno1 so named from 
the distant view of the town of ,foligno
 seen under a rainbow in the central    
part of the picture4 ,in the upper      
portion1 surrounded by angel heads1 is  
the ,madonna holding out her child to   
us4 ,below is the scene already referred
 to1 the portrait of the donor of the   
picture1 some saints1 and a beautiful   
boy angel4 ,the latter is holding a     
tablet which is to be inscribed1 for    
this is one of that large class of      
pictures in ,italian ,art called        
votive--that is1 given to the church by 

an individual in return for some great  
deliverance4 ,in this case the donor had
 escaped1 as by a miracle1 from a stroke
 of lightning4  ,in this short sketch   
there is time to mention only a few of  
,raphael's great pictures1 but ,i trust 
you will be so interested that you will 
look up about others that are passed    
over here4 ,there are many very         
interesting books about ,raphael in     
which you can find descriptions of all  
of his pictures4  ,among other          
paintings1 ,raphael made many fine      
portraits4 ,an excellent likeness of    
,julius was so well done that1          
skillfully placed and lighted1 it       
deceived some of the ,pope's friends    
into thinking it the living ,julius4    
,the painting of portraits was not the  
only departure of our artist from his   
favorite ,madonna or historic subjects4 
,we find him also interested in         
mythology4 ,out of this interest grew   
his ,galatea1 which he painted for a    
wealthy nobleman of his acquaintance4   

,in this picture ,galatea sails over the
 sea in her shell-boat drawn by         
dolphins4 ,she gazes into heaven and    
seems unconscious of the nymphs sporting
 about her4    ,illustration3 ,,galatea4
      ,raphael4  ,speaking of ,raphael's
 use of mythological subjects1 though   
not quite in the order of time1 we may  
here mention his frescos illustrating   
the story of ,cupid and ,psyche1 painted
 on the walls and ceiling of the same   
nobleman's palace1 the ,chigi palace4   
,the drawings for these pictures were   
made by ,raphael1 but most of the       
painting was done by his pupils4 ,as we 
study these pictures of the joys and    
sorrows of this beautiful pair1 we are  
interested1 but we regret that our      
angel-painter was willing1 even for a   
short time1 to leave his own proper     
subjects1 the religious4 ,we feel like  
saying1 ,let men who know not the depth 
of religious feeling1 as did ,raphael1  
paint for us the myth and the secular   
story1 but let us save from any earthly 

touch our painter of sacred things4  ,in
 #aeac the great ,julius died1 and ,leo 
,x41 a member of the famous ,medici     
family of ,florence1 succeeded to his   
place4 ,raphael was in the midst of his 
paintings in the ,vatican1 and for a    
time it was uncertain what the new ,pope
 would think of continuing these        
expensive decorations4 ,though lacking  
the energy of ,julius1 ,leo continued   
the warrior-pope's policy regarding art 
works4 ,so ,raphael went on unmolested  
in his work1 with now and then a great  
commission added4  ,during the life of  
,leo the power of the ,church sunk to a 
low level1 and yet the angel-painter of 
the ,vatican pursued in peace the       
composition and painting of his lovely  
works4  ,the ,st4 ,cecilia was a very   
important work painted about the time of
 ,julius' death4 ,it was painted for a  
wealthy woman of ,bologna to adorn a    
chapel which she had built to ,st4      
,cecilia1 the patroness of music4 ,she  
had built this chapel because she       

thought she heard angels telling her to 
do it2 in other words she had obeyed a  
vision4  ,in the picture the saint      
stands in the centre of a group made up 
of ,st4 ,john1 ,st4 ,paul1 ,st4         
,augustine1 and ,mary ,magdalene4 ,she  
holds carelessly in her hands an organ  
from which the reeds are slipping4 ,what
 charms can even her favorite instrument
 have for her when streams of heaven's  
own music are reaching her from the     
angel choir above8 ,every line of face  
and figure shows her rapt attention to  
the celestial singers4 ,the instruments 
of earthly music lie scattered          
carelessly about4  ,while our attention 
is held most of all by the figure of    
,st4 ,cecilia1 the other persons        
represented interest us too1 especially 
,st4 ,paul1 leaning on his naked sword4 
7,see illustration47 ,his massive head  
and furrowed brow show man at his       
noblest occupation--thinking4 ,in       
delightful contrast is the ever         
beautiful ,st4 ,john1 the embodiment of 

youth and love4    ,illustration3 ,,st4 
,,cecilia4      ,raphael4  ,when the    
picture was completed ,raphael sent it  
to his old friend ,francia1 the artist  
of ,bologna4 ,it is related that        
,francia1 on seeing the wonderful       
perfection of the picture1 died of      
despair1 feeling how poorly he could    
paint as compared with ,raphael4        
,whether this story be true or not1 it  
is certain that the people of ,bologna  
were much excited over the arrival of   
the picture and gloried in possessing   
the vision of ,st4 ,cecilia4 ,the       
picture is still to be seen in ,bologna1
 where it retains its brilliant         
coloring1 slightly mellowed by the      
passing years4  ,the ,sistine ,chapel   
was the most beautiful apartment in the 
,vatican4 ,its walls were covered with  
choicest frescos4 ,its ceiling1 done by 
the wonder-working hand of ,michael     
,angelo1 was a marvel4 ,to add still    
more to the beauty of this ,chapel1 ,leo
 ordered ,raphael to draw cartoons for  

ten tapestries to be hung below the     
lowest tier of paintings4 ,now you know 
that cartoons are the large paper       
drawings made previous to frescos and   
tapestries to serve as patterns4        
,raphael selected ten subjects from the 
,acts of the ,apostles4 ,his designs    
were accepted and sent to ,arras in     
,flanders where the most beautiful      
tapestries were manufactured4 ,the      
cartoons were cut into strips that they 
might be more conveniently used4 ,in    
#aeah the tapestries1 woven of silk1    
wool1 and gold1 were finished and       
brought to ,rome1 where they were       
greatly admired4    ,illustration3      
,,miraculous ,,draught ,,of ,,fishes4   
,raphael4  ,in #aebg1 ,rome was sacked  
by savage soldiers and many of her      
choicest things carried away4 ,among    
them were these tapestries4 ,they were  
sold and then restolen by ,jews1 who    
thought to separate the gold by burning 
them4 ,they tried this with one and     
found that the quantity of gold was so  

small that it was not worth the trouble1
 and so the others were spared and sold 
to a merchant of ,genoa4 ,they were     
finally recovered in a faded condition  
and are now in the ,vatican4  ,meanwhile
 the cartoons were forgotten and three  
of them lost4 ,the ,flemish artist1     
,rubens1 came across those remaining1   
however1 and recommended ,charles ,i4 of
 ,england to purchase them for his      
palace at ,whitehall4 ,later ,cromwell  
bought them for the nation1 and today we
 may see them pasted together and       
carefully mounted in ,south ,kensington 
,museum1 ,london4 ,the ,miraculous      
,draught of ,fishes1 7see opposite      
page17 is one of the best known of the  
series4 ,all are bold and strong in     
drawing1 and several are very beautiful1
 as ,paul and ,john at the ,beautiful   
,gate4 ,one critic1 in speaking of the  
cartoons1 says they mark the climax of  
,raphael's art4  ,we must not forget    
that all these years1 while ,raphael was
 making these wonderful cartoons and    

pictures1 the work on the rooms of the  
,vatican was going steadily forward4 ,he
 certainly was a busy man6  ,probably   
the best known of ,raphael's ,madonnas  
is ,the ,madonna della ,sedia1 so called
 because the mother sits in a chair4 ,a 
delightful story is told of the painting
 of this picture4 ,it runs something    
like this3 ,many years ago there lived  
in a quiet valley in ,italy a hermit who
 was greatly loved by all the people    
round about1 for he taught them and he  
helped them in sickness and in trouble4 
,his hut was near a giant oak tree that 
sheltered him from the sun of summer and
 the biting winds of winter4 ,in the    
constant waving of its branches1 too1 it
 seemed to converse with him1 and so he 
said he had two intimate friends1 one   
that could talk1 and one that was mute4 
,by the one that could talk he meant the
 vine-dresser's daughter who lived near 
by and who was very kind to him4 ,by the
 mute one he meant this sheltering oak4 
,now1 one winter a great storm arose1   

and when the hermit saw that his hut was
 unsafe1 his mute friend seemed to      
beckon him to come up among the         
branches4 ,gathering a few crusts1 he   
went up into the tree where1 with       
hundreds of bird companions1 his life   
was saved1 though his hut was destroyed4
 ,just as he thought he should die of   
hunger1 ,mary1 the vine-dresser's       
daughter1 came to see her old friend and
 took him to her home4 ,then the pious  
hermit1 ,benardo1 prayed that his two   
friends might be glorified together in  
some way4    ,illustration3 ,,madonna   
,,della ,,sedia4      ,raphael4  ,time  
wore on4 ,the hermit died1 the oak tree 
was cut down and converted into wine    
casks1 and the lovely ,mary married and 
was the mother of two boys4 ,one day as 
she sat with her children1 a young man  
passed by4 ,his eyes were restless1 and 
one might have known him for a poet or a
 painter in whose mind a celestial      
vision was floating4 ,suddenly he saw   
the young mother and her two children4  

,the painter1 for it was ,raphael1 now  
beheld his vision made flesh and blood4 
,but he had only a pencil4 ,on what     
could he draw the beautiful group8 ,he  
seized the clean cover of a wine cask   
near by and drew upon it the lines to   
guide him in his painting4 ,he went home
 and filled out his sketch in loveliest 
color1 and ever since the world has been
 his debtor for giving it his heavenly  
vision4 ,so the hermit's prayer was     
answered4 ,his two friends were         
glorified together4  ,other honors1     
besides those coming from his paintings1
 were showered upon ,raphael at this    
time4 ,he was now rich1 and the         
,cardinal ,bibbiena offered him his     
niece ,maria in marriage4 ,it was       
considered a great thing in those times 
to be allied by marriage to a church    
dignitary1 but ,raphael had higher      
honors1 and so1 while he accepted the   
offer rather than offend the cardinal1  
he put off the wedding until ,maria     
died4 ,his heart was not in this        

contract because for years he had loved 
a humble but beautiful girl1            
,margherita1 who was probably the model 
of some of his sweetest ,madonnas4      
,speaking of the honors thrust upon     
,raphael1 we must not forget that the   
,pope made him architect-in-chief of    
,st4 ,peter's on the death of ,bramante4
 ,he was also appointed to make drawings
 of the ancient city of ,rome1 in order 
that the digging for buried remains     
might be carried on more intelligently4 
,in every ,madonna we have described1 we
 have had to use freely the words       
lovely1 great1 beautiful1 but one there 
remains which1 more than any other1     
merits all these titles and others in   
addition4 ,it is the ,sistine ,madonna  
in the ,dresden ,gallery4 ,it was the   
last picture painted wholly by          
,raphael's hand4 ,it was painted        
originally as a banner for the monks of 
,st4 ,sixtus at ,piacenza1 but it was   
used as an altar-piece4 ,in #aged1 the  
,elector of ,saxony bought it for       

#dj1jjj and it was brought to ,dresden  
with great pomp4 ,people who know about 
pictures generally agree that this is   
the greatest picture in the world4      
,illustration3 ,,st4 ,,paul4 ,detail    
from ,st4 ,cecilia4      ,raphael4  ,let
 us see some of the things which it     
contains--no one can ever tell you all1 
for as the years increase and your lives
 are enlarged by joy and by sorrow1 you 
will ever see more and more in this     
divine picture and feel more than you   
see4 ,two green curtains are drawn aside
 and there1 floating on the clouds1 is  
the ,virgin full length1 presenting the 
,holy ,child to the world4 ,it is far   
more than a mother and child1 for one   
sees in the ,madonna a look suggesting  
that she sees vaguely the darkness of   
,calvary and the glory of the           
resurrection4 ,this is no ordinary      
child1 either1 that she holds1 for ,he  
sees beyond this world into eternity and
 that ,his is no common destiny2--at    
least1 one feels these things as we gaze

 at the lovely apparition on its        
background of clouds and innumerable    
angel heads4 ,st4 ,sixtus on one side   
would know more of this mystery1 while  
,st4 ,barbara on the other is dazzled by
 the vision and turns aside her lovely  
face4 ,below are the two cherubs1 the   
final touch of love1 as it were1 to this
 marvellous picture4  ,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 
balustrade1 gazing intently up at his   
picture4  ,this painting has a room to  
itself in the ,dresden ,gallery1 where  
the most frivolous forget to chat and   
the thoughtful sit for hours in quiet   
meditation under its magic spell4 ,one  
man says1 ,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 joy4 
,there was now great division of opinion
 in ,rome as to whether ,angelo or      

,raphael were the greater painter4      
,cardinal de ,medici ordered two        
pictures for the ,cathedral of          
,narbonne1 in ,france1 one by ,raphael  
and one by ,sebastian ,piombo1 a        
favorite pupil of ,angelo's4 ,people    
knew that ,angelo would never openly    
compete with ,raphael1 but they also    
felt sure that he would assist his      
pupil4 ,the subject chosen by ,raphael  
was ,the ,transfiguration4 ,but         
suddenly1 even before this latest       
commission was completed1 that magic    
hand had been stopped by death4 ,the    
picture1 though finished by ,raphael's  
pupils1 is a great work4 ,the ascending 
,lord is the point of greatest interest 
in the upper1 or celestial part1 while  
the father with his demoniac child1     
holds our attention in the lower1 or    
terrestrial portion4 ,at his funeral    
this unfinished picture hung above the  
dead painter1 and his sorrowing friends 
must have felt1 as ,longfellow wrote of 
,hawthorne when he lay dead with an     

unfinished story on his bier1--         
,ah1 who shall lift that wand of magic  
power1      ,and the lost clew regain8  
,the unfinished window in ,aladdin's    
tower      ,unfinished must remain4     
,illustration3 ,,transfiguration4       
,raphael4  ,raphael died suddenly on his
 birthday in #aebj1 from a fever        
contracted while searching for remains  
among the ruins of ,rome4 ,he realized  
from the first that his sickness was    
fatal1 and he immediately set about     
disposing of his property4 ,his works of
 art he gave to his pupils1 his palace  
to ,cardinal ,bibbiena1 and his other   
property was distributed among his      
relatives1 and to his sweetheart1       
,margherita4 ,he was buried with honors 
in the ,pantheon at ,rome1 beside ,maria
 ,bibbiena4  ,for many years there was  
exhibited at ,st4 ,luke's ,academy1 in  
,rome1 a so-called skull of ,raphael4   
,in #ahcc some scholars declared that   
they did not believe this to be the     
skull of the artist4 ,they urged the    

authorities to open the grave to prove  
their position4 ,after five days of     
careful digging the coffin was reached  
and there lay the artist's skeleton     
complete4 ,for many days it was exposed 
to view in a glass case4 ,a cast was    
taken of the right hand and of the      
skull1 and then1 with splendid          
ceremonies1 they buried the artist a    
second time4  ,mention has often been   
made of ,raphael's personal beauty4     
,only thirty-seven when he died1 his    
seraphic beauty was never marred by age4
  ,in his palace he lived the life of a 
prince1 and when he walked abroad1 he   
had a retinue of devoted followers4 ,he 
had for friends princes and prelates1   
artists and poets1 while the common     
people loved him for the fine spirit    
they knew him to be4  ,judged by the    
moral standard of his time1 he was      
absolutely spotless4 ,seldom1 in any    
man1 have all good qualities joined with
 a versatile genius to the extent that  
they did in ,raphael4 ,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 lived1 and to die    
when he died4   ,,references ,,for      
,,raphael4      ,life of ,raphael by    
,bell4      ,life of ,raphael by        
,sweetster4      ,life of ,raphael by   
,vasari4      ,schools and ,masters of  
,painting by ,radcliffe4      ,history  
of ,art by ,luebke4      ,history of    
,art by ,mrs4 ,heaton4      ,great      
,artists by ,mrs4 ,shedd4      ,the     
,fine ,arts by ,symonds4      ,early    
,italian ,painters by ,mrs4 ,jameson4   
,,subjects ,,for ,,language ,,work4     
#a4 ,the ,boy ,raphael at ,home4        
#b4 ,my ,favorite ,madonna4       #c4   
,stories of ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi4   
#d4 ,what ,i know of ,fresco ,painting4 
#e4 ,looking for ,buried ,treasures in  
,rome4       #f4 ,a ,day in the ,roman  
,forum4       #g4 ,a ,day with the ,boy 
,raphael4       #h4 ,the ,legend of the 
,madonna della ,sedia4       #i4        

,raphael and ,his ,friends4      #aj4   
,raphael the ,student4                  
,illustration3 ,,court ,,in ,,the       
,,alcazar4  ,,murillo ,,and ,,spanish   
,,art      ,velazquez is in art an      
eagle2 ,murillo is an angel4 ,one       
admires     ,velazquez and adores       
,murillo4 ,by his canvasses we know him 
as if     he had lived among us4 ,he was
 handsome1 good and virtuous4 ,envy     
knew not where to attack him2 around his
 crown of glory he bore     a halo of   
love4 ,he was born to paint the sky4    
--,,de ,,amicis4      ,murillo could    
paint the sacred fervor of the devotee1 
or the     ecstasy of the religious     
enthusiast1 as well as the raggedness   
of the mendicant1 or the abject         
suffering of ,job4     --,,charles      
,,blanc4  ,illustration3 ,,murillo4     
,,murillo ,,and ,,spanish ,,art4        
,spain was not blessed as ,italy was    
with one generation after another of    
artists so great that all the world     
knows them even at this distant day4    

,spain has only two unquestionably great
 painters that stand out as             
world-artists4 ,they are ,velazquez and 
,murillo4 ,the former painted with      
unrivalled skill the world of noblemen  
among whom he lived4 ,the other1 not    
surrounded by courtiers1 looked into his
 own pure1 religious soul1 and into the 
sky above1 and gave us visions of       
heaven--its saints and its angels4  ,it 
is impossible to study either of these  
men apart from the other1 or apart from 
the art records of ,spain4 ,to          
understand either1 we must know the     
land1 teeming with rich and unique      
cities1 we must have glimpses of its    
history1 and we must know something of  
the rules laid down by the church to    
guide the painter in his work4  ,the    
climate of ,spain1 except in the south1 
is rigorous4 ,elevated plains1 rounded  
by snow-capped mountains1 and swept     
during a large part of the year by      
chilling winds1 are not adapted to      
inspire men to produce great works of   

art4 ,on such a plain ,madrid is        
situated1 and chilly indeed are its     
nature pictures1 even though they are   
over-arched by the bluest of skies and  
the most transparent of atmospheres6 ,in
 ,andalusia1 however1 things were       
different4 ,here were the olive1 the    
orange1 and the cypress1 and here a     
sunny climate encouraged the houseless  
beggar no less than the aspiring artist4
    ,illustration3 ,velasquez de ,silva4
  ,in speaking of ,spain as a home of   
painting1 we must not forget1 either1   
how very devoted the people were to     
their religion1 for this1 perhaps more  
than anything else1 gave a peculiar     
character to the art of ,spain4 ,the    
doctrines of ,luther1 found no willing  
listeners in ,spain4 ,indeed1 the       
,spaniards clung all the closer to the  
,church when they knew that there were  
those who wished to change it1 and so   
their paintings are full of sad-faced1  
suffering saints1 and rejoicing1 holy   
men and women who gave their lives to   

religion4 ,in connection with this      
extreme religious zeal1 the ,church     
found it necessary to impose rules on   
the artists who would paint these holy  
personages4 ,the ,virgin1 whom all      
profoundly reverenced1 should1 according
 to tradition1 have fair hair and blue  
eyes4 ,her robes must be of pure white  
and azure blue1 and under no            
circumstances should her feet be        
exposed4 ,she should stand on the       
crescent moon with its horns pointing   
downward4 ,many other similar rules were
 at that time thought necessary1 and    
they greatly limited the artists in     
their work1 for however good a churchman
 a man may be1 it is impossible for him 
to properly prescribe colors and forms  
for the artist1 who1 if he is any thing 
at all1 is the see-er of his age4 ,we   
want such things as the artist sees     
them4 ,we shall see how nearly ,murillo 
got into trouble by breaking some of    
these prescribed rules4  ,if we study   
the kings of ,spain1 ,charles ,v4 and   

the ,philips1 we shall see two things   
that greatly influenced the art of      
,spain4 ,first1 they were fond of art   
and spent great sums of money in buying 
fine paintings by ,italian and ,flemish 
masters4 ,both ,titian and ,rubens were 
favorites in ,spain1 and many of their  
pictures were painted expressly for     
,spanish monarchs4 ,then1 these rulers  
were vain and had a great liking for    
having their portraits painted4 ,this   
vanity extended to the ,courtiers and   
even to the dwarfs1 several of whom were
 usually connected with the court as a  
source of amusement4 ,there are         
portraits of some of these diminutive   
creatures so skillfully painted that we 
cannot help wishing that more worthy    
subjects had been used4 ,thus the vanity
 of monarchs and their courtiers gave a 
direction to ,spanish art which can be  
accounted for in no other way--their    
greatest artists are always great       
portrait painters4 ,so we see that1     
while genius in artists is              

indispensable1 yet is this same genius  
largely influenced by climate1 by       
religious enthusiasm1 and even by the   
whims of kings and queens4              
,illustration3 ,,aesop4      ,velazquez4
  ,although ,murillo stands out a       
superlatively great and beautiful       
artist1 yet we must not forget that     
,velazquez1 only eighteen years his     
senior1 and like himself a native of    
,seville1 lived during the greater part 
of ,murillo's lifetime and divided      
honors with him4 ,as has already been   
indicated1 ,velazquez's art was of a    
very different sort from ,murillo's4 ,he
 was born into a home of plenty1 and    
very soon went to ,madrid as court      
painter4 ,we know how he gained renown  
for all time by the accuracy of the     
portraits he painted of various members 
of the court of ,philip ,,iv4--the king1
 the minister1 ,count ,olivarez1 the    
princes1 the dwarfs1 and the buffoons4  
,we remember1 too1 how he thought that  
very ordinary personage1 ,the           

,water-,carrier of ,seville1 with his   
wrinkles1 his joy1 and his beggarly     
customers1 a subject worth painting4    
,then we recall a goodly list of other  
commonplace subjects which he treated so
 truthfully that they will always stand 
among the great pictures of the         
world1--,the ,spinners1 where women     
labor in a dingy room1 ,the ,topers1    
,the ,lances1 representing the great    
surrender of ,breda1 and the ,the ,maids
 of ,honor4 ,nor can we forget his ideal
 portrait of ,a,esop1 with his book     
under his arm4 ,how well we know that   
book of fables6 ,the rugged1            
good-natured face1 homely as can be1    
holds us1 as by a spell1 and if we have 
not already done so1 we read his book   
because we must1 after looking into that
 dear old face4  ,one of the loveliest  
things we remember of ,velazquez was his
 kindness to ,murillo when he came to   
,madrid1 a poor art student4 ,although  
,velazquez was rich and his pictures in 
demand1 he took a keen interest in the  

young ,murillo1 who should one day stand
 beside him--they two the greatest      
artists of ,spain4 ,by the duties of his
 office1 he was obliged to take an      
active part in the festivities attending
 the marriage of ,louis ,,xiv4 and the  
,infanta1 ,maria ,theresa1 in #affj4    
,the fatigue and exposure caused his    
death4 ,we are reasonable in presuming  
that thus was ,spain robbed of ten years
 of a strong artist's life and work4    
,incomparable loss when we think of what
 his countrymen gained in watching a    
passing pageant4    ,illustration3      
,,cathedral1 ,,seville1 ,,showing ,,the 
,,giralda ,,tower4  ,spain is a land of 
unique cities4 ,perhaps this is because 
in so many of them the works of         
,christianity were grafted on to works  
originally built or begun by the ,moors4
 ,as we study the wonderful buildings of
 ,spain1 we cannot forget1 however much 
we may abhor the religion of the ,arabs1
 that they were marvellous builders and 
profound scholars4 ,when the ,spaniards 

sent them from their country1 after they
 had lived there for seven hundred      
years1 they lost their best citizens1   
and the most beautiful and highly       
cultivated part of ,spain was henceforth
 to be comparatively desolate4 ,on all  
the great section of ,andalusia1 the    
most southern part of ,spain1 the ,moors
 left marks in buildings and in         
cultivation1 that it will take centuries
 yet to sweep away4  ,of all the cities 
of this division1 and it includes a     
goodly number of ,spain's most important
 towns1 ,seville1 the pearl of cities1  
the birthplace of both ,velazquez and   
,murillo1 appeals most strongly to      
everyone4 ,many superlative adjectives  
rise to our lips as we think of its     
whiteness1 of its sunny vineyard slopes1
 its orange and olive groves1 its       
salubrious climate1 and its ancient     
associations4 ,we think of its wondrous 
cathedral1 next in size to ,st4         
,peter's1 of its storied bell-tower1 the
 ,giralda1 of that fairy palace1 the    

home of generations of ,moorish kings1  
the ,alcazar1 of the ,golden ,tower by  
the river's edge1 where ,christian      
rulers stored their treasure4 ,and then 
to our vision of ,seville the beautiful1
 we add the silver ,guadalquivir which  
divides1 and yet encloses this dream    
city of ,andalusia4 ,if we are not      
interested in art1 still must we be     
enthusiastic over ,seville1 for its     
bewitching little women with their      
lustrous eyes1 their glossy dark hair1  
held by the ever present single rose4   
,if it be entertainment we seek1 then   
,seville will furnish us the national   
bull-fight in all its perfection4 ,if   
the more refined delights of music      
attract us1 still more is this our      
chosen city1 for here is the scene of1  
,mozart's ,don ,juan and ,figaro1 of    
,bizet's ,carmen1 and many are the shops
 that claim to have belonged to the     
,barber of ,seville4  ,it is most       
pleasing to our sense of appropriateness
 that out of this beautiful white city  

of ,andalusia1 should have come1 at     
about the same time1 the two greatest   
,spanish painters1 the one to give us   
real scenes and people1 the other to    
give us ideals of loftiest type4  ,here 
in the closing days of #afag1 ,murillo  
was born4 ,his father and mother were   
poor people4 ,the house they lived in   
had formerly belonged to a convent1 and 
it was rented to them for a very small  
sum1 on condition that they would keep  
up the repairs4 ,even this ,murillo's   
father found to be a heavy burden4 ,he  
was a mechanic and his income very      
small4    ,illustration3 ,,the ,,grape  
,,eaters4      ,murillo4  ,our artist's 
full name was ,bartolome ,esteban       
,murillo4 ,his last name seems to have  
come from his father's family1 though it
 was even more common in those days to  
take the mother's name for a surname1 as
 in the case of ,velazquez4 ,we know    
almost nothing of his early years except
 that he was left an orphan before he   
was eleven1 under the guardianship of an

 uncle4 ,perhaps we should mention that 
,murillo early showed his inclination to
 make pictures by scribbling the margin 
of his school books with designs that in
 no wise illustrated the text therein4  
,with this as a guide his guardian early
 apprenticed him to ,juan del ,castillo1
 another uncle1 and an artist of some   
repute4 ,here he learned to mix colors1 
to clean brushes1 and to draw with great
 accuracy4  ,when ,murillo was about    
twenty-two1 ,castillo removed to ,cadiz1
 down the river from ,seville1 and the  
young artist was thrown wholly on his   
own resources4 ,life with him in those  
days was merely a struggle for          
existence4 ,he took the method very     
generally taken by young artists4 ,he   
painted for the ,feria or weekly market4
 ,here all sorts of producers and       
hucksters gathered with their wares4 ,we
 can imagine that men of this sort were 
not very particular about the art       
objects they purchased4 ,they demanded  
two things--bright colors and striking  

figures4 ,murillo1 in common with other 
struggling artists1 turned out great    
numbers of these little bits of painted 
canvas4 ,some of them have been         
discovered in ,spanish ,america1 whither
 they were undoubtedly taken to assist  
in religious teaching4  ,if there was   
hardship in this painting for the feria1
 as people slightingly spoke of such    
work1 there were also immense           
advantages4 ,as he painted he could     
observe the people who came to buy and  
the people who came to sell1 and1       
mayhap1 that other numerous class in    
,seville who neither buy nor sell1 but  
beg instead4 ,from this very observation
 of character must have come largely    
that skill which is so marked in his    
pictures of beggar boys1 who1 with a few
 coppers1 or a melon1 or some grapes1   
are kings of their surroundings4 ,then  
the demand for striking figures         
cultivated a broad style in the artist  
which added greatly to his later work4  
,a fellow pupil of ,murillo's had joined

 the army in ,flanders4 ,when he        
returned he told such wonderful stories 
of the country and its art works1 that  
,murillo was more than ever inspired to 
go abroad to ,rome or to ,flanders4 ,he 
at once set about earning a little money
 to assist him in the journey4 ,again he
 painted a great number of saints and   
bright landscapes on small squares of   
linen1 and sold them to eager customers4
 ,thus he provided himself with scant   
means for the journey4 ,he placed his   
sister in the care of a relative1 and   
then started off afoot across the       
,sierras to ,madrid1 without having told
 anyone of his intentions4 ,his little  
stock of money was soon exhausted1 and  
he arrived in ,madrid exhausted and     
desperately lonesome4 ,he at once       
searched out ,velazquez1 his townsman1  
who was then rich1 and honored in the   
position of court painter to ,philip    
,,iv4 ,velazquez received him kindly1   
and after some inquiry about mutual     
acquaintances1 he talked of the young   

painter's plans for himself4 ,murillo   
spoke freely of his ambition to be a    
great painter1 and of his desire to     
visit ,rome and ,flanders4  ,velazquez  
took the young painter to his own house1
 and procured for him the privilege of  
copying in the great galleries of the   
capitol and in the ,escurial4 ,he       
advised him to copy carefully the       
masterpieces in his own country4 ,there 
were pictures by ,titian1 ,van ,dyck1   
and ,rubens1 and ,murillo began the work
 of copying them at once4 ,when         
,velazquez returned after long absence1 
he was surprised at the improvement in  
,murillo's work4 ,he now advised the    
young painter to go to ,rome1 but he had
 been away from ,seville for three      
years1 and he longed to be again at home
 in his beautiful native city4 ,during  
his absence he had learned much in art  
and in the ways of the world4 ,he had   
met many distinguished artists and      
statesmen in ,velazquez's home4         
,illustration3 ,,fruit ,,venders4       

,murillo4  ,the first three years after 
his return to ,seville1 he busied       
himself with a series of pictures for a 
small ,franciscan convent near by4      
,although he did the work without pay1  
the monks were loath to give him the    
commission because he was an unknown    
artist4 ,there were eleven in the       
series1 scenes from the life of ,st4    
,francis4 ,they were admirably done1 and
 though the artist received no pay for  
them1 they did him a greater service    
than money could have bought--they      
established his reputation1 so that he  
no longer wanted for such work as he    
desired4  ,among his earliest and best  
known pictures are those charming       
studies of the beggar boys and flower   
girls of ,seville4 ,several of the best 
of these are in the gallery at ,munich  
where they are justly prized4 ,here are 
some of the names he gives these        
pictures1 ,the ,melon ,eaters1 ,the     
,gamesters1 ,the ,grape ,eaters1 ,the   
,fruit ,venders1 ,the ,flower ,girl4    

,they are true to life--the happiest1   
most interesting1 and self-sufficient   
set of young beggars one could well     
imagine4 ,notice1 too1 the beauty of the
 faces1 especially in ,the ,fruit       
,venders1 reproduced in this sketch4    
,there are other interesting things in  
this picture4 ,with what eagerness the  
day's earnings are counted6 ,there is a 
motherliness in the girl's face that    
makes us sure that she is at once mother
 and sister to the boy4 ,what luscious  
grapes--what a back-ground1 unkempt like
 themselves1 but thoroughly in keeping  
with the rest of the picture6 ,in his   
works of this sort what broad sympathy  
he shows6 so broad1 indeed1 that they   
prove him as belonging to no particular 
nation1 but to the world4  ,from the    
painting of these scenes from real life1
 he passed gradually to the painting of 
things purely imaginary--to those       
visible only to his own mind4  ,a dainty
 picture which belongs half and half to 
each of these classes of pictures1      

represents the ,virgin a little girl1   
sweet and quaint as she must have been1 
standing by ,st4 ,anne's knee1          
apparently learning a lesson from the   
open book4 ,both figures are beautiful  
in themselves and1 besides1 they present
 the always interesting contrast of age 
and youth4 ,this was one of the pictures
 that well-nigh brought trouble on      
,murillo from some zealous churchmen    
before referred to4 ,they thought that  
the ,virgin was gifted with learning    
from her birth and never had to be      
taught4 ,they merely criticized the     
treatment of the subject1 however4 ,it  
was an innovation in church painting4   
,illustration3 ,,the ,,melon ,,eaters4  
,murillo4  ,by this time ,murillo was   
wealthy4 ,he had numerous commissions   
and1 in society1 he mingled with the    
best in the land4 ,he was now in a      
position to marry1 which he did in      
#afdh4 ,there is a story told of        
,murillo's marriage which one likes to  
repeat4 ,he was painting an altar-piece 

for the church in ,pilas1 a town near   
by2 while he was working1 wrapt in      
thoughts of his subject1 a lovely woman 
came into the church to pray4 ,from his 
canvas1 the artist's eyes wandered to   
the worshipper4 ,he was deeply impressed
 with her beauty and her devotion4      
,wanting just then an angel to complete 
his picture1 he sketched the face and   
the form of the unsuspecting lady4 ,by a
 pleasant coincidence he afterwards made
 her the angel of his home--his good    
wife4 ,the painter doubtless proved the 
truth of ,wordsworth's beautiful lines--
      ,i saw her upon nearer view       
,a spirit yet a ,woman too6             
99       99       99     ,a countenance 
in which did meet      ,sweet records1  
promises as sweet2      ,a creature not 
too bright and good      ,for human     
nature's daily food4            99      
99       99     ,a perfect woman nobly  
planned1      ,to warn1 to comfort1 and 
command2      ,and yet a spirit still1  
and bright      ,with something of      

angelic light4  ,however this may be1 we
 know that she is often painted as the  
,virgin in ,murillo's great pictures4   
,her liquid eyes and dark hair inspired 
him to forget the rigid rules laid down 
regarding the ,virgin's having blue eyes
 and fair hair or1 at all events1 to    
disregard them4 ,we shall see the ,mary 
in some of his loveliest pictures with  
the dark hair and eyes of his           
countrymen4 ,three children were born   
into ,murillo's home1 two boys and one  
girl4 ,one boy for a time practised the 
art of his father1 but he later became a
 clergyman4 ,the other son came to      
,america1 while the daughter devoted    
herself to religion and entered a       
convent4  ,after ,murillo's marriage1   
his house was the gathering place for   
the most distinguished people of        
,seville4 ,what a change was this from  
,murillo's early condition1 when he     
toiled at the weekly markets for bread  
and shelter6 ,his power in his work     
increased1 so that every new picture was

 an additional pledge of his greatness4 
,illustration3 ,,the ,,immaculate       
,,conception4      ,murillo4  ,it was in
 middle life that ,murillo began        
painting the subject that more than any 
other distinguished him4 ,it was to     
glorify a beautiful idea1 that ,mary was
 as pure and spotless as her divine son4
 ,it is called the doctrine of the      
,immaculate ,conception1 and so much did
 it appeal to ,murillo that he painted  
it over and over again4 ,he has left us 
at least twenty different pictures      
embodying this doctrine4 ,the one most  
familiar is perhaps the greatest4 ,it is
 the one that now graces the gem-room of
 the ,louvre4 ,i so name this room1 for 
in it1 within a few feet of one another1
 are pictures by ,raphael1 ,da ,vinci1  
,correggio1 ,rembrandt1 ,veronese1 in   
short1 by the foremost masters of the   
world4 ,among all these the vision of   
,murillo takes an equal rank4 ,to many1 
the idea which the picture represents is
 of secondary importance1 save perhaps  

as giving a reason for the name it      
bears4 ,but all can see the exquisite   
loveliness of this young woman in her   
blue mantle and her white robe1 with her
 feet concealed by the voluminous folds 
of her drapery1 and with the crescent   
moon1 the symbol of all things earthly1 
in the midst of a throng of child-angels
 hovering in the sunny air1 reposing on 
clouds1 or sporting among their silvery 
folds--the apotheosis of womanhood4 ,it 
is as if an unseen hand had suddenly    
drawn aside an invisible curtain and we1
 the children of earth1 were for a      
moment permitted to view the interior of
 heaven itself4 ,in this vision of a    
poet1 so masterfully painted1 the lover 
of pictures rejoices4  ,how did the     
,louvre come by this magnificent        
monument of ,spanish art when so much   
that is glorious has been kept within   
the boundaries of ,spain8 ,we have but  
to turn to the wars of ,napoleon and the
 campaigns in the ,spanish peninsula1   
when the marshals of the mighty warrior 

swept everything before them4 ,one of   
these1 ,marshal ,soult1 brought back1   
after his victorious invasion1 pictures 
enough to enrich a ,czar4 ,one of these 
stolen treasures was the picture we are 
studying4 ,in #aheb1 the ,french        
government bought it of him for more    
than #abj1jjj4 ,there is but one        
mitigating thought regarding this rapine
 of the ,french1 and that is that many  
art treasures1 heretofore virtually     
locked to the public1 were opened to the
 world--were made easily accessible4    
,from this fair vision of womanhood let 
us turn to another1 fairer still1 where 
a little child is the central figure1   
,st4 ,anthony of ,padua4 ,although he   
did not repeat this subject so often as 
he did the ,conception1 yet he has left 
us several representations of this      
beautiful and much adored saint4        
,illustration3 ,,head ,,of ,,virgin1    
,,from ,,the ,,immaculate ,,conception4 
,murillo4  ,in the life of ,raphael we  
saw how great an influence was exerted  

on art by ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi4 ,his
 most devoted follower was ,st4 ,anthony
 of ,padua1 from whose lips sweet words 
fell like drops of honey1 and whose     
ready hands ever dispensed deeds of     
love4 ,any man whose life abounds in    
such acts must be devout4 ,such was the 
character of ,st4 ,anthony1 and he added
 to this a vivid imagination4 ,many were
 the beautiful visions that rewarded and
 encouraged his deeds of mercy and      
kindness4 ,one of the loveliest is the  
one ,murillo caught from the depths of  
his own pure soul1 and held long enough 
to transfer it to canvas to delight the 
people of his own day1 and us of this   
later time who no longer see visions4   
,it is still in the cathedral of        
,seville for which it was painted4 ,it  
is merely called ,st4 ,anthony of       
,padua4 ,never was a more soul-thrilling
 vision sent to man to illumine his     
earthly pathway4 ,there is the kneeling 
saint with outstretched arms reaching   
forward to embrace the ,christ child1   

who comes sliding down through the      
nebulous light from among a host of     
joyous angels4 ,from the ecstatic look  
on ,st4 ,anthony's face we know that the
 ,child of ,god has been drawn to earth 
by the prayerful love in the saint's    
heart4 ,we feel certain that the open   
book on the table near by is none other 
than the best of all good books4 ,the   
vision has come to ,saint ,anthony on   
the earth1 for that is common daylight  
that streams in through the open door1  
and those are perishable lilies in the  
vase there by the open book4 ,by the    
painting of this picture ,murillo gained
 for himself the title of ,the ,painter 
of ,heaven4 ,the picture has always been
 highly prized1 and even the hardships  
of war did not tempt the men of the     
,cathedral to accept the ,duke of       
,wellington's offer to literally cover  
the canvas with gold to be given in     
exchange for the precious picture4 ,the 
,english general was obliged to keep his
 money1 and in the cathedral still we   

may view ,murillo's masterpiece4        
,treasures tempt thieves even when they 
are in the form of pictures4 ,in #ahgd1 
the figure of the ,christ ,child was cut
 from this painting4 ,it was brought to 
,new ,york1 where the thief1 in trying  
to dispose of it1 was caught4 ,the      
figure was returned to ,seville1 and    
carefully inserted in the injured       
painting4  ,it may not be out of place  
to stop here and notice the wonderful   
variety of holy children that ,murillo  
has given us4 ,his ,madonnas invariably 
hold very beautiful children1 not so    
heavenly1 perhaps1 as ,raphael's in the 
,sistine ,madonna1 but nevertheless1    
children that charm us into loving them4
 ,from the holy babe1 with all his      
lovely qualities1 let us turn to that   
dear little boy of older growth1 that   
,joseph and ,mary hold so tenderly by   
either hand in the picture of the ,holy 
,family in the ,national ,gallery in    
,london1 or to those other boys1 ,the   
,divine ,shepherd and ,st ,john4 ,better

 than all1 however1 are those beautiful 
children known as ,the ,children of the 
,shell1 where the little ,christ offers 
to his playfellow1 ,john1 the cooling   
draught from a conch shell they have    
picked up in their play4 ,they are      
children drawn from the sky quite as    
much as the ,jesus in the famous ,st4   
,anthony picture4  ,among his children  
there are little girls1 too4 ,we have   
already noticed the ,virgin as a child1 
and there is that other1 led by the     
guardian angel sure and safe along      
life's uncertain way4 ,even in our      
practical time we all have more or less 
faith in the guardian spirit that       
watches over every little child4 ,if by 
some miracle these children could all   
come to life1 what a joyous yet         
thoughtful assembly it would be6        
,difficult indeed would it be to select 
the one beyond all others precious4 ,no 
more certain proof exists of ,murillo's 
high appreciation of spiritual things1  
of the simplicity and purity of his own 

life and thought than this selfsame     
throng of little children that he has   
given us4    ,illustration3 ,,st4       
,,anthony ,,of ,,padua4      ,murillo4  
,murillo had always thought that a      
public academy of painting was very much
 needed in ,seville4 ,in his youth he   
had greatly felt the need of such an    
institution4 ,finally1 in #affj1 the    
year of ,velazquez's death1 several of  
the artists united with ,murillo in     
starting an academy4 ,it lived only as  
long as its founder and never produced a
 great artist4  ,in #afga our artist    
seemed in the very prime of his power4  
,in that year he began the wonderful    
series of pictures for the ,charity     
,hospital of ,seville4 ,it was an old   
institution of the city1 but it had been
 neglected until it was almost in ruins4
 ,in ,murillo's time a wealthy and pious
 citizen set about restoring it4 ,for   
the beautifying of the restored hospital
 ,murillo was commissioned to paint     
eleven works4 ,they are among his very  

best4 ,two of them we must notice in    
particular1 ,moses ,striking the ,rock  
and ,elizabeth of ,hungary ,tending the 
,sick4  ,in the first of these the      
artist shows himself in a new capacity1 
that of illustrator4 ,nothing could     
better express the thirst of that vast  
assembly in the wilderness than this    
picture4 ,from a mighty1 towering rock  
the coveted water gushes forth in a     
generous1 crystal stream1 by its very   
abundance making a pool beneath4 ,all   
degrees of thirst are represented in man
 and beast1 from that which is not      
pressing to that which1 in its          
intensity1 makes a mother seize the cup 
from the babe in her arms4  ,in the ,st4
 ,elizabeth we admire the composition of
 the work1 but the subject rather repels
 than holds us4 ,with the diadem of a   
queen upon her head1 with the delicate  
hands of a gentlewoman1 and from a      
costly basin ,st4 ,elizabeth bathes the 
scrofulous head of a beggar4 ,her       
ladies-in-waiting turn from the         

loathsome object of her care1 while     
other patients await their turn4 ,in the
 distance is the court feast that goes  
on joyously in the palace while         
,elizabeth1 the mistress of the feast1  
serves the diseased beggars at the      
portal4  ,i have said that we could not 
stop to notice more than two of this    
notable series4 ,yet1 as ,i run my      
photographs over1 ,i cannot refrain from
 the mention of one other1 the noble and
 wonderfully beautiful ,liberation of   
,st4 ,peter4 ,it is simply a magnificent
 angel awakening ,peter who languishes  
in prison4 ,the suddenly aroused        
prisoner1 the broken fetters1 and above 
all1 that glorious angel1 extending a   
helping hand--his presence making a     
light in that dark cell--tell in no     
uncertain accents of the power of our   
beloved painter4    ,illustration3      
,,madonna4      ,murillo4  ,thus might  
we go on from picture to picture1 and   
from year to year1 for the list ever    
strengthens as it lengthens4 ,two more1 

at least1 should claim our attention    
before this sketch is closed4 ,they are 
,st4 ,thomas giving ,alms and ,the      
,madonna of the ,napkin4 ,the ,st4      
,thomas is rightly the companion of that
 other great charity picture1 ,st4      
,elizabeth4 ,the one represents the     
abnegation of self in woman's way--she  
gives service4 ,the other represents    
man's way--he gives money4 ,at the      
portal of the church stands the         
pale-faced1 spiritual ,st4 ,thomas1     
dispensing his alms to beggars and      
cripples4 ,in composition and drawing   
this is one of ,murillo's greatest      
works4 ,we are interested to know that  
it was his own favorite among his       
pictures4  ,the ,madonna of the ,napkin 
is both beautiful and curious4 ,while   
,murillo was painting a series of       
pictures for a ,capuchin convent of     
,seville1 the cook became very much     
attached to him4 ,when his work was done
 and he was about to leave the convent1 
the cook begged a memento4 ,but how     

could he paint even a small picture with
 no canvas at hand8 ,the cook1 bent on  
obtaining his wish1 presented him with a
 table napkin and begged him to use that
 instead of canvas4 ,with his usual good
 nature1 the artist complied1 and before
 evening he produced a beautiful ,virgin
 holding the infant ,christ4 ,though    
done thus hastily1 this ,madonna is one 
of his best in design and coloring4 ,his
 other ,madonnas we know well1 the one  
holding a rosary1 and the other marked  
by nothing but its own surpassing grace 
and beauty1 and known simply as         
,murillo's ,madonna4  ,according to the 
subject he was painting1 ,murillo used  
three distinct styles of work1 known as 
the cold1 the warm1 and the aerial4 ,the
 first1 in which the line or drawing is 
marked by strength1 he used in his      
studies of peasant life4 ,the second he 
used in his visions1 while the third he 
reserved for his ,conceptions--his      
heavenly effects4 ,so fine a colorist   
was he1 however1 and so indispensable a 

part of his art did he consider the     
coloring that even the pictures classed 
as cold are radiant with his lovely1    
mellow colors4    ,illustration3        
,,virgin ,,of ,,the ,,mirror4           
,murillo4  ,through the greater part of 
,murillo's life he painted for his      
beautiful ,seville4 ,in #afhj1 however1 
he went to ,cadiz to paint pictures for 
the ,capuchins at that place4 ,he began 
on the largest one of the number4 ,it   
was to represent the marriage of ,st4   
,catherine1 a favorite subject of the   
time4 ,events proved that this was to be
 his last picture1 for1 while trying to 
reach the upper part of it1 he fell from
 the scaffolding1 receiving injuries    
from which he died two years later4     
,gradually his physical power deserted  
him until he did not attempt to paint at
 all4 ,then he spent much of his time in
 religious thought4 ,in the church of   
,santa ,cruz near by his home1 was a    
picture of the ,descent from the ,cross 
by ,campana4 ,before this picture he    

spent many hours1 so much did he admire 
it4 ,one evening he remained later than 
usual4 ,the ,angelus had sounded1 and   
the ,sacristan wished to close the      
church4 ,he asked the painter why he    
lingered so long4 ,he responded1 ,i am  
waiting until those men have brought the
 body of our blessed ,lord down the     
ladder4 ,when ,murillo died he was      
buried1 according to his wish1          
immediately under this picture4  ,he    
died in ,april1 #afhb4 ,his funeral was 
of the sort that draws all classes--a   
beloved man and a profound genius had   
passed away4 ,his grave was covered with
 a stone slab on which were carved but  
few words beside his name4 ,the church  
was destroyed during the ,french wars1  
and the ,plaza of ,santa ,cruz occupies 
its place4 ,in later years a statue of  
bronze was erected in one of the squares
 of the city in honor of ,murillo2 there
 it stands1 through all changes1 the    
very master spirit of the city4  ,if    
this sketch has implied anything1 it has

 emphasized over and over again the     
sweet and lovable character of ,murillo4
 ,his religious zeal was great1 yet no  
one could ever justly write fanatic     
beside his name4 ,there was too much    
love in his soul for that4 ,his pictures
 are indisputable proof of the          
never-dying love that permeated his     
life4  ,he left a great number of       
pictures1 and his habit of not signing  
them made it easy to impose on unwary   
seekers after his paintings4 ,passing by
 all the work the authorship of which is
 uncertain1 yet is there enough left to 
make us marvel at his productiveness4   
,,subjects ,,for ,,language ,,work4     
#a4 ,seville1 the ,city of ,music4      
#b4 ,a ,day in ,seville4       #c4 ,some
 ,stories of the ,alcazar4       #d4    
,the ,giralda--,its ,history and ,its   
,architecture4       #e4 ,the ,children 
of ,murillo's ,paintings4       #f4     
,murillo and ,velazquez4       #g4 ,some
 ,spanish ,portraits4       #h4 ,my     
,favorite ,picture by ,murillo4         

#i4 ,some ,visions ,seen by ,murillo4   
#aj4 ,the ,escurial--,its ,history4     
,,references ,,for ,,the ,,study ,,of   
,,murillo ,,and ,,spanish ,,art4        
,de ,amicis      ,spain4      ,hoppin   
,murillo4      ,minor          ,murillo4
      ,stirling       ,annals of        
,spanish ,art4      ,stowe              
,velazquez4      ,washburn       ,early 
,spanish ,masters4     ,illustration    
,,rubens  ,illustration3 ,,peter ,,paul 
,,rubens  ,,peter ,,paul ,,rubens4      
#aegg-afdj4   ,in our study of ,raphael1
 we had a glimpse of the golden age of  
art in ,italy4 ,in our work on ,murillo1
 we saw what ,spain was able to produce 
in pictures when the whole of ,europe   
seemed to be trying its hand at         
painting4 ,moving north1 we are to see  
in this sketch what the little country  
now known as ,belgium produced in the   
same lines4 ,for this we need hardly    
take more than the one name1 ,peter     
,paul ,rubens1 for he represented very  
completely the art of ,flanders or      

,belgium1 as we call it to-day4  ,if we 
love to read of happy1 fortunate people1
 as ,i am sure we do1 we shall be more  
than pleased in learning about ,rubens4 
,you know there is an old story1 that by
 the side of every cradle stand a good  
and an evil fairy1 who by their gifts   
make up the life of the little babe     
within4 ,the good fairy gives him a     
wonderful blessing1 perhaps it is the   
power to write poems or paint pictures4 
,then the bad fairy1 ugly little sprite 
that he is1 adds a portion of evil1     
perhaps it is envy that eats the soul   
like a canker4 ,and so they alternate1  
the good and evil1 until the sum of a   
human life is made up1 and the child    
grows up to live out his years1 marked  
by joy and sorrow as every life must be4
  ,as we look at the men and women about
 us we feel1 often1 that one or the     
other of these fairies must have slept  
while distributing their gifts and so   
lost a turn or two in casting in the    
good or ill upon the babe1 so happy are 

some lives1 so sorrowful are others4 ,at
 ,rubens' cradle the evil fairy must    
well nigh have forgotten his task1 for  
the babe grew up one of the most        
fortunate of men4  ,in order to         
understand as we should any great man1  
we must always study his country and his
 time4 ,no man can be great enough not  
to be like the nation that produced him1
 or the time when he came into the      
world4 ,for these reasons we love to    
study a man's time and country1 and1    
indeed1 find it quite necessary if we   
would understand him aright4  ,it is    
impossible to think of ,rubens without  
associating him with ,flanders and with 
,antwerp1 his home city4 ,here1 then1 is
 just a little about the history of this
 most interesting country3 ,one of the  
richest possessions of ,spain in the    
sixteenth century was known as the      
,netherlands4 ,when the doctrines of    
,luther began to spread many of the     
,netherlanders accepted them4 ,philip   
,,ii41 the terrible and gloomy king of  

,spain1 seized this opportunity to      
persecute them cruelly4 ,many of them   
resisted1 and then ,philip sent his     
unscrupulous agent1 the ,duke of ,alva1 
to make the people submit4 ,this he     
partially accomplished by the greatest  
cruelty4 ,the northern provinces1 which 
we know as ,holland1 declared their     
independence4 ,the southern1 of which   
,flanders was the most flourishing      
province1 longed so for peace and the   
prosperity that accompanies it1 that    
they submitted to ,spain4 ,the people   
then grew rich as weavers1 merchants and
 traders4 ,splendid cities like ,bruges1
 ,ghent and ,antwerp became the seats of
 commerce and their artists and workmen 
of all sorts were known throughout      
,europe for their thrift and the        
excellence of their workmanship4 ,we    
recall how ,raphael's cartoons were sent
 to ,flanders to be copied in tapestry  
the finest in the world4                
,illustration3 ,,rubens' ,,mother       
,rubens  ,of all the cities dear to     

,flemish hearts ,antwerp was1 perhaps1  
the most beautiful and the most         
prosperous4 ,it was situated on the     
river ,scheldt about twenty miles from  
the sea4 ,in the time of its greatness  
one might count almost at any time      
twenty-five hundred ships and boats     
riding at anchor in front of the city1  
and within her walls1 two hundred       
thousand people lived in plenty4 ,there 
were marble palaces1 beautiful churches1
 a magnificent town hall 7,hotel de     
,ville72 and the houses of the humble   
showed by their cleanlines and          
comfortable surroundings that enjoyment 
of life was restricted to no one class4 
,this matter of religious faith1        
however1 was bound to come up again and 
bring1 as it proved1 ruin upon the city4
 ,a body of people who thought it wrong 
to have pictures and statues of saints1 
and of ,mary and her ,son1 gathered     
together and for four days went from one
 ,flemish town to another and destroyed 
everything of the sort to be found in   

the churches4 ,four hundred places of   
worship were desecrated1 many of them   
within the city of ,antwerp4 ,because of
 their zeal against the use of so-called
 images they were called ,iconoclasts4  
,if formerly they had been punished for 
thinking things against the established 
religion of the ,state1 what now could  
be expected when they had done such     
sacrilegious things8      ,again the    
whiskered ,spaniard all the land with   
terror smote2     ,and again the wild   
alarum sounded from the tocsin's throat4
    ,illustration3 ,,rubens ,,and ,,his 
,,first ,,wife      ,rubens  ,our       
imagination cannot picture things so    
terrible as were perpetrated upon the   
inhabitants of ,antwerp for their part  
in the destruction of the images4 ,this 
terrible event is known in history as   
,the ,spanish ,fury4 ,thousands of her  
people were killed1 most of her palaces 
were burned1 and the treasure of her    
wealthy citizens was stolen4 ,property  
was confiscated to the ,spanish         

,government4 ,death and terror1 theft   
and rapine reigned in the beautiful city
 of the ,scheldt4 ,when the dead were   
buried1 the charred ruins of buildings  
removed1 and the ,spanish soldiery      
withdrawn1 the mist-beclouded           
,netherland sun shone out on a dead city
 which even to-day bears marks of the   
,spaniard's fury4 ,grass grew in what   
had been its busiest streets1 trade     
almost ceased1 and thousands of weavers 
and other artisans went to ,england     
where they could pursue their vocations 
unmolested4  ,philip was apparently     
satisfied with the chastisement he had  
inflicted4 ,he began to restore the     
confiscated property to its rightful    
owners1 and to encourage the industry he
 had so cruelly destroyed4 ,he even made
 ,flanders an independent province under
 the ,archduke ,albert and the ,infanta 
,isabella4 ,although peace had returned 
and a degree of prosperity again        
prevailed1 yet many other things were   
irretrievably gone1 and the people lived

 every day in the sight of painful      
reminders of their former greatness4    
,in art1 too1 these low country         
provinces had made much progress4 ,there
 had been ,hubert and ,jan ,van ,eyck   
who had painted with minute skill devout
 pictures4 ,they had1 moreover1 given to
 the world the process of painting in   
oils4 ,this discovery1 worked out with  
the extreme care natural to the         
,netherlanders1 changed the whole       
character of painting1 and made it      
possible to have such colorists as      
,titian1 ,raphael and ,rubens4 ,we must 
remember that the colors used in fresco 
painting were mixed with a sort of size 
and that they had none of the richness  
of oil colors4 ,there had been other    
artists of note besides the ,van ,eycks4
 ,hans ,memling1 with the spirit of a   
real poet1 had painted his sweet        
visions1 and to-day it is not for the   
opulent merchants who added fame and    
wealth to their city in their time1 but 
for this poet-painter1 ,memling1 that we

 venerate the ancient and stately city  
of ,bruges4 ,quentin ,matsys1 the brawny
 blacksmith1 who1 for love of an        
artist's daughter1 became a painter1    
comes to our minds as a name of no mean 
fame in the early records of ,flemish   
painting4    ,illustration3 ,,helen     
,,fourmont1 ,,rubens' ,,second ,,wife1  
,,and ,,youngest ,,son                  
,rubens  ,the guild system1 where every 
class of artisans was organized for     
protection and for the production of    
good work1 touched even the fine arts4  
,no man could set up for a good painter 
who had not served his apprenticeship1  
and whose work was not satisfactory to  
experts4 ,when ,rubens was born he came 
as the heir of all that had been        
accomplished before him4 ,he only       
carried on what his predecessors had    
begun1 but he carried it on in a        
matchless way so that he was able to    
leave to succeeding painters not only   
all he had inherited1 but a goodly      
legacy besides--the legacy of a pure    

life1 a glowing1 natural1 vigorous art4 
,it seems to me that right here is a    
lesson for us4 ,may we not add our mite1
 tiny though it be1 to the ever-growing 
volume of truth8 ,i like this quotation 
in this connection1 and ,i hope you may 
see its beauty too--,the vases of truth 
are passed on from hand to hand1 and the
 golden dust must be gathered into them1
 grain by grain1 from the infinite      
shore4  ,rubens' birth took place in    
#aegg1 the year following the ,spanish  
,fury4 ,when he was only seven1 ,william
 the ,silent1 the saviour and protector 
of the northern provinces1 was          
assassinated at the instance of ,philip 
,,ii4 ,when he was eleven1 the ,spanish 
,armada1 the proudest fleet that ever   
sailed the seas1 sent to invade ,england
 and punish ,queen ,elizabeth1 was      
scattered by wind and wave and dashed to
 pieces on alien rocks4 ,the            
,reformation was well established in    
,england and ,holland1 while ,france1   
led by ,henry ,,iv41 was yet uncertain  

whether or not to accept the new        
doctrines4 ,such were some of the       
portentous events that marked the advent
 and early years of the greatest of     
,flemish painters4  ,the family of      
,rubens' father had lived for years in  
,antwerp1 but when ,luther's doctrines  
were put forward ,jan ,rubens1 the      
father of our artist1 believed in them4 
,for this reason he was compelled to    
flee from the city1 and his property was
 confiscated4 ,he went to the little    
village of ,siegen1 in western ,germany1
 where his illustrious son was born on  
,june #bith1 #aegg4 ,his birth was on   
the day dedicated to the saints1 ,peter 
and ,paul1 and so his parents gave the  
child their names4 ,after the residence 
of a year in this little town1 the      
family removed to ,cologne1 where they  
lived for ten years1 until the death of 
the father4  ,jan ,rubens was a lawyer  
and a learned man1 and he took pains    
that his sons should be thoroughly      
educated4 ,in addition to his heretical 

views regarding religion he had         
grievously offended ,william the ,silent
 and so was doubly exiled4 ,his wife    
remained with him1 and by her efforts   
kept him from prison1 and added cheer to
 his life of exile4 ,this was the       
admirable ,marie ,pypeling1 the mother  
so revered by ,rubens1 and so deserving 
the respect of all who know of her4 ,a  
portrait of her by her son is given in  
this sketch4 ,to her he owed his        
handsome face1 his strong physique1 his 
shrewdness and his love of order4       
,illustration3 ,,rubens' ,,daughter     
,rubens  ,immediately after the death of
 her husband1 ,marie ,pypeling and her  
family1 now consisting of two sons and a
 daughter1 returned to ,antwerp4 ,her   
property1 which had been confiscated in 
those wild days at ,antwerp1 was        
restored to her in the general          
restitution with which ,philip tried to 
compensate the citizens for their losses
 in the ,spanish ,fury4 ,from this time 
,rubens was an adherent of the ,catholic

 ,church4  ,the education of ,peter     
,paul1 which was so carefully begun by  
his father1 was continued by his mother1
 in a ,jesuit ,college at ,antwerp4 ,he 
was an apt student and soon attained the
 elements from which he became a very   
learned man4 ,he knew seven languages1  
was interested and learned in science   
and politics4 ,all through his life he  
devoted some part of each day1 however  
busy he was with his painting1 to       
general reading4 ,this1 perhaps more    
than his early studies1 accounts for his
 elegant scholarship4  ,his mother was  
quite determined that this son should   
be1 like his father1 a lawyer4 ,his own 
tastes1 however1 and a power to use the 
brush early displayed1 decided          
otherwise4 ,it very soon became evident 
that he was to be a painter--good or    
bad--who could tell in those early days8
  ,in accordance with a custom of the   
time1 he was placed as a page in the    
house of a nobleman of ,antwerp4 ,to the
 talented and restless boy this life was

 intolerable1 and he soon induced his   
mother to allow him to enter the studio 
of ,van der ,haeght1 a resident artist  
of some repute and a close follower of  
,italian ,art4 ,he was only thirteen at 
this time4 ,here he learned to draw     
skillfully and1 through the influence of
 his teacher1 he acquired a love of     
landscape art which never left him4     
,from ,van der ,haeght and his mild but 
correct art1 ,rubens1 feeling his       
weakness in figure work1 went to the    
studio of the irascible and forcible    
painter ,van ,noort1 about whom critics 
have delighted to tell stories of       
brutality4 ,however true these may be1  
,rubens stayed with him four years and  
never ceased to speak in praise of his  
master's work4 ,here he became          
acquainted with ,jordaens1 who used     
often to paint the animals in ,rubens'  
landscapes4  ,from ,van ,noort's studio 
the restless ,rubens went to study with 
,van ,veen1 who afterwards became       
court-painter4 ,when the ,archduke      

,albert and ,isabella entered ,antwerp  
in #aeid1 it was ,van ,veen who         
decorated the triumphal arches used on  
the occasion4 ,we may judge that he did 
the work well1 for he was shortly       
selected to serve the new rulers as     
court painter4 ,rubens' experience with 
,van ,veen closed a ten years'          
apprenticeship in the studios of        
,antwerp1 and now he determined to go to
 ,italy1 where he could study the       
masters at first hand4    ,illustration3
 ,,rubens' ,,two ,,sons      ,rubens    
,as a sort of parting work and1 perhaps1
 because he wished to impress more      
vividly on his mind those dear1 strong  
features of his mother1 he painted that 
portrait of her which we so much admire 
both for its subject and its art4 ,this 
image of his mother was an effectual    
charm to carry with him in his          
travels--a charm to save him perhaps1   
from some of the stumbling places into  
which a handsome young man away from    
home might wander4  ,in ,may of #afjj1  

after making all needful preparation1   
our artist set out on his journey4 ,it  
was natural that he should direct his   
steps first to ,venice4 ,titian had but 
recently completed his productive life  
of nearly a century4 ,his misty         
atmosphere1 his intense interest in     
human life and1 above all1 his glowing  
color touched a kindred cord in ,rubens'
 nature4 ,then there were ,tintoretto   
and ,veronese1 almost as interesting to 
our painter4  ,the ,duke of ,mantua1 a  
most liberal and discerning patron of   
art1 was in ,venice when ,rubens reached
 that city4 ,one of the ,duke's suite   
happened to be in the house with        
,rubens4 ,he took notice of the         
painter's courtly bearing1 his fine     
physique1 and his ability to paint1 and 
introduced him to the ,duke4 ,never did 
our painter's handsome face and fine    
presence so quickly win a patron4 ,he   
was at once attached to the ,duke's     
court and began copying for him the     
masterpieces of ,italy--the pictures of 

,titian1 ,correggio1 ,veronese1 leading 
all others4 ,he also studied carefully  
the work of ,julio ,romano1 ,raphael's  
famous pupil4 ,he accompanied the ,duke 
to ,milan1 where he copied ,leonardo's  
great picture1 ,the ,last ,supper1      
besides doing some original work4  ,the 
,duke had observed ,rubens' courtly     
manner and his keen mind4 ,he decided   
that the painter was just the person to 
send in charge of some presents to the  
,king of ,spain1 whose favor he was     
anxious to gain4 ,the gifts were made up
 of fine horses1 beautiful pictures1    
rare jewels and vases4 ,early in #afjc1 
the painter set out with his cavalcade1 
and after a stormy journey of about     
three months they reached the ,court of 
,spain4 ,he was cordially received and  
the gifts were delivered1 although the  
pictures had been somewhat damaged by   
the rains which marked the last days of 
their trip4 ,he was asked to paint      
several portraits of eminent personages 
of the court and he complied graciously4

  ,he returned to ,italy after somewhat 
more than a year's absence4 ,for some   
time he remained at ,mantua to paint an 
altar-piece for the chapel where the    
,duke's mother was buried4              
,illustration3 ,,holy ,,family          
,rubens                  7,pette        
,gallery1 ,florence7  ,later he went to 
,rome where he studied carefully the    
works of ,michael ,angelo4 ,in turn he  
visited all the great art cities of     
,italy except ,naples4 ,he stopped for  
some time at ,florence1 ,bologna1 and   
,genoa4 ,at the last place he received  
so many orders for his work that he     
could not attend to them all4           
,everywhere he went the fame of the     
,fleming1 as he was called in ,italy1   
had gone before him4 ,in many of the    
cities he made lengthy sojourns1 copying
 the masterpieces that pleased him1 and 
painting originals highly prized to-day 
in the galleries of ,italy4  ,he had    
been in ,italy eight years1 when one day
 from over the ,alps came a courier in  

hot haste bearing to ,rubens the sad    
news that his mother lay at home very   
ill4 ,not even waiting for permission   
from his patron1 the ,duke1 ,rubens     
started north with a heavy heart1 for he
 felt sure that he should never see his 
mother again4 ,although he rode with all
 haste1 as he neared his home city of   
,antwerp1 he received the sad tidings he
 had so much dreaded4 ,marie ,pypeling  
had died nine days before he left       
,italy4 ,as was the custom in his       
country1 he secluded himself for four   
months in a convent attached to the     
church where his mother was buried4     
,the profound sorrow for his mother1 and
 the sudden change from the life he had 
so recently led made him melancholy4 ,he
 longed for the skies1 the pictures1 and
 the society of ,italy4 ,when he came   
forth from his retirement1 his          
countrymen could not bear the thought of
 their now illustrous artist returning  
to ,italy4 ,they wanted him among them  
to glorify with his splendid brush the  

now reviving city of the ,scheldt4  ,the
 rulers of the city1 ,albert and        
,isabella1 made him court painter and   
gave him a good salary4 ,he accepted the
 office on condition that he should not 
have to live at the court4 ,it was with 
some regret that he gave up returning to
 ,italy1 but the natural ties that bound
 him to ,antwerp were stronger4 ,he     
hoped that he might yet one day visit   
,italy4 ,this part of his life-plan1    
however1 he never carried out4          
,illustration3 ,,infant ,,christ1 ,,st4 
,,john ,,and ,,angels      ,rubens  ,he 
was now thirty-two years old1 respected 
of all men not only for his power as a  
painter1 but for his sterling worth as a
 man4 ,he had studied carefully the best
 art that the world could show1 and he  
had absorbed into his own characteristic
 style what was best for him--his style 
of painting was now definitely formed4  
,his fame as a painter was established  
from the ,mediterranean to the ,zuyder  
,zee4 ,he was overwhelmed with orders   

for his pictures1 so that he had plenty 
of money at his command4 ,he had the    
confidence of princes1 and was attached 
to one of the richest courts of ,europe4
 ,a crowd of anxious art students       
awaited the choice privilege of entering
 his studio when he should open one4 ,it
 would seem that there was little left  
for this man to desire in earthly       
things4 ,the two he lacked he speedily  
procured1 a good wife and a happy home1 
both destined to live always on the     
canvasses of this most fortunate of     
painters4  ,in #afaj1 he married the    
lovely and beautiful ,isabella ,brandt1 
the daughter of the ,secretary of       
,antwerp4 ,happy indeed were the fifteen
 years of their life together1 and often
 do we find the wife and their two boys 
painted by the gifted husband and       
father4 ,we reproduce a picture of the  
two boys4  ,he bought a house on ,meir  
,square1 one of the noted locations in  
,antwerp4 ,he re-modelled it at great   
expense in the style of the ,italians4  

,in changing the house he took care that
 there should be a choice place to keep 
and display his already fine collection 
of pictures1 statues1 cameos1 agates and
 jewels4 ,for this purpose he made a    
circular room1 lighted from above1      
covered by a dome somewhat similar to   
that of the ,pantheon at ,rome4 ,this   
room connected the two main parts of the
 house and was1 with its precious       
contents1 a constant joy to ,rubens and 
his friends4 ,the master of this palace1
 for such it certainly was1 lived a     
frugal and abstemious life1 a most      
remarkable thing in an age of great     
extravagance in eating and drinking4    
,here is the record of one of his days  
in summer3 ,at four o'clock he arose1   
and for a short time gave himself up to 
religious exercises4 ,after a simple    
breakfast he began painting4 ,while he  
painted he had some one read to him from
 some classical writer1 and if his work 
was not too laborious1 he received      
visitors and talked to them while he    

painted4 ,he stopped work an hour before
 dinner and devoted himself to          
conversation or to examining some newly 
acquired treasure in his collection4 ,at
 dinner he ate sparingly of the simplest
 things and drank little wine4 ,in the  
afternoon he again began his work at his
 easel1 which he continued until        
evening4 ,after an hour or so on a      
spirited ,andalusian horse1 of which he 
was always passionately fond1 and of    
which he always had one or more fine    
specimens in his stables1 he spent the  
remainder of the evening conversing with
 friends4 ,a varied assembly of visitors
 loitered in this hospitable home4      
,there were scholars1 politicians1 old  
friends--perhaps former fellow-pupils in
 ,antwerp studios4 ,occasionally the    
princess ,isabella came among the       
others1 and ,albert himself felt honored
 to stand as god-father to ,rubens' son4
 ,surely the wicked fairy did forget    
some of the evil he was to have mixed   
with this life6    ,illustration3       

,,portrait ,,of ,a ,,young ,,woman      
,rubens                  7,hermitage1   
,st4 ,petersburg7  ,it was in connection
 with the building of this house that   
the best known and perhaps the greatest 
work of ,rubens was painted3 ,the       
,descent from the ,cross1 now in        
,antwerp ,cathedral4 ,it is said that in
 excavating for the foundation to some  
of the new parts of ,rubens' house1 the 
workmen unintentionally trespassed on   
some adjoining ground belonging to the  
gunsmiths' guild4 ,in settlement for    
this ,rubens was requested to paint a   
picture of ,st4 ,christopher1 the       
,christ-,bearer1 as they called him4    
,rubens complied with the request and   
painted what to us to-day would seem a  
very strange picture--a triptych1 that  
is a middle panel over which two narrow 
side panels1 hinged to the middle one1  
could be closed4 ,he interpreted the    
request of the guild rather strangely   
too--he thought it would please them to 
represent in the several spaces of the  

triptych all who had ever carried       
,christ in their arms4 ,in the middle   
panel we have the men removing the dead 
,christ from the cross1 with the three  
,marys below1 one of whom1 the          
,magdalen1 is1 perhaps1 the most        
beautiful woman ,rubens ever painted4   
,the light is wonderful1 coming1 as it  
does1 from the great white cloth in     
which they would wrap our ,lord4 ,the   
form of the dead ,christ in its         
difficult position is a piece of        
masterly drawing4 ,this panel is1 of    
course1 the principal part of the       
altar-piece4 ,on one side of this was   
painted the ,virgin visiting ,st4 ,anne1
 and on the other we have the aged ,st4 
,simeon presenting the ,christ-,child in
 the temple4 ,if we close these side    
panels over the middle one we find a    
space as large as the center panel4 ,on 
this ,rubens painted ,st4 ,christopher  
with the child and accompanied by a     
hermit carrying his lantern4 ,surely it 
was a good-natured artist and a glowing 

and generous soul who painted so much in
 response to a request for a ,st4       
,christopher6  ,there were1 however1    
trials for this fortunate man4 ,there   
were those who were jealous of his fame 
and who said unkind things of him4 ,in  
answer to their jealousies he only said1
 ,do well and you will make others      
envious2 do better and you will master  
them4  ,he was called away from the home
 he loved so well4 ,in #afai1 when the  
truce1 under which ,antwerp had regained
 somewhat of her former greatness1 was  
about to expire1 ,rubens was sent to    
,spain to renew it4 ,he had hardly      
returned to ,antwerp before ,marie de   
,medicis1 the wife of ,henry ,,iv4 of   
,france--the ,henry of ,navarre1 of     
historic fame--sent for the artist to   
adorn her palace of the ,luxemburg in   
,paris4 ,he was to paint twenty-one     
pictures for this purpose4 ,they were to
 describe the life of the queen4 ,we    
give one of the series4 ,he accomplished
 this entire work in glowing allegorical

 fashion in which mythological and      
historical personages are sadly confused
 at times4 ,if there was occasionally   
this confusion1 there were also present 
the artist's strongest characteristics  
as a painter--rich color and vigorous   
human action4    ,illustration3         
,,elevation ,,of ,,the ,,cross          
,rubens  ,while in ,paris he became     
intimately acquainted with the ,duke of 
,buckingham1 the favorite of ,charles   
,i4 of ,england4 ,this nobleman visited 
,rubens at his home in ,antwerp and he  
was so pleased with the artist's        
collection that he offered him ten      
thousand pounds sterling for it         
complete4 ,rubens hesitated1 for in the 
collection there were nineteen pictures 
by ,titian1 thirteen by ,veronese1 three
 by ,leonardo1 and three by ,raphael1   
besides many of his own best works4 ,the
 artist1 however1 was always thrifty1   
and he felt sure he could soon gather   
another collection1 so he accepted the  
offer4  ,in #afbf1 his lovely wife died4

 ,he mourned her deeply1 saying she had 
none of the faults of her sex4 ,to      
beguile his time he accepted another    
diplomatic mission to ,spain4 ,this time
 he was to secure a strong ally for     
,spain against the powerful ,richelieu  
who then held ,france in his hand as it 
were4 ,incidentally he painted much     
while at ,madrid4 ,among other work he  
copied the ,titians which were likely to
 be taken out of the country at the     
marriage of the ,infanta4 ,at this time1
 too1 he undoubtedly met ,velazquez1 the
 able and high-souled court painter of  
,philip ,,iv4 ,this was certainly one of
 the most notable meetings in the       
history of artists4    ,illustration3   
,,descent ,,from ,,the ,,cross          
,rubens  ,it was while at the court of  
,madrid at this time that ,jean of      
,braganza1 afterward ,king of ,portugal1
 invited the artist to visit him at his 
hunting-lodge1 and ,rubens set out with 
several of his followers1 as was usual  
with travellers of note in those days4  

,before he reached the lodge ,jean1     
hearing of so many attendants1 and      
dismayed at the expense of entertaining 
them1 departed suddenly for ,lisbon4 ,he
 wrote ,rubens a courteous letter       
telling him that state business detained
 him and begged him to accept some money
 to defray the expenses so far incurred 
on the journey4 ,rubens replied in like 
courteous manner and returned the money1
 saying that they had brought twenty    
times the amount with which to pay their
 expenses4    ,illustration3 ,,marie    
,,de ,,medicis      ,rubens             
7,museum1 ,madrid7  ,an interesting     
story is related of their return4       
,overtaken by dark night in the open    
country they took shelter in a          
monastery4 ,the next morning ,rubens1   
with an eye always quick to see rare and
 interesting things1 scanned the place  
carefully looking for something which   
might interest him4 ,he was about to    
give up the search as hopeless1 when he 
discovered in a dark corner a grand     

picture4 ,it represented in more than   
mortal fashion the beautiful things that
 a dead young man1 painted in the       
foreground1 had renounced4 ,rubens      
called the prior to him and begged to   
know the name of the artist of so       
masterly a work4 ,the prior1 an old1    
bowed man1 refused saying1 ,he died to  
the world long ago4 ,i cannot disclose  
his name4 ,then the artist said1 ,it is 
,peter ,paul ,rubens who begs to know4  
,the prior started1 for even in the     
remoteness of the isolated monastery the
 fame of that name had gone1 and fell in
 a dead faint at the artist's feet4 ,the
 attendants lifted the prior gently but 
he had ceased to live4 ,through the ashy
 pallor they saw the features of the    
young man in the picture yonder4 ,they  
instinctively turned to look that they  
might more carefully compare the faces1 
and lo6 like some cloud-vision1 the     
picture had disappeared4 ,then they knew
 that the dead monk there had painted   
the canvas from the depth of his own    

experience4  ,from ,madrid1 ,rubens was 
sent to ,england in the interest of     
,spain4 ,here he was most kindly        
received by ,charles ,i41 who made him a
 knight and presented him with his own  
jeweled sword and a diamond ring4 ,he   
also gave him a hat-band set with       
precious stones which was valued at two 
thousand pounds sterling4 ,from ,london 
he went to ,cambridge where the ancient 
university conferred on him its highest 
degree4 ,in ,london he painted almost   
constantly4 ,among other commissions he 
was given that of decorating the dining 
room in ,whitehall palace with nine     
pictures representing the life of ,james
 ,i4 ,to make the person or events of   
this king's life attractive must have   
been an immense task even for so supreme
 a genius as ,rubens4  ,as he sat       
painting one day a courtier entered and 
exclaimed1 ,ah1 his ,majesty's          
,ambassador occasionally amuses himself 
with painting4 ,on the contrary1        
responded ,rubens who was always proud  

of his art1 the painter occasionally    
amuses himself by trying to be a        
courtier4  ,the influence of ,rubens'   
visit to ,london must be counted rather 
as artistic than political4 ,it really  
was the beginning of that desire for    
collecting pictures and other things of 
the sort which has ever since           
distinguished the ,english nobility4 ,on
 the ,continent the price of pictures   
rose on account of ,england's demand4   
,for ,charles ,i41 ,rubens bought the   
entire collection of the ,duke of       
,mantua which he knew so well4          
,illustration3 ,,madonna ,,and ,,child  
,,with ,,st4 ,,francis      ,rubens     
,rubens was tired of the almost         
fruitless mission at various courts and 
was glad to give up the business of an  
ambassador and return to ,antwerp and to
 the life of a private gentleman4 ,we   
must not forget that all these years    
,rubens was painting a great number of  
pictures in his ripest style4 ,there was
 hardly a class of subjects or size of  

canvas which he could not skillfully    
use1 although he always maintained that 
he could do his best work on large      
surfaces4 ,there were religious pictures
 of ,madonnas and saints all crowded    
with numerous figures and filled with   
vigorous human action4 ,there were      
portraits such as those of his wives1 of
 ,elizabeth of ,france1 or ,the ,girl   
with a ,straw ,hat1 which rank among the
 best of the world4 ,there were         
wonderful animal pictures--hunting      
scenes1 the excitement of which even    
to-day makes the cheek glow4 ,there were
 historical scenes mingled with         
allegory4 ,there were most beautiful    
children whose fat and agile bodies and 
whose laughing faces make us want to hug
 them4 ,there were enchanting angels1   
and there were huge fauns and satyrs4   
,there were placid landscapes where1 it 
may be1 the artist's soul1 teeming with 
the life of all time1 took its rest and 
recreation sporting with the nymphs of  
the woodland streams or with the frisky 

dryads of the trees4  ,in #afcj1 at the 
age of fifty-three1 he married his      
second wife1 ,helen ,fourmont1 only     
sixteen years old4 ,like his first wife 
she was very beautiful1 as his numerous 
portraits indicate4 ,five children came 
to them and the felicity of his early   
years with ,isabella ,brandt continued  
with his second wife4  ,the health of   
our painter gradually gave way4 ,for    
many years he had suffered intensely    
from repeated attacks of gout4 ,as he   
aged1 these became more and more        
frequent and severe4 ,often the disease1
 working in his fingers1 kept him from  
painting4 ,the ,death of ,st4 ,peter was
 painted for ,cologne ,cathedral in     
#afce4 ,it seems as if in his last years
 his heart turned affectionately to the 
city of his boyhood home and he would   
thus commemorate it4 ,another picture   
belongs to these last years4 ,it was a  
family picture which he called ,st4     
,george4 ,it represented four           
generations of the painter's family and 

included both his first and his second  
wife4 ,he himself figured as the ,saint1
 clad in shining armor and triumphant   
over his late enemy1 the deadly dragon4 
,rubens was too great to be conceited1  
but he stood at the end of a most       
successful life4 ,if ever a man had     
conquered the dragon of disappointment1 
that lies crouching at the door of every
 life1 ,rubens had4 ,he did well to     
represent himself as ,st4 ,george4 ,in  
both of these last pictures the painter 
shows at his very strongest4  ,he died  
,may #cjth1 #afdj1 and was buried in the
 church beside his mother and his first 
wife4 ,all the city attended his        
funeral1 for in three capacities they   
mourned their illustrious citizen--as an
 artist1 as a diplomat and scholar1 and 
as a man of noble character4 ,two years 
after his death the picture ,st4 ,george
 was hung above his tomb where it is    
found to-day4  ,he left great wealth    
which was largely represented by his    
collection of pictures and jewels4      

,there were three hundred and nineteen  
paintings1 all masterpieces4 ,the       
collection sold for what would be in our
 money about half a million dollars4    
,this is a large sum at any time but in 
,rubens' day it was well nigh fabulous4 
,illustration3 ,,satyrs      ,rubens    
,rubens has left us more than fifteen   
hundred pictures bearing his name4 ,that
 any man could leave so many can be     
accounted for only by reckoning many of 
them as largely executed by his pupils4 
,he used to make small sketches in color
 and hand them over to his pupils for   
enlargement4 ,he was always at hand to  
make corrections and1 at the end1 to    
give the finishing touches4 ,he used to 
charge for his pictures according to the
 time he used in painting them1 and he  
valued his time at fifty dollars a day4 
,he shows none of the mystical visionary
 feeling of the ,spaniards even in his  
religious pictures4 ,he was too much in 
love with life for that1 and so1        
sometimes1 we are offended by stout     

,flemish ,saints and ,madonnas too      
healthy to accord with our notions of   
their abstemious lives4 ,in his pictures
 there is spirited action1 almost excess
 of life1 and rich unfading color in    
which the reds largely prevail4 ,his    
lights are fine but the deep1 expressive
 shadows that made ,rembrandt famous are
 entirely lacking4 ,the softly flowing  
way in which the color leaves his brush 
is1 perhaps1 the most inimitable part of
 his art4 ,on this account someone has  
said1 who evidently has great reverence 
for both ,velazquez and ,rubens1 that we
 will see another ,velazquez before     
another ,rubens4  ,considering the      
qualities of his art1 the number of his 
pictures1 his scholarship1 his eminence 
as a diplomat and his pure and honorable
 life1 we must place ,rubens among the  
very greatest men who ever wielded a    
brush4   ,,quotations ,,about ,,rubens4 
,rubens was par excellence the painter  
of the group that     included the      
heroes of the ,dutch ,republic2 and1    

like many of his     contemporaries1    
whilst excelling in his own line1 he    
was1 in     other respects also1 a great
 man1 in a time of and among great      
men4--,,chas4 ,w4 ,,kett4       ,i      
cannot sufficiently admire his personal 
appearance nor praise     his           
uprightness1 his virtue1 his erudition  
and wonderful     knowledge of          
antiquities1 his skill and celerity of  
pencil1 and     the charm of his        
manner4--,a ,,contemporary4       ,his  
eye is the most marvellous prism that   
has ever been given us     of the light 
and color of objects1 of true and       
magnificent     ideas4--,,eugene        
,,fromentin4   ,,subjects ,,for         
,,language ,,work4       #a4 ,a ,day in 
,rubens' ,studio4       #b4 ,an ,evening
 with ,rubens4       #c4 ,rubens at the 
,monastery4       #d4 ,a ,day with      
,rubens in ,london4       #e4 ,rubens as
 a ,diplomat4       #f4 ,antwerp1 the   
,home ,city of ,rubens4       #g4       
,rubens and ,his ,friends4       #h4    

,the ,women ,rubens ,loved4       #i4   
,my ,favorite ,picture by ,rubens4      
#aj4 ,the ,masters of ,rubens4          
,illustration3 ,,durer',s ,,house1      
,,nuremberg  ,,albrecht ,,durer ,,and   
,,his ,,city      ,of a truth this man  
would have surpassed us all if he had   
had     the master-pieces of art        
constantly before him4     --,,raphael4 
,hardly any master has scattered with so
 lavish a hand all that     the soul has
 conceived of fervid feeling or pathos1 
all that     thought has grasped of what
 is strong or sublime1 all that the     
imagination has conceived of poetic     
wealth2 in no one has the     depth and 
power of the ,german genius been so     
gloriously revealed     as in him4      
--,,lubke4      ,he was content to be a 
precious corner-stone in the edifice of 
,german ,art1 the future grandeur of    
which he could only foresee4            
--,,richard ,,ford ,,heath4             
,illustration3 ,,durer  ,,albrecht      
,,durer4  #adga-aebh4   ,in our study of

 the great artists so far1 we have found
 that each glorified some particular    
city and that1 whatever other treasures 
that city may have had in the past1 it  
is the recollections of its great artist
 that hallow it most deeply today4      
,thus1 to think of ,antwerp is to think 
instantly of ,rubens4 ,leyden and       
,amsterdam as quickly recall to our     
minds the name of ,rembrandt4 ,seville  
without ,murillo would lose its chief   
charm1 while ,urbino is ,raphael and1   
without the revered name of the painter1
 would seldom draw the visitor to its   
secluded precincts4  ,to the quaintest  
of ,european cities the name of         
,albrecht ,durer instinctively carries  
us--to ,nuremberg4      ,that ancient1  
free1 imperial town1      ,forever fair 
and young4  ,were we to study ,durer    
without first viewing his venerable city
 which he so deeply loved all his life  
that no promise of gain from gorgeous   
,venetian court or from wealthy ,antwerp
 burgers could detain him long from     

home1 we should leave untouched a       
delightful subject and one deeply       
inwoven in the life and thought of the  
artist4 ,were we to omit a brief        
consideration of his time and the way   
the ,german mind looked at things and   
naturally represented them in words and 
in pictures1 we should come away from   
,durer impressed only with his great    
homely figures and faces and wondering  
why1 in every list of the great artists 
of the world1 ,durer's name should stand
 so high4  ,having these things in mind1
 it will not then seem so far away to   
speak of ,nuremberg and ,luther before  
we rehearse the things which make up the
 life of ,albrecht ,durer4  ,nuremberg  
does not boast a very early date1 for   
she began her existence just after the  
year one thousand when men1 finding out 
surely that the end of the world was not
 come1 took as it were a new lease of   
life4 ,the thing she does boast is that 
her character as a mediaeval town has   
been almost perfectly preserved up to   

the present day4  ,there were many      
things which made ,nuremberg an         
important city in early times4 ,she was 
conveniently located for traders who    
shipped vast amounts of merchandise from
 ,venice to the great trade centers in  
the ,netherlands4 ,for many years she   
was a favorite city of the ,emperor and 
here were kept the crown jewels which   
were displayed with great pomp once a   
year4  ,the country immediately about   
,nuremberg was sandy but carefully      
cultivated4 ,there were also large banks
 of clay very useful to the citizens in 
the manufacture of pottery4 ,like the   
salt of ,venice1 it was a natural source
 of wealth to the citizens4 ,very early 
we find a paper mill here1 and here1    
too1 were set up some of the earliest   
printing presses4 ,perhaps the most     
interesting of the early wares of this  
enterprising city were the watches4 ,the
 first made in the world were           
manufactured here and from their shape  
they were called ,nuremberg ,eggs4 ,we  

have a story that ,charles ,v4 had a    
watchmaker brought in a sedan chair all 
the way from ,nuremberg that he might   
have his watch repaired4 ,here was      
manufactured the first gun-lock1 and    
here was invented the valued metallic   
compound known as brass4  ,from all     
these sources the citizens grew rich1   
but their wealth did not make them      
forget their city4 ,a little more than  
fifty years before ,durer's birth1 the  
,emperor being very much in need of     
money1 they bought their freedom4 ,for  
this they paid what would be1 in our    
money1 about a million of dollars4 ,it  
was a goodly price1 but they gave it    
freely4 ,then they destroyed the house  
where their governor or ,burgrave had   
lived and they were henceforth ruled by 
a council selected from their own       
number4  ,the city lies on both sides of
 the river ,pegnitz which divides it    
into two almost equal parts4 ,the       
northern side is named from its great   
church1 ,st4 ,sebald's1 and the southern

 for that of ,st4 ,lawrence4 ,originally
 the city was enclosed by splendid      
ramparts4 ,three hundred and sixty-five 
towers broke the monotony of the        
extensive walls4 ,of these one hundred  
are still standing today4 ,in days gone 
by1 a moat thirty-five feet wide        
encircled the wall1 but since peace has 
taken the place of war and security has 
come instead of hourly danger1 the moat 
has been drained and thrifty kitchen    
gardens fill the space4                 
,illustration3 ,,shrine ,,of ,,st4      
,,sebald1 ,,nuremberg     ,in the church
 of sainted ,sebald sleeps enshrined his
 holy dust1     ,and in bronze the      
,twelve ,apostles guard from age to age 
their           trust4--,longfellow     
,within the city are some of the most   
beautiful buildings both private and    
public4 ,here1 too1 sculpture1 which the
 ,germans cultivated before they did    
painting1 has left rare monuments4      
,among these last we must notice the    
wonderful shrine of ,st4 ,sebald in the 

church of the same name4 ,for thirteen  
years ,peter ,vischer and his five sons 
labored on this work4 ,long it was to   
toil and vexing were the questions which
 arose in the progress of the work2 but 
the result was a master-piece which     
stands alone among the art works of the 
world4 ,nor can we forget the foamy     
ciborium of the ,church of ,st          
,lawrence4 ,for sixty-five feet this    
miracle of snowy marble rises in the    
air1 growing more lacey at every step   
until1 in its terminal portions1 so     
delicate does it become that it seems   
like the very clouds in fleeciness4     
,illustration3 ,,the ,,ciborium 7,,pyx7 
,,church ,,of ,,st4 ,,lawrence  ,church 
doorways are carved with beautiful and  
fantastic forms by men whose names were 
long ago forgotten4 ,common dwellings   
are adorned with picturesque dormer     
windows4 ,even the narrow crooked       
streets hold their share of beauty1 for 
here are fountains so exquisite in their
 workmanship that their like is not to  

be found elsewhere4 ,here it is the     
,beautiful ,fountain1 gay with          
sculptures of heroes and saints1 and    
there it is the ,little ,gooseman's     
,fountain where humor is added to       
beauty4 ,through all the years stands   
the little man with a goose under either
 arm1 patiently receiving his daily     
drenching4 ,still two other fountains   
known to fame send up their crystal     
waters to greet the light4              
,illustration  ,if we seek for more     
modern things we are also rewarded1 for 
here in ,durer ,square stands ,rauch's  
great statue of the artist1 copied from 
,durer's portrait of himself in ,vienna4
 ,we note the custom house1 one of the  
oldest buildings1 the town hall and the 
burg or castle1 which for many years was
 the favorite residence of the ,emperor4
    ,illustration3 ,,the ,,beautiful    
,,fountain ,,in ,,nuremberg             
,everywhere ,i see around me rise the   
wondrous world of art2     ,fountains   
wrought with richest sculpture standing 

in the           common                 
mart4--,longfellow  ,here1 too1 are many
 fine old houses which used to belong to
 noblemen of the city4 ,it is not these 
residences that we seek1 however1 if we 
are visiting ,nuremberg4 ,we ask rather 
for the house of ,hans ,sachs1 the      
cobbler poet1 of ,john ,palm1 the       
fearless patriot1 who gave his life for 
the privilege of beating ,napoleon1 and 
above all we seek that quaint house     
where ,durer lived and worked4 ,in      
choosing these as objects of our special
 attention we feel like ,charles ,i41   
who said1 when he compelled a reluctant 
courtier to hold ,durer's ladder1 ,man  
can make a nobleman1 but only ,god can  
make an artist4  ,in our search for     
interesting things in old ,nuremberg1 we
 come suddenly upon a house bearing a   
tablet on which are these words1        
,pilate's ,house4 ,at first we are      
mystified1 for was not ,pilate's house  
in ,jerusalem8 ,but at once we recall   
that this is the house of the pious     

,jacob ,ketzet who twice visited the    
,holy ,land that he might measure       
exactly the distance from ,pilate's     
house to ,calvary4 ,when he was         
satisfied with his measurements he      
returned to ,nuremberg and commissioned 
the great sculptor1 ,adam ,kraft1 to    
carve stations1 as he called them1      
between his home and ,st4 ,john's       
,cemetery to the northwest of the city4 
,these stations1 which are merely stone 
pillars on which are carved in relief   
scenes from the sufferings of our ,lord 
just before his death1 are still        
standing1 and if we go to ,durer's      
grave1 as ,i am sure we should wish to  
do1 we shall pass them on our way4      
,illustration3 #aebf ,,viventis ,,potvit
 ,,dvrerivs ,,ora ,,philippi            
,,mentem ,,non ,,potvit ,,pingere       
,,docta                       ,,manvs   
,,ad                       ,,melancthon 
,the ,nurembergers have long taken pride
 in the quaint appearance of their city1
 so that many of the newer houses are   

built in the old style with their gables
 to the street4 ,as we note the         
patriotic spirit of the people and      
recount the beauties of the old city1 we
 feel that ,durer was warranted in the  
deep love and affection that ,i have    
borne that venerable city1 my           
fatherland1 as he expressed it4         
,illustration3 ,,erasmus  ,as to the    
time when ,durer came into the world1 it
 was truly a wonderful age in which to  
live6 ,less than twenty-five years after
 his birth1 ,columbus found a vast new  
world4 ,people were already much        
agitated over the evil practices in the 
old established church4 ,durer knew and 
loved ,luther and ,melancthon but he was
 quite as much attached to the scholarly
 ,erasmus1 who wished not to break away 
from the old church1 but merely to      
correct its abuses4 ,in short ,durer    
belonged to the ,conservative class     
which found it possible to accept the   
food in the new doctrines and retain the
 pure from the old without revolution4  

,such were the citizens of ,nuremberg   
and thus did the ancient city as easily 
accept the new doctrines as she did the 
morning sunshine pouring in at her      
storied windows4 ,thus1 too1 were       
preserved the ancient buildings and     
institutions1 which1 through the wisdom 
of her citizens1 were not called upon to
 withstand sieges and other military    
attacks4  ,durer was above everything a 
true representative of the ,german      
people1 and so we ought to take note of 
some of the qualities of the ,german    
mind4 ,as ,goethe1 their greatest poet1 
says1 one of their strongest            
characteristics is that of wishing to   
learn and to do rather than to enjoy4   
,the ,germans love truth and they do not
 stop short in their imaginings when    
they wish to drive it home4 ,so in      
,german art1 the toiling man or woman is
 often accompanied by angels and demons1
 the equal of which were never pictured 
by any other people4 ,the greatest      
extremes of beauty and ugliness have    

these people given in their art4 ,in    
either extreme1 however1 thoughts on the
 deepest questions of human life are at 
the foundation4    ,illustration3       
,,doorway ,,in ,,st4 ,,sebald',s        
,,church1 ,,nuremberg     ,and above    
cathedral doorways saints and bishops   
carved in stone1     ,by a former age   
commissioned as apostles to our         
own4--,longfellow  ,on a summer's day in
 #adee1 there wandered into the         
far-famed city of ,nuremberg a young    
goldsmith from ,hungary4 ,the ramparts  
of the city with their towers and       
gateways1 the splendid buildings        
enclosed1 were like miracles to the     
youth4 ,it was a fete day in celebration
 of the marriage of the son of a        
prominent citizen1 ,pirkheimer by name4 
,albrecht ,durer1 for that was the      
youth's name1 long studied the gay      
throng1 little thinking how in the      
future the name of his son and that of  
the bridegroom there would together be  
known to fame1 the one as the greatest  

artist1 the other as the most learned   
man of ,nuremberg4 ,the wandering youth 
was the father of our artist and the    
bridegroom was the father of ,wilibald  
,pirkheimer1 ,durer's life long friend  
and companion4  ,the young goldsmith    
loved the city at once and1 encouraged  
by the business activity of the place1  
he made it his permanent abode4 ,he     
found employment with ,hieronymus       
,holper1 and soon married his master's  
comely daughter1 ,barbara4 ,they resided
 in a little house which was a sort of  
appendage to the great house of         
,pirkheimer4 ,a few months after a much 
longed for son came to bless the        
,pirkheimers1 a little boy was born in  
the goldsmith's house whom they named1  
for his father1 ,albrecht ,durer4 ,as   
the years went by1 seventeen other      
children came to the ,durer home4 ,three
 only of all these children grew to     
maturity4  ,with such a family to       
support we can easily imagine that the  
father's life was a hard one4 ,he was a 

pious and industrious man whom his      
illustrious son never tires of praising4
 ,in one place he says of him1 ,he had a
 great reputation with many who knew    
him1 for he led an honorable ,christian 
life1 was a patient man1 gentle1 in     
peace with everyone and always thankful 
to ,god4 ,he had no desire for worldly  
pleasures1 was of few words1 did not go 
into society and was a ,god-fearing man4
 ,thus my dear father was most anxious  
to bring up his children to honor ,god4 
,his highest wish was that his children 
should be pleasing to ,god and man2     
therefore he used to tell us every day  
that we should love ,god and be true to 
our neighbors4  ,durer sorrowed deeply  
when his father died in #aejb4 ,on his  
death-bed he commended the mother to her
 son4 ,durer was faithful to his trust  
and cared tenderly for his mother until 
her death1 several years later4 ,never  
did boy or man more faithfully keep the 
command1 ,honor thy father and mother1  
than did our artist4  ,for many reasons 

,albrecht seemed to be his father's     
favorite child4 ,we find him1 in spite  
of numerous other cares1 taking great   
pains with the boy's education4 ,he     
taught him to read and write well and   
must have given him instruction in      
,latin4 ,these were years when thirst   
for learning was abroad in the land4    
,free ,latin schools were established to
 meet the needs4 ,durer's father was    
filled with this spirit and he          
communicated it to his son4             
,illustration3 ,,dormer ,,window ,,in   
,,the ,,bishop',s ,,house1 ,,nuremberg  
,on the square the oriel window1 where  
in old heroic days1     ,sat the poet   
,melchoir singing ,kaiser ,maximilian's 
praise4     --,longfellow  ,as was      
customary at the time1 the son was      
trained to follow his father's trade and
 so he learned the goldsmith's art in   
his father's shop4 ,it is said that in  
his tender years he engraved1 on silver1
 events from ,christ's passage to       
,calvary4 ,albrecht's drawing was       

superior to that usually done in a      
goldsmith's shop4 ,in his free hours he 
drew to entertain his companions4 ,after
 a while he began to feel that he might 
paint pictures instead of merely drawing
 designs for metal work4 ,he loved the  
work and so had the courage to tell his 
father of his wish to become a painter4 
,the elder ,durer was patient with the  
boy1 regretting only that he had lost so
 much time learning the goldsmith's     
trade4 ,albrecht1 then only sixteen1 was
 surely young enough to begin his life  
work6 ,his father put him to study with 
,wolgemut1 the foremost painter of the  
city1 which is not high praise1 for the 
art of painting was then new in the     
prosperous city of the ,pegnitz4        
,wolgemut was1 however1 a good engraver 
on wood and so perhaps was able to      
direct the young apprentice in quite as 
valuable a line as painting4  ,here     
,durer remained for three years1 until  
#adij4 ,he was now but nineteen1 full of
 hope and perhaps conscious1 to a       

certain extent1 that his was no ordinary
 skill of hand4 ,he was now ready1      
according to the custom of his          
countrymen1 for his wanderschaft or     
journeyman period1 when he should       
complete his art education by going     
abroad to other towns to see their ways 
and thus improve his own method4 ,for   
four years he traveled among neighboring
 towns4 ,the evidence is strong that the
 last year was spent in ,venice4 ,we    
have little certain knowledge of where  
he spent these years but we feel quite  
sure that one of the places he visited  
was ,colmar1 where he became acquainted 
with the artist1 ,martin ,schougauer4   
,he was called home rather suddenly in  
#adid by his father1 who had arranged   
what he thought was an acceptable       
marriage for his son4 ,a short time     
before ,durer had sent his father a     
portrait of himself in which he figured 
as a remarkably handsome and            
well-dressed young man4 ,it is supposed 
that the father sent for this portrait  

to help him along in his arrangements   
for the marriage of his son4 ,however   
,albrecht may have felt about the matter
 of making his marriage merely a        
business affair1 he never expressed     
himself1 but was married shortly after  
his return to ,nuremberg4               
,illustration3 ,,st4 ,,john ,,and ,,st4 
,,peter      ,durer    ,illustration3   
,,st4 ,,mark ,,and ,,st4 ,,paul         
,durer  ,agnes ,frey1 the woman selected
 by ,durer's father1 was a handsome     
woman of good family with a small       
fortune of her own4 ,she has come down  
to us with a most unenviable record as a
 scold who made life almost unendurable 
for her husband4 ,it is now quite       
certain1 however1 that for all these    
years she has been grossly              
misrepresented1 simply because her      
husband's friend ,pirkheimer1 for small 
reason1 became offended with her4 ,it   
seems that in his lifetime ,durer1 who  
had collected many curious and valuable 
things1 had gathered together some      

remarkably fine stag-horns4 ,one pair of
 these especially pleased ,pirkheimer4  
,the widow1 without knowing             
,pirkheimer's desire for these1 sold    
them for a small sum and thus brought   
upon herself the anger of her husband's 
choleric friend1 who wrote a most unkind
 letter concerning her which has been   
quoted from that day to this to show how
 ,albrecht ,durer suffered in his home4 
,the truth seems really to be that      
,agnes ,durer was as sweet-tempered as  
the average woman1 fond of her husband  
and a good housekeeper4  ,the earlier   
works of ,durer are largely wood-cuts1  
the art which more than any other was   
the artist's very own4 ,the discussions 
of the times regarding religious matters
 made a demand for books even at great  
cost4 ,it was a time when written and   
spoken words held people's attention1   
but when1 in addition1 the text was     
illustrated by strong pictures the power
 and reach of the books were increased  
ten-fold4 ,a place thus seemed waiting  

for ,albrecht ,durer1 the master        
wood-engraver4  ,his first great series 
was the ,apocalypse--pictures to        
illustrate the book of ,revelations4    
,such a subject gave ,durer ample scope 
for the use of his imagination4 ,then   
came the story of ,christ's agony twice 
engraved in small and large size4 ,these
 were followed by still another series  
illustrating the life of ,mary4 ,this   
series was especially popular1 for it   
glorified family life--the family life  
of the ,germans1 so worthy1 so          
respected4 ,to be sure1 ,mary is        
represented as a ,german woman tending a
 dear ,german child4 ,the kings who come
 to adore could be found any day on the 
streets of ,nuremberg4 ,the castles and 
churches that figure in the backgrounds 
are those of mediaeval and renaissance  
,germany4 ,but this was ,durer's method 
of truth speaking and it appealed       
strongly to the people of his time as it
 must to us of to-day4  ,in #aejf1 when 
the last series was not quite completed1

 ,durer went to ,venice1 perhaps to look
 after the sale of some of his prints1  
but more likely because the artist      
wished to work in the sunshine and art  
atmosphere of the island city4 ,while   
away he wrote regularly to his friend   
,pirkheimer4 ,his letters are           
exceedingly interesting1 as we learn    
from them much about the art society of 
the time4 ,durer was looked upon with   
favor by the ,venetian government but   
most of the native artists were jealous 
of the foreigner and not friendly4 ,they
 complained that his art was like       
nothing set down as correct or classical
 but still they admired it and copied   
it1 too1 on the sly4    ,illustration3  
,,durer ,,in ,,venice      ,theobald von
 ,oer  ,gentile ,bellini1 the founder of
 the ,venetian ,school1 was then a very 
old man4 ,he was fond of ,durer and     
showed him many kindnesses1 not the     
least of which was praising him to the  
,venetian nobles4 ,there is a charming  
story told of ,bellini's admiration of  

,durer's skill in painting hair3 ,one   
day1 after examining carefully the beard
 of one of the saints in a picture by   
,durer1 he begged him to allow him to   
use the brush that had done such        
wonderful work4 ,durer gladly laid his  
brushes before ,bellini and indicated   
the one he had used4 ,the ,venetian     
picked it up1 made the attempt to use it
 but failed to produce anything unusual1
 whereupon ,durer took the brush wet    
with ,bellini's own color and painted a 
lock of woman's hair in so marvelous a  
way that the old artist declared he     
would not believe it had he not seen it 
done4  ,the most important picture      
,durer painted while in ,venice was the 
,madonna of the ,rose ,garlands4 ,it was
 painted for the artist's countrymen and
 is now in a monastery near ,prague4    
,durer evidently valued it highly       
himself for he writes of it to          
,pirkheimer1 ,my panel would give a     
ducat for you to see it2 it is good and 
beautiful in color4 ,i have got much    

praise and little profit by it4 ,i have 
silenced all the painters who said that 
,i was good at engraving but could not  
manage color4 ,now everyone says that   
they have never seen better coloring4   
,after little more than a year's sojourn
 in ,venice1 he returned to ,nuremberg4 
,he had been sorely tempted by an offer 
from the ,venetian ,council of a        
permanent pension if he would but remain
 in their city4 ,but the ties of        
affection which bound him to his home   
city drew him back to ,nuremberg1 even  
though he had written while in ,venice1 
,how cold ,i shall be after this sun6   
,here ,i am a gentleman1 referring      
indirectly to the smaller place he would
 occupy at home4  ,although ,durer      
studied and enjoyed the works of the    
,italian masters1 there is hardly a     
trace of the influence of this study in 
his own works4 ,his mind was too        
strongly bent in its own direction to be
 easily turned even by so powerful an   
influence as ,venetian painting4 ,we are

 grateful indeed for the steadfast      
purpose of ,durer that kept his art pure
 ,german instead of diluting it with    
,italian style so little adapted to     
harmonize with ,german thought and      
method4    ,illustration3 ,,praying     
,,hands      ,durer  ,on ,durer's return
 to ,nuremberg he did some of his best  
work4 ,he painted one of his greatest   
pictures at this time1 ,all ,saints4 ,it
 is crowded with richly dressed figures1
 while the air above is filled with an  
angelic host which no one can count4 ,in
 the center is the ,cross on which hangs
 our suffering ,lord4 ,below1 in one    
corner1 is ,durer's unmistakable        
signature1 which in this case consists  
of a full length miniature of himself   
holding up a tablet on which is this    
inscription1 ,albertus ,durer of        
,nuremberg did it in #aeaa4 ,after this 
follows the renowned monogram used by   
the artist in signing his works after   
#adif1 the ,d enclosed in a large ,a    
something after this style4 ,he then    

designed a very beautiful and elaborate 
frame for this picture to be carved from
 wood4 ,it was adorned with figures in  
relief1 beautiful vine traceries and    
architectural ornaments which showed our
 artist master of still another national
 art--wood-carving4    ,illustration    
,it is interesting1 too1 to know that   
about this time ,durer1 finding painting
 not so lucrative as he had hoped1      
turned his attention to engraving on all
 sorts of hard materials1 such as ivory 
and hone-stone4 ,to this period belongs 
that tiny triumph of his art1 the       
,degennoph1 or gold plate1 which        
contains in a circle of little more than
 an inch in diameter the whole scene of 
the ,crucifixion carefully represented4 
,through his indefatigable labors       
,durer's circumstances were now greatly 
improved and so he planned to publish   
his works1 a matter of large expense4   
,instead of going to some large         
publishing house1 as we to-day do1      
,durer had a press set up in his own    

house4 ,we delight in illustrated books 
to-day1 indeed we will hardly have a    
book without pictures4 ,imagine then the
 joy that must have been felt in this   
time of the scarcity of even printed    
books to have those that were           
illustrated4 ,there was ready sale for  
all the books ,durer could print4  ,some
 prints came into ,raphael's hands4 ,he 
wrote a friendly letter to the artist   
and sent him several of his own         
drawings4 ,in return ,durer sent his own
 portrait1 life size1 which ,raphael    
greatly prized and at his death         
bequeathed to his favorite pupil1 ,julio
 ,romano4  ,durer's prosperity          
continuing1 he purchased the house now  
known to fame as ,albrecht ,durer's     
,house4 ,it is still very much as it was
 in the artist's lifetime4 ,here one may
 study at his leisure the kitchen and   
living-room which seem as if ,durer had 
just left them4  ,the artist's          
reputation was now fully established4   
,in #aeji1 he was made a member of the  

,council that governed the city and he  
was granted the important commission of 
painting two pictures for the relic     
chamber in ,nuremberg4 ,in this room1   
which was in a citizen's house1 the     
crown jewels were kept on ,easter night1
 the time of their annual exhibition to 
the public4 ,sigismund and ,charlemagne 
were the subjects selected1 the former  
probably because it was he who first    
gave to ,nuremberg the custody of the   
precious jewels1 and the latter because 
,charlemagne was a favorite hero with   
the ,germans4 ,the ,charlemagne is here 
reproduced4 ,in wonderful jeweled       
coronation robes1 with the coat of arms 
of ,france on one side and that of      
,germany on the other1 he is a fine     
figure well suited to make us feel      
,durer's power as a painter4            
,illustration3 ,,charlemagne      ,durer
  ,in #aeab1 there came to ,nuremberg a 
royal visitor1 no less a personage than 
the ,emperor ,maximilian4 ,this was of  
greatest importance to ,durer to whom   

two important commissions came as the   
result of this visit4 ,the ,emperor had 
no settled abode1 so his travels were   
important1 at least to himself4 ,he was 
fond of dictating poems and descriptions
 of these travels4 ,durer was asked to  
make wood-cuts for a book of the        
,emperor's travels to consist of two    
parts1 the one called ,the ,triumphal   
,arch and the other ,the ,triumphal     
,car4  ,the wood-cuts for the first were
 made on ninety-two separate blocks     
which1 when put together1 formed one    
immense cut ten and a half feet high by 
nine feet wide4 ,for this ,durer made   
all the designs which were cut by a     
skilled workman of the city1 ,hieronymus
 ,andrae4 ,it was while this work was   
going forward that the well-known       
saying1 ,a cat may look at a king1      
arose4 ,the ,emperor was often at the   
workshop watching the progress of the   
work and he was frequently entertained  
by the pet cats of the wood-cutter who  
would come in to be with their master4  

,the designs for ,the ,triumphal ,car   
were of the same general style4 ,in     
these ,durer was assisted by other      
engravers of the city4 ,one expression  
of ,durer's regarding the ornamentation 
of the car shows him skilled in the     
language of the courtier as well as in  
that of the citizen4 ,he says1 ,it is   
adorned1 not with gold and precious     
stones1 which are the property of the   
good and bad alike1 but with the virtues
 which only the really noble possess4   
,the noted ,prayer ,book of ,maximilian 
was the other work done for the         
,emperor4 ,only three of these are in   
existence and of course they are almost 
priceless in value4 ,the text was       
illustrated by ,durer on the margin in  
pen and ink drawings in different       
colored inks4 ,sometimes the artist's   
fancy is expressed in twining vines and 
flying birds and butterflies1 again it  
is the kneeling ,psalmist listening in  
rapt attention to some heavenly harpist1
 or it may be that the crafty fox       

beguiles the unsuspecting fowls with    
music from a stolen flute4 ,thus through
 almost endless variety of subjects     
stray the artist's thought and hand4    
,we have also a fine likeness of        
,maximilian drawn in strong free lines  
by ,durer at this same time4 ,seeing how
 deft the artist was with his crayons1  
,maximilian took up some pieces which   
broke in his hand4 ,when asked why it   
did not do so in the fingers of the     
artist1 ,durer made the well known      
reply1 ,gracious ,emperor1 ,i would not 
have your majesty draw as well as       
myself4 ,i have practised the art and it
 is my kingdom4 ,your majesty has other 
and more difficult work to do4          
,illustration3 ,,head ,,of ,,an ,,old   
,,man      ,durer  ,for all this        
wonderful work ,durer's compensation was
 little more than the remission of      
certain taxes by the ,nuremberg ,council
 and the promise of a small annual      
pension4 ,maximilian's death made it    
doubtful whether the pension would be   

paid4 ,durer in common with others      
sought out the new ,emperor1 ,charles   
,v41 to have the favors granted by his  
predecessor confirmed4  ,with this in   
view1 in #aebj1 the artist with his wife
 and maid set out for the ,netherlands4 
,they were gone something more than a   
year and a half1 during which time      
,durer kept a strict account of his     
expenses and of his experiences and     
impressions throughout the journey4     
,everywhere he was received with the    
most marked attention4 ,he was invited  
to splendid feasts1 and was the         
recipient of all sorts of gifts4 ,in    
return he gave freely of his own        
precious works4  ,he made his           
headquarters at ,antwerp and here he    
witnessed the entry of the new monarch4 
,the magnificence of the four hundred   
two-storied arches erected for the      
occasion impressed ,durer deeply4 ,of   
the many and varied experiences of the  
,nuremberger1 not the least interesting 
was his attempt to see a whale that had 

been cast ashore in ,zealand4 ,he made  
all haste to see this unusual sight and 
was nearly ship-wrecked in the attempt4 
,the exposure1 too1 to which he was     
subjected gave rise to ills which       
eventually caused his death4  ,after all
 his trouble he was disappointed at his 
journey's end for the whale had been    
washed away before he arrived4 ,he      
finally accomplished the object for     
which he went to the ,netherlands4 ,his 
pension was confirmed and in addition he
 was named court painter4 ,ladened with 
all sorts of curious things which he had
 collected and with a generous supply of
 presents for his friends and their     
wives1 he started home where he arrived 
in due time4  ,there were but seven     
years of life left to our painter and   
these were burdened with broken health4 
,to this period1 however1 belong some of
 his most wonderful and characteristic  
works4 ,the very year of his return he  
engraved that marvellous ,head of an    
,old ,man1 now in ,vienna4 ,never were  

the striking qualities of age more      
beautifully put together than in this   
head4    ,illustration3 ,,melancholy    
,durer  ,with about the same time we    
associate ,the ,praying ,hands1 now also
 in ,vienna4 ,how an artist can make    
hands express the inmost wish of the    
soul as these do will always remain a   
mystery even to the most acute4 ,we have
 the story that they were the clasped   
hands of ,durer's boyhood friend who    
toiled for years to equal or rival his  
friend in their chosen work4 ,when1 in a
 test agreed upon1 to ,durer was given  
the prize1 then ,hans1 for that was the 
friend's name1 prayed fervently to be   
resigned to a second place4 ,durer      
caught sight of the clasped hands and   
drew them so well that wherever the name
 and fame of ,albrecht goes there also  
must go the praying hands of his friend4
 ,whether the story be true we cannot   
say1 but in the hands we have a master  
work to love4  ,at this time the new    
religious doctrine formed the subject of

 thought everywhere4 ,there was the most
 minute searching for truth that the    
world has ever known4 ,durer1 deeply    
moved by the thought of the time1 put   
its very essence into his works4 ,he was
 a philosopher and a student of men4 ,he
 saw how the varied temperaments of men 
led them to think differently on the    
great questions of the time4 ,feeling   
this keenly1 he set to work to represent
 these various temperaments in pictured 
forms1 a most difficult thing to do as  
we can easily imagine4 ,perhaps his own 
diseased condition led him to select as 
the first of these ,melancholy1 that    
great brooding shadow that hovers       
constantly above man1 waiting only for  
the moment when discouragement comes to 
fall upon and destroy its victim4  ,how 
does ,durer represent this insidious and
 fatal enemy8 ,a powerful winged woman  
sits in despair in the midst of the     
useless implements of the art of        
,science4 ,the compass in her nerveless 
fingers can no longer measure1 nor even 

time in his ceaseless flow explain1 the 
mysteries which crowd upon this         
well-nigh distraught woman1 who it seems
 must stand for human reason4 ,the sun  
itself is darkened by the uncanny bat   
which possibly may stand for doubt and  
unbelief4 ,perhaps no one can explain   
accurately the meaning of this great    
engraving and therein lies the          
greatness1 which allows each person to  
interpret it to please himself4  ,in    
painting he attempted the same difficult
 subject of the temperaments1 in his    
four apostles1 ,st4 ,paul and ,mark1    
,st4 ,john and ,peter4 ,he painted these
 without charge as a sort of memorial of
 himself in his native town4 ,two saints
 are painted on each panel4 ,no figures 
in art are more beautiful than the      
leading one on each panel1 the ,st4     
,paul on the one and the ,st4 ,john on  
the other4 ,if we interpret these as    
regards temperament1 ,john is the type  
of the melancholy1 ,peter of the        
phlegmatic1 ,paul of the choleric and   

,mark of the sanguine4  ,in #aebf1      
,durer sent these pictures as a gift to 
the ,council of ,nuremberg4 ,it was the 
artist's wish that they should always   
remain in the ,council hall4            
,notwithstanding this1 only copies are  
now to be seen in ,nuremberg1 while the 
originals are in ,munich1 carried there 
by the ,elector of ,bavaria1 who paid a 
good price for them4    ,illustration3  
,,the ,,knight1 ,,death ,,and ,,the     
,,devil      ,durer  ,one other of      
,durer's pictures should be spoken of1  
though it hardly belongs last in order  
of time4 ,it is really the summing up of
 much that he had done from time to time
 all through his busy life time4 ,this  
picture1 called ,the ,knight1 ,death and
 the ,devil1 is an engraving on copper4 
,the stern1 intelligent men of the time1
 who were ready to face any danger in   
order to bear themselves according to   
their notions of right1 are well        
represented in this splendid mounted    
knight4 ,what though ,death reminds him 

by the uplifted hourglass that his life 
is nearly ended8 or that ,satan himself 
stands ready to claim the ,knight's     
soul8 ,there is that in this grand      
horseman's face that tells of           
unflinching purpose and indomitable     
courage to carry it out against the odds
 of earth and the dark regions besides4 
,one of our greatest art critics says of
 this work1 ,i believe ,i do not        
exaggerate when ,i particularize this   
point as the most important work which  
the fantastic spirit of ,german ,art has
 produced4 ,a reading of ,fouque's      
,sintram inspires us anew with the true 
spirit of ,durer's great work4          
,illustration3 ,,st4 ,,george ,,and     
,,the ,,dragon      ,durer  ,the gift to
 his natal city was ,durer's last work  
of note4 ,the sickness that had been    
growing upon him1 which was none other  
than consumption1 gradually absorbed his
 energies and in ,april1 #aebh1 he died4
 ,he was buried in ,st4 ,john's         
,cemetery in the lot belonging to the   

,frey family4 ,on the flat gravestone   
was let in a little bronze tablet on    
which was a simple inscription written  
by his friend ,pirkheimer4 ,a century   
and a half later ,sandrart1 the         
historian of ,german painters1 visited  
the tomb1 then in ruins4 ,he caused it  
to be repaired and added another        
inscription which has been translated   
into ,english3--      ,rest here1 thou  
,prince of ,painters6 thou who wast     
better           than great1      ,in   
many arts unequaled in the old time or  
the late4      ,earth thou didst paint  
and garnish1 and now in thy new abode   
,thou paintest the holy things overhead 
in the city of ,god4      ,and we1 as   
our patron saint1 look up to thee1 ever 
will1      ,and crown with laurel the   
dust here left with us still4  ,durer's 
character was one of the purest to be   
found on the honor-list of the world4   
,he bore heavy burdens with patience and
 was true to his country and to himself 
in the most distracting of times4 ,he   

was the father of popular illustration  
and the originator of illustrated books4
 ,he was as many-sided in his genius as 
,da ,vinci and as prolific as ,raphael1 
though along a different line4 ,that he 
was architect1 sculptor1 painter1       
engraver1 author and civil engineer     
proves the former point1 while the fact 
that he left a great number of signed   
works satisfies us regarding the latter 
comparison4 ,one who knew him wrote of  
him in these words1--,if there were in  
this man anything approaching to a fault
 it was simply the endless industry and 
self-criticism which he indulged in1    
often even to injustice4                
,illustration3 ,,statue ,,of ,,albrecht 
,,durer1 ,,nuremberg  ,in closing this  
sketch1 nothing can so delightfully     
summarize the beauty of the old town of 
,nuremberg and the character of its     
great artist as a part of ,longfellow's 
poem1 ,nuremberg3,a    ,in the valley of
 the ,pegnitz1 where across broad       
meadow-lands1   ,rise the blue          

,franconian mountains1 ,nuremberg the   
ancient stands4    ,quaint old town of  
toil and traffic1 quaint old town of art
 and song1   ,memories haunt thy pointed
 gables like the rooks that round them  
throng3    ,memories of the ,middle     
,ages1 when the ,emperors1 rough and    
bold1   ,had their dwelling in thy      
castle1 time defying1 centuries old2    
,and thy brave and thrifty burghers     
boasted1 in their uncouth rhyme1   ,that
 their great imperial city stretched its
 hand thro' every clime4    ,in the     
court-yard of the castle1 bound with    
many an iron band1   ,stands the mighty 
linden planted by ,queen ,cunigunde's   
hand2    ,on the square the oriel       
window1 where in old heroic days1   ,sat
 the poet ,melchoir singing ,kaiser     
,maximilian's praise4    ,everywhere ,i 
see around me rise the wondrous world of
 art2   ,fountains wrought with richest 
sculpture standing in the common mart2  
,and above cathedral doorways saints and
 bishops carved in stone1   ,by a former

 age commissioned as apostles to our    
own4    ,in the church of sainted       
,sebald sleeps enshrined his holy dust1 
,and in bronze the ,twelve ,apostles    
guard from age to age their trust2      
,in the church of sainted ,lawrence     
stands a pix of sculpture rare1   ,like 
the foamy sheaf of fountains rising     
through the painted air4    ,here1 when 
,art was still religion1 with a simple1 
reverent heart   ,lived and labored     
,albrecht ,durer1 the ,evangelist of    
,art2    ,hence in silence and in       
sorrow1 toiling still with busy hand1   
,like an emigrant he wandered seeking   
for the ,better ,land4    ,emigravit is 
the inscription on the tomb-stone where 
he lies2   ,dead he is not1 but         
departed--for the artist never dies4    
,fairer seems the ancient city and the  
sunshine seems more fair1   ,that he    
once has trod its pavement1 that he once
 has breathed its air6  ,a ,these       
stanzas are here reproduced by the      
courtesy of ,houghton1 ,mifflin  ,co41  

the regular publishers of ,longfellow's 
works4   ,,subjects ,,for ,,language    
,,work4       #a4 ,a ,day in ,ancient   
,nuremberg4       #b4 ,the ,churches of 
,nuremberg4       #c4 ,with ,durer at   
,antwerp4       #d4 ,durer and ,his     
,friends4       #e4 ,durer and ,his     
,wife4       #f4 ,durer's ,stay in      
,venice4       #g4 ,maximilian and the  
,artist4       #h4 ,stories about       
,durer4       #i4 ,the ,art of ,wood    
,engraving4      #aj4 ,the ,fountains of
 ,nuremberg4      #aa4 ,some ,stories   
about ,st4 ,sebald4   ,,special         
,,references ,,for ,,albrecht ,,durer4  
,life of ,durer by ,heath4      ,life of
 ,durer by ,heaton4      ,life of ,durer
 by ,thansing4      ,life of ,durer by  
,sweetser4      ,art and ,artists by    
,clement4      ,durer by ,gurnsey in    
,harper's ,magazine1 ,vol4 #dj4         
----------------------------------------
----------------------    ,transcriber's
 ,note3                                 
,page #aje cleanlines might be a        

typographical error for         clean   
lines or cleanliness4                   
,inconsistencies in the use of the words
 background7s7_/                        
back-ground7s72                         
masterpiece7s7_/master-piece7s72 and    
today_/to-day have been retained as in  
the original book4                      
,the following changes have been made to
 the original3              ,page  #af  
which he carresses gently changed to    
caresses                                
,page  #ge ,mary in some of his lovliest
 pictures changed to                    
loveliest                               
,page #aje for their part in the        
distruction changed to                  
destruction                             
,page #add dissapointment1 that lies    
crouching changed to                    
disappointment                          
,page #ahg whole scene of the           
,crucifiixon changed to                 
,crucifixion                            
,page #aie magnifience of the four      

hundred changed to                      
magnificence                            
----------------------------------------
----------------------