ÆäÀÌÁö À̹ÌÁö
PDF
ePub

men, who perhaps equalled him in technical skill. He died in Rome on April 6, 1520, at the exact age of thirty-seven.

A career of exceeding greatness of achievement, Raphael's life was one of wondrous industry. Considering the fewness of his years, the work he accomplished was simply magnificent. Besides the frescoes at the Vatican, a great number of his pictures adorn the churches and public and private galleries of Europe. Our own National Gallery is perhaps the poorest in this respect, only four small works from his hand being found there. These are the little gem 'The Knight's Vision,' 'St. Catherine of Alexandria,' of which it has been said, 'No sorrow but would be soothed, nor sinful thought but would be banished, in presence of its ineffable loveliness and modesty ;' the portrait of Julius II., the beginner of St. Peter's at Rome; and 'The Madonna, Infant Christ, and St. John,' in the Virgin's face of which perhaps may be recognised the pretty outline of the beloved little sister Elisabetta, a facsimile of a drawing of whom is given in N. D'Anvers' 'Raphael.' Pope Julius II. is rendered immortal on this panel in the National Gallery, but his name will also be ever lustrous as that of one who was quick to recognise the versatile genius of the youthful artist. In a letter to his friend Count Castiglione, Raphael speaks of the great honour done him by the Pope, who, on the death of the architect Bramante, appointed him to the office of architect of St. Peter's, at a salary in our money of £150 a year, after he had satisfied his Holiness of his architectural ability by executing a model in wood of the design which he intended to carry out. Besides the works in the National Gallery and some in English private collections, this country is fortunate in possessing the wellknown Raphael cartoons. A word about these cannot but be welcome to Puritan readers; for not only are the Scripture subjects of them grateful objects of contemplation, but the historical vicissitudes through which they have passed are of especial interest to Protestant Nonconformists. The Sistine

Chapel is famous for its ceiling, which was painted by Michael Angelo. It was for this chapel that Raphael was commissioned to design ten cartoons for tapestry. The ceiling represents the dealings of God with men in the creation of mankind, in the history of the Israelites, and in the long prophetic period which anticipated the Advent. Raphael took up the narrative where it left off. The seven cartoons we have represent The Miraculous Draught of Fishes,' 'Christ's Charge to Peter,' St. Peter and St. John Healing the Lame Man,' 'The Death of Ananias,' 'Elymas the Sorcerer,' 'Paul and Barnabas at Lystra,' and Paul Preaching at Athens.' The three lost cartoons referred to below represented 'The Martyrdom of St. Stephen,' 'The Conversion

[ocr errors]

of St. Paul,' and 'St. Paul in Prison.' The ten tapestries were woven and worked by Bernard Van Orley at Arras, and arrived in Rome in 1518. At the pillage of Rome in 1527 they were carried off to Lyons; but in 1533, coming into the hands of Constable Montmorency, they were given back to Julius III. as the property of the Papal See. In 1789 they were stolen and partially destroyed by some Jews, but the remnants were redeemed in 1808 by Pius VII., and placed in the Vatican, where they now remain. The original cartoons lay neglected and forgotten at Arras until 1630, when seven of them, the other three having mysteriously disappeared, were seen by Rubens, and, at his suggestion, purchased by Charles I. for Whitehall Palace. After the death of that king they were purchased for £300, by Cromwell—who is daily maligned in execrable English by the apparitor of Canterbury Cathedral as a ruthless destroyer. Subsequently Charles II. would have sold them to Louis XIV., but was prevented, happily, by the Earl of Danby. William III. had them removed to Hampton Court, where an apartment was especially built for them by Sir Christopher Wren. They are now at South Kensington. The Miraculous Draught of Fishes' is nearly all from the master's own hand. In the Charge to Peter' the figure of the Saviour is by him, as is also the head of the cripple dragging himself along in the St. Peter and St. John Healing the Lame Man.' In the Ananias' most of the ten heads are by him, and nearly the whole of the 'Paul Preaching at Athens.' Raphael's assistants in these cartoons were Giulio Romano and Penni, and probably one or two other pupils. We have spoken at length of these, because they have special interest for Englishmen; but we must now proceed to speak more especially of Raphael's position in the Renaissance, and of his universal influence on the progress of civilization.

We have said that the life of Raphael was, like that of Shakespeare, a circle of complete fulfilment. So also may it be claimed for him that he was, like Martin Luther, the child of the fulness of time, when the world, once more since the coming of that Greater One,' travailed against old superstition and mysticism, in favour of the new human brotherhood, and its consequent brightness and freedom. It is noteworthy-not remarkable, for God orders times as well as forces-that the same year saw the birth of both Raphael and Luther, and the Renaissance and the Reformation were certainly the complement one of the other. From the time of Dante in the thirteenth century to that of Galileo, a period of exactly three hundred years (Dante born 1265, Galileo 1565), the civilized world was blessed with men of genius such as were never known in number and in quality in any similar previous period of history;

[ocr errors]

and these all, under one divine inspiration, strove, voluntarily or involuntarily, towards the great goal of man's emancipation from ecclesiastical, political, social, and intellectual thraldom. Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarch, Savonarola, Luther, Michael Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Galileo, are all names of men who were the apostles of the new Light-the light of freedom for body, soul and mind. The golden age of that golden time was that embraced within the period from about 1480 to 1520, and during that period Raphael lived, and accomplished a work, not for himself, not for his own generation, but for all the world and for all the ages. His works possess the charm of great serenity, loveliness of form, and richness of colouring. In his early days he lived in the midst of horrors incidental to the faction fights which disgraced the Umbrian territory; but no trace of loathsomeness is visible in his works. Raised to a pure and joyful radiance above the turmoil of earth, he not only breathed the serenity of heaven himself, but lifted us up to breathe it too. Literally this. There was no ecstatic pietism about him. His loveliest virgins were but portraits of the loved little sister, the fair presentment of the sweet mother from whom his grace and sensibility came, or of that dearer one;' yet he realized in his work the beauty which is alike in essence and in source, in intellectual and material, as well as in spiritual things. And his influence on the world at large was, and is, and must ever be, the natural result of such a high achievement. Starting in youth in accord with the old dogmas and beliefs, his early works express fervid asceticism. That school of thought condemned the things of the world, especially manly beauty. Coming under the influence of the antique, he was met with the apotheosis of the human form. Both were wrong. Gathering up into himself the whole spirit and genius of the Renaissance, he put aside both, and humanizing one and spiritualizing the other, he realized in works of art, more effectually than could ever be done in systems of philosophy, that spirit and genius; and thus turned the whole stream of modern thought. Of all the children of the Renaissance, no one is more to us to-day than Raphael; and no one equal to him can arise, who has not the pure heart and open mind which he had. As Raphael crystallized the Renaissance, so a coming artist-thinker, painter, and saint in one may crystallize the teaching of Christ in the light of modern science and discovery. But for the moment the new Raphael seems as far off as the new Shakespeare.

SYDNEY ROBJOHNS.

WHEN Jacob worked for Rachel, sweet smiles lit up his shepherding:

so life brightens when expended for Jesus.-S. Coley.

MEMORIES OF THE PAST.

BY

THE REV. JAMES GRIFFIN.

So interesting to our readers do we find the 'Memories of the Past,' that instead of cursorily reviewing this most interesting volume published by Hamilton, Adams and Co., we prefer to make into an article extracts from its pages. It is most beautiful table-talk, indeed, and carries us back to men and scenes which should never be forgotten. We find, too, by a letter on the second page from Dr. Spence, that Mr. Griffin was inspired to commence these reminiscences by Dr. Spence himself, who was then editing the Evangelical Magazine. He says, 'I am confident you would be doing good to the cause you love and honouring the Master by giving a little time to writing down some of your most interesting and touching pastoral reminiscences.' We have therefore an especial claim to them, and feel sure that our readers will thank us at once for reproducing some of them. We select a few sketches here and there.

[ocr errors]

DR. MCALL AND ROBERT HALL.

"Mr.

'Dr. McAll told me about a visit of his to Bristol. Hall and I," he said, "were riding together to the place where I was to preach. 'How astonishingly calm you are, sir,' said Mr. Hall, and yet you are going to preach! How is it, sir? I should like to know the secret; it seems to me very remarkable.' So I smiled, and taking out my manuscript, I said, 'There is the secret.' 'Oh, I see, sir; but can you read in the pulpit? I wish I could. What advantage there must be in it!' I answered, 'No one besides yourself wishes it, Mr. Hall.' When we reached the vestry he found a sofa in it-I had got it placed there without his knowledge. See here, sir, they have got a sofa in the vestry, so you see I can recline on that, and with the door a little open I shall be able to hear you.' I had not been preaching long before I observed the people's eyes directed towards the door with a titter on their faces. I suspected the cause, and glancing round, I saw Mr. Hall's pipe protruding from the door, and clouds of smoke rapidly emitted from it. Then I saw his face, and then his whole body leaning against the door-post; and so there he stood to the end of the sermon. When I went into the vestry, I said, 'Mr. Hall, do you know what you have been doing? No, sir; what have I been doing?" 'Why, you have been smoking your pipe in the chapel nearly all the time I have been preaching.' 'Have I indeed, sir? I was not aware of it; but it was impossible to lie still, sir-quite impossible.'

We next notice one of the most beautiful of the letters of Charles Dickens, which does him honour as a brother, and is far more interesting than any letter in his already published correspondence.

MRS. BURNETT, CHARLES DICKENS, AND PAUL DOMBEY.

'It was about seven years after our first introduction to Mrs. Burnett that our beloved friend's health began to show serious symptoms of decline; but " Hope" continued to "tell a flattering tale." She could not believe she was really ill. But she consented to go to London to consult Sir James Clark. Yet, a short time before she went, she insisted on being three times at worship on the Sabbath-the Lord's Supper, according to our custom, occupying an hour in the afternoon. Before the evening service she said, "Do let me go again. It may be the last time. of my hearing my pastor;" and so it proved, for I was leaving home for a while, and when I returned she was laid up at her sister's house in London, and never left it till she entered the "house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." went up to London to see her. Deeply affecting was the interview, for it was too evident that it would most probably be our last meeting on earth. She appeared, after the first gush of emotion, surprisingly calm, resting in Jesus in well-assured hope, mingled, however, with the deepest solemnity and humility of spirit. We commended her into the hands of her Redeemer, fully aware that our next act of worship together would be before His throne. The details of the interview and of the final parting were too touching for recital.'

'In Forster's "Life of Dickens," vol. ii. p. 427, we have a letter from Dickens to his friend, writing after visiting his dying sister. Forster writes, quoting an earlier record by Dickens, "This day eleven years poor dear Mary died;" and then adds, "That was written on the 7th of May, 1848, but another sadness impending at the time was taking his thoughts still further back, to when he trotted about with his little elder sister in the small garden to the house at Portsea. For the faint hope which Elliston had given him in Paris had since completely broken down; and I was to hear in less than two months after the letter just quoted how nearly the end was come. 'A change took place in poor Fanny,' he wrote on the 5th of July, 'about the middle of the day, yesterday, which took me out there last night. The cough suddenly ceased almost, and, strange to say, she immediately became aware of her hopeless state-to which she resigned herself, after an hour's unrest and struggle, with extraordinary sweetness and constancy. The irritability passed, and all hope faded away; though only two nights before she

« ÀÌÀü°è¼Ó »