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more the forms in which the spirit of the antique rites had found such an apt expression. At San Pietro, in Montorio, on the spot which had been sprinkled by the blood of the martyr, Bramante built a chapel in the light and cheerful form of a Peripteros.

If this involve a contradiction, it was identical with that which displayed itself at the same period within the whole condition and frame of society.

Men went to the Vatican, less to pray on the steps of the Apostles, than to admire the masterpieces of antique art, the Belvedere Apollo and the Laocoon, in the Pope's dwelling. The Pope was indeed, then as formerly, urged to set on foot a war against the infidels (as I find for example in a preface of Navagero); but it was not the interest of Christianity that occupied the writer's thoughts; his hope was, that the Pope would find the lost writings of the Greeks, and perhaps even of the Romans.

In the midst of this full tide of study and of production, of intellect and of art, Leo X. lived in the enjoyment of the growing temporal power attached to the highest spiritual dignity. His claim to the honor of giving his name to this age has been disputed, and perhaps he owed it less to merit than to fortune. He had grown up in the elements which formed the world around him, and he possessed sufficient freedom from prejudice and susceptibility of mind to foster and to enjoy its glories. If he had a peculiar delight in the Latin writings of direct imitators, he could not withhold his interest from the original works of his contemporaries. In his presence the first tragedy was acted, and even, spite of the objections to a play imitated from Plautus, the first comedy in the Italian language. There is scarcely one of which he did not witness the first representation. Ariosto was one of the acquaintances of his youth. Machiavelli wrote several things expressly for him. For him Rafaele filled chambers, galleries and chapels with human beauty raised to ideal perfection and with life in its purest expression. He had a passionate love of music, which just then began to be cultivated throughout Italy in a more scientific manner. The walls of the palace daily echoed with the sounds of music; the Pope was heard

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to hum the melodies that delighted him. It may be that this is a sort of intellectual sensuality; if so, it is at least the only sensuality becoming a human being.

Leo X. was full of kindness and sympathy; he rarely refused a request, or if he did, it was in the gentlest manner, and only when it was impossible to grant it. "He is a good man," says an observing ambassador to his court, very bounteous, and of a kindly nature; if he were not under the influence of his kinsmen he would avoid all errors." "He is learned," says another, "and a lover of learned men; religious, but yet disposed to enjoy life." He did not indeed always maintain the decorum befitting a pope; sometimes, to the despair of his master of ceremonies, he quitted Rome not only without his surplice, but even, as the distressed functionary observes in his diary, "what is the most vexatious, with boots on his feet." He spent the autumn in rural pleasures; he took the diversion of hawking at Vertibo, of stag-hunting at Corneto, and of fishing on the lake of Bolsena, after which he passed some time at his favorite seat at Malliana, where he was accompanied by men of those light and supple talents which enliven every passing hour, such as improvisatori. In the winter he returned to the city, which was in the highest state of prosperity. Never was the court more lively, more agreeable, more intellectual; no expenditure was too great to be lavished on religious and secular festivals, on amusements and theatres, on presents and marks of favor. It was heard with pleasure that Giuliano Medici, with his young wife, thought of making Rome his residence. "Praised be God!" Cardinal Bibbiena writes to him; "the only thing we want is a court with ladies."-L. VON RANKE.

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IF Michelangelo belied the old saying, "They whom the gods love die young," Raphael's career might be adduced as proof of its truth, for this gifted man, whose many beautiful productions place him among the greatest artists in a period that boasted of names like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, had but thirtyseven years in which to accomplish his life-work.

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino was born in Urbino, April 6, 1483, as the son of Giovanni Sanzio, a painter, and his surroundings from earliest youth were favorable to the development of his talents. After some preliminary studies, he, in 1500, entered the studio of Perugino, a follower of the Umbrian school, a fit instructor for young Raffaello. In the latter's earlier works-such as the "Coronation of the Virgin" and "Marriage of the Virgin,"-the influence of his teacher makes itself strongly felt. But the young artist rapidly unfolded an originality already foreshadowed in his "Vision of a Knight," "Madonna of Count Staffa," etc. This first period of his development was followed by that under the influence of Leonardo da Vinci and Fra Bartolommeo (about 1506-8), at Florence; while the third and latest style found in his work is that in which we find his powers expanded to full maturity, after his coming to Rome. Leaving Perugino's studio in 1504, he soon afterward went to Florence, where he produced the lovely "Virgin of the Goldfinch," the beautiful "Entombment" (1507), the exquisite Madonna in the Louvre ("La belle Jardinière"), etc.

At the age of twenty-five he received an invitation from Pope Julius II., which called him to Rome and proved the turning-point in his career. He was to take part in those great works which were being planned by the old pontiff, and his decorations in the Vatican, then begun, were continued, after the death of Julius II., under Leo X. Raphael painted an excellent portrait of each of these popes. These decorations were painted in three halls, or stanze, and in the loggie, the most noted frescoes in the series being "The Dispute of the Sacrament," "Parnassus," "School of Athens," "Driving of Heliodorus out of the Temple of Jerusalem,” and the noted "Incendio del Borgo," beautiful in design, replete with fine dramatic expression, and showing a remarkable knowledge of the human form.

Meanwhile other works of importance had also been executed or were under way: the decorations in the church of Santa Maria della Place (which won the admiration of Michelangelo), the "Madonna with the Fish," "Saint Cecilia listening to the Angels," etc. When still at work on the Loggie, he was commissioned to design cartoons for ten pieces of tapestry for the Sistine Chapel. The weaving was completed and the tapestries reached Rome in 1518, but after the pillage of that city, in 1527, they were carried off, and underwent many vicissitudes before they returned to the Vatican again, in 1814. The cartoons, of which only seven are left, are in England, in the South Kensington Museum.

On the death of Bramante, Raphael was appointed (1514) architect to St. Peter's, but he accomplished little in this capacity. He had a thorough knowedge of architecture, however, and his works in this field, still extant in Rome, are marked by beautiful form and fine proportion.

In the few remaining years of his life, he was fairly inundated by commissions, many of which (such as the frescoes of the Farnesina Palace, in portion) were carried out by his pupils, under his directions, for he had the aptitude of utilizing them and inspiring them with sympathy for his ideas and methods. During this time (1516-1520) he produced the poetic and popular "Madonna della Sedia," the "Madonna della Tenda," "Madonna dei Candelabri," the excellent

"Madonna di San Sisto," and "Christ bearing the Cross," among others. The glorious "Transfiguration" was unfinished when death overtook him, on April 6, 1520, after a short illness, in the midst of his activity and his manifold projects.

The materials for a personal biography of Raphael are meagre; we have hardly more than his works, and our slight knowledge of his great passion for an unknown young girl (the "Fornarina"), to help us in forming an estimate of his character. He enjoyed the friendship of many noted contemporaries (among whom were Count Baldassare Castiglione, Cardinals Bembo and Bibiena, Bramante the architect, Fra Bartolommeo, Leonardo da Vinci), and had many imitators and pupils, while Marc Antonio Raimondi, the noted engraver, made a veritable "specialty" of the reproduction of the master's works.

To many, Raphael is perhaps best known by his numerous Madonnas and Holy Families, of which the late Charles C. Perkins truly said that, though they are "more in number than the years of his life, each has a peculiar beauty of its own." To the "peculiar beauty" and grace in his paintings there are added, to use the words of Eugène Muntz, "the highest moral qualities united with the most consummate technical execution."

RAPHAEL AND MICHAEL ANGELO.

The inclination of Raphael's genius, it may, perhaps, be said with truth, was not to invention, but to perfection. And that is not only the highest, but the true characteristic and the normal action of Genius. In Art, perfecting is the genuine method of creating. Art does not consist in representing forms; it consists in causing forms to represent thoughts, sentiments, emotions. He who merely transfers to canvas a shape from nature or his own fancy, has done but little that would not have been accomplished if the image had been allowed to remain where it existed before. But he who ideals this form; who exalts it into the grandeur and beauty of a high expressiveness, shows a truly creative power.

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