o Ophelia, "Get thee to a nunnery," and his assertion, "I have
heard of your paintings, too," prove that Ophelia was an artist and a
nunnery a favorable place in which to set up a studio. Yet I think I
could make this assumption as convincing as many that have been "proved"
by the _post obitum_ atomizers of the great poet's every word.

But we have not far to seek for the reasons which led Plautilla Nelli and
Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi to choose the conventual life. The subjects of
their pictures prove that their thoughts were fixed on a life quite out
of tune with that which surrounded them in their homes. If they pictured
rich draperies and rare gems, it was but to adorn with them the Blessed
Virgin Mother and the holy saints, in token of their belief that all of
pomp and value in this life can but faintly symbolize the glory of the
life to come.

Plautilla Nelli, born in Florence in 1523, entered the convent of St.
Catherine of Siena, in her native city, and in time became its abbess.
Patiently, with earnest prayer, she studied and copied the works of Fra
Bartolommeo and Andrea del Sarto, until she was able to paint an original
"Adoration of the Magi" of such excellence as to secure her a place among
the painters of Florence.

Many of her pictures remained in her convent, but she also painted a
"Madonna Surrounded by Saints" for the choir of Santa Lucia at Pistoja.
There are pictures attributed to Plautilla Nelli in Berlin--notably the
"Visit of Martha to Christ,"--which are characterized by the earnestness,
purity, and grace of her beloved Fra Bartolommeo. Her "Adoration of the
Wise Men" is at Parma; the "Descent from the Cross" in Florence; the
"Last Supper" in the church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence.

There are traditions of her success as a teacher of painting in her
convent, but of this we have no exact knowledge such as we have of the
work of the "Suor Plautilla," the name by which she came to be known in
all Italy.

<b>NEMES-RANSONNETT, COUNTESS ELISA.</b> Born at Vienna, 1843. She studied
successively with Vastagh, Lulos, Aigner, Schilcher, Lenbach, Angeli, and
J. Benczur, and opened her studio at Kun Szent Miklos near Budapest. The
"Invitation to the Wedding" was well received, and her portraits of
Schiller and Perczel are in public galleries--the former in the Vienna
Kuenstlerhaus, and the latter in the Deputy House at Budapest.

<b>NEWCOMB, MARIA GUISE.</b> Born in New Jersey. Pupil of Sche