wonder. Joseph, just beyond, looks on with an expression of
inquiry. He carries two turtle doves as the thank offering required of
the mother by the religious law. His unkempt appearance and bare feet
contrast with the neat dress of Mary. The tall priest standing before
them extends his hands towards the group in a gesture of benediction.
A broad ray of light gleams on his strange headdress, lights up his
outstretched hand, and falls with dazzling brilliancy upon the soft
round face of the babe, the smiling mother, and the venerable Simeon
with flowing white hair and beard.

There are but few people to pay any heed to the strange incident. Two
or three of those who climb the stairway turn about and stare
curiously at the group below. There are three others still more
interested. One man behind puts his turbaned head over Simeon's
shoulders, peering inquisitively at the child, as if trying to see
what the old man finds so remarkable in him. Beyond, two old beggars
approach with a sort of good-natured interest. They are quaintly
dressed, one of them wearing a very tall cap. Such humble folk as
these alone seem to have time to notice others' affairs.

It must not be supposed that this scene very closely represents the
actual event it illustrates. The painter Rembrandt knew nothing about
the architecture of the old Jewish temple destroyed many centuries
before. A Gothic cathedral was the finest house of worship known to
him, so he thought out the scene as it would look in such
surroundings. The people coming and going were such as he saw about
him daily; the beggars looking at the Christ-child were the beggars of
Amsterdam, and the men seated in the wooden settle at the right were
like the respectable Dutch burghers of his acquaintance. It was like
translating the story from Aramaic to Dutch, but in the process
nothing is lost of its original touching beauty.

In studying the picture, you must notice how carefully all the figures
are painted, even the very small ones in the darkest parts of the
composition. The beautiful contrast, between the light on the central
group and the soft dimness of the remoter parts of the cathedral,
illustrates a style of work for which Rembrandt was very famous, and
which we shall often see in his pictures.

VIII

CHRIST PREACHING

We read in the evangelists' record of the life of Jesus that he went
about the country preaching the gospel (or the good news) of the
kingdom of Heav