fied monks he lets a sense of humour have free play. The monks in
their long garments, escaping in all directions, are really comical, and
in conjunction with the ingratiating smile of the lion, the scene passes
into the region of broad farce. We divine the same sense of the comic in
the scene in St. Ursula's history, where the 11,000 virgins are hurrying
in single file along a winding road which disappears out of the picture.
In the principal scene in the life of St. George, Carpaccio again
achieves a masterpiece. The force and vivacity of the saint in armour
charging the dragon, lingers long in the memory. The long, decorative
lines of lance and war-horse and dragon throw back the whole landscape.
The details show an almost childish delight in the realisation of
ghoulish horrors. He rather injures his "Triumph of St. George" by his
anxiety to bring in the Temple of Solomon at Jerusalem; the flying flags
distract the eye, and the whole scene is one of confusion, broken up
into different parts, while the dragon is reduced to very unterrifying
insignificance. His series for the school of the Albanians dealt with
the life of the Virgin, who was their special patron. Its remains are
at Bergamo, Milan, and in the Academy. The single figures in the
"Presentation," the priest and maiden, are excellent. A child at the
side of the steps, leading a unicorn, emblem of chastity, shows once
more what a hold this use of a figure had taken of him. In the
"Visitation" the figures are too much scattered, and the fantastic
buildings attract more attention than the women. He still produced
altarpieces, and the Presentation of the Infant Christ in the Temple,
which he was called upon to paint for San Giobbe, where one of Bellini's
most famous altarpieces stood, challenged him to put forth all his
strength. He never produced anything more simple and noble or more
worthy of the cinque-cento than this altarpiece (now in the Academy). It
surpasses Bellini's arrangement in the way in which the personages are
raised upon a step, while the dome overhead and the angel musicians
below give them height and dignity. The contrast between the infant and
the youthful woman and the old men is purposely marked. Such a contrast
between youth and age is a very favourite one. Bellini, in the same
church, draws it between SS. Sebastian and Job, and Alvise Vivarini, in
his last painting, balances a very youthful Sebastian with St. Jerome.
This is the most grand