o render frequent sittings essential; and,
in compliance with my remonstrances, he abridged them as much as
possible. After the second sitting he told her that he should not
again require her presence until he had completed the portrait, when
some finishing detail might be requisite. He devoted a large portion
of the five following days to a task so soothing to his feelings; and,
on the morning of the sixth day, astonished the assembled family by
producing a highly-finished and admirable resemblance.

The charming subject of his portrait was painted the size of life,
and attired in a light morning robe of green silk. The full and
elegant symmetry of her form was indicated through the graceful folds,
which fell around her like the richest sculpture. She stood in a
contemplative attitude, leaning, like some heavenly muse, upon a
golden tripod of chaste and classical design. High intelligence
adorned with its imperishable beauty her fair and lofty forehead. Her
large dark eyes, which beamed through their long fringes with soft and
melting lustre, were gazing as if into futurity, and their tender and
eloquent expression went to the soul of the observer. The finely
moulded oval of her cheek glowed with the roseate hues of life, and
the pearly lustre of the neck and arms was surpassed only by the
clear and brilliant fairness of the lovely original, while in the
beautifully curved lips, Colonna had introduced a slight compression,
indicative of that heroic firmness in the character of Laura, which
had not escaped his penetration, but did not, until a later period,
fully develop itself.

The scene was a garden saloon, and through an open window an extensive
view over the lake of Garda arrested with magic power the eye of every
beholder. Sirmio appeared like a woody island in the middle distance,
and beyond the lake rose an amphitheatre of mountains, surmounted by
the distant summits of the Tyrolese Alps. There was in this admirable
portrait all the charm and witchery of life. It possessed much of
the dignity, and ease, and harmonious colouring of Titian; and the
exquisite blending and management of the tints betrayed the favourite
pupil of Paul Veronese, whom indeed he surpassed in the natural
folding and classical distribution of draperies, and fully equalled in
the force of light and shade, which makes the portraits of that able
master appear to stand out from the canvass.

The next day was devoted to the finishing of some