end. Art.) Another example, a grand picture by Moretto, now in the
Museum at Frankfort, I have also described. There is here a touch of
the dramatic sentiment;--the Virgin is tenderly caressing her Child,
while two of the old doctors, St. Ambrose and St. Augustine, stand
reverently on each side of her lofty throne; St. Gregory sits on the
step below, reading, and St. Jerome bends over and points to a page in
his book. The Virgin is not sufficiently dignified; she has too much
the air of a portrait; and the action of the Child is, also, though
tender, rather unsuited to the significance of the rest of the group;
but the picture is, on the whole, magnificent. There is another fine
example of the four doctors attending on the Virgin, in the Milan
Gallery.[1]

[Footnote 1: In a native picture of the Milanese School, dedicated by
Ludovico Sforza _Il Moro_.]

Sometimes not four, but two only of these Fathers, appear in
combination with other figures, and the choice would depend on the
locality and other circumstances. But, on the whole, we rarely find
a group of personages assembled round the throne of the Virgin which
does not include one or more of these venerable pillars of the Church.
St. Ambrose appears most frequently in the Milanese pictures: St.
Augustine and St. Jerome, as patriarchs of monastic orders, are
very popular: St. Gregory, I think, is more seldom met with than the
others.

* * * * *

The Virgin, with St. Jerome and St. Catherine, the patron saints
of theological learning, is a frequent group in all monasteries,
but particularly in the churches and houses of the Jeronimites. A
beautiful example is the Madonna, by Francia. (Borghese Palace.
Rome.) St. Jerome, with Mary Magdalene, also a frequent combination,
expresses theological learning in union with religious penitence and
humility. Correggio's famous picture is an example, where St. Jerome
on one side presents his works in defence of the Church, and his
translation of the Scriptures; while, on the other, Mary Magdalene,
bending down devoutly, kisses the feet of the infant Christ. (Parma.)

Of all the attendants on the Virgin and Child, the most popular is,
perhaps, St. Catherine; and the "Marriage of St. Catherine," as a
religious mystery, is made to combine with the most solemn and formal
arrangement of the other attendant figures. The enthroned Virgin
presides over the mystical rite. This was, for intelligible reaso