This Arcadian sentiment is carried as far as could well be allowed in
a picture by Titian (Louvre, 459), known as the _Vierge au Lapin_. The
Virgin holds a white rabbit, towards which the infant Christ, in the
arms of St. Catherine, eagerly stretches his hand. In a picture by
Paris Bordone it is carried, I think, too far. The Virgin reclines
under a tree with a book in her hand; opposite to her sits St. Joseph
holding an apple; between them, St. John the Baptist, as a bearded
man, holds in his arms the infant Christ, who caressingly puts one arm
round his neck, and with the other clings to the rough hairy raiment
of his friend.

* * * * *

It will be observed, that in these Venetian examples St. Catherine,
the beloved protectress of Venice, is seldom omitted. She is not
here the learned princess who confounded tyrants and converted
philosophers, but a bright-haired, full-formed Venetian maiden,
glowing with love and life, yet touched with a serious grace,
inexpressibly charming.

St. Dorothea is also a favourite saint in these sacred pastorals.
There is an instance in which she is seated by the Virgin with her
basket of fruits and flowers; and St. Jerome, no longer beating
his breast in penance, but in likeness of a fond old grandfather,
stretches out his arms to the Child. Much finer is a picture now in
the possession of Sir Charles Eastlake. The lovely Virgin is seated
under a tree: on one side appears the angel Raphael, presenting Tobit;
on the other, St. Dorothea, kneeling, holds up her basket of celestial
fruit, gathered for her in paradise.[1]

[Footnote 1: See Sacred and legendary Art, for the beautiful Legend of
St. Dorothea]

When St. Ursula, with her standard, appears in these Venetian
pastorals, we may suppose the picture to have been painted for the
famous brotherhood (_Scuola di Sant' Orsola_) which bears her name.
Thus, in a charming picture by Palma, she appears before the Virgin,
accompanied by St. Mark a protector of Venice. (Vienna, Belvedere
Gal.)

Ex-voto pictures in this style are very interesting, and the votary,
without any striking impropriety, makes one of the Arcadian group.
Very appropriate, too, is the marriage of St. Catherine, often treated
in this poetical style. In a picture by Titian, the family of the
Virgin attend the mystical rite, and St. Anna places the hand of St.
Catherine in that of the Child.

In a group by Signorelli, Christ appears a