,
floating above her, takes her clasped hands in both his. The intense,
yet tender ecstasy in _her_ face, the mild spiritual benignity in
_his_, are quite indescribable, and fix the picture in the heart and
the memory as one of the finest religious conceptions extant. (Siena,
Palazzo Publico.)

I imagine this action of Christ taking her hands in both his, must be
founded on some ancient Greek model, for I have seen the same _motif_
in other pictures, German and Italian; but in none so tenderly or so
happily expressed.

4. Domenico di Bartolo, 1430. A large altar-piece. Mary seated on a
throne, within a glory of encircling cherubim of a glowing red, and
about thirty more angels, some adoring, others playing on musical
instruments, is borne upwards. Her hands are joined in prayer, her
head veiled and crowned, and she wears a white robe, embroidered
with golden flowers. Above, in the opening heaven, is the figure of
Christ, young and beardless (_a l'antique_), with outstretched arms,
surrounded by the spirits of the blessed. Below, of a diminutive
size, as if seen from a distant height, is the tomb surrounded by
the apostles, St. Thomas holding the girdle. This is one of the most
remarkable and important pictures of the Siena school, out of Siena,
with which I am acquainted. (Berlin Gal., 1122.)

5. Ghirlandajo, 1475. The Virgin stands in star-spangled drapery, with
a long white veil, and hands joined, as she floats upwards. She is
sustained by four seraphim. (Florence, S. Maria-Novella.)

6. Raphael, 1516. The Virgin is seated within the horns of a crescent
moon, her hands joined. On each side an angel stands bearing a flaming
torch; the empty tomb and the eleven apostles below. This composition
is engraved after Raphael by an anonymous master (_Le Maitre au
de_). It is majestic and graceful, but peculiar for the time. The two
angels, or rather genii, bearing torches on each side, impart to the
whole something of the air of a heathen apotheosis.

7. Albert Durer. The apostles kneel or stand round the empty tomb;
while Mary, soaring upwards, is received into heaven by her Son; an
angel on each side.

8. Gaudenzio Ferrari, 1525. Mary, in a white robe spangled with stars,
rises upward as if cleaving the air in an erect position, with her
hands extended, but not raised, and a beautiful expression of mild
rapture, as if uttering the words attributed to her, "My heart is
ready;" many angels, some of whom bear tapers, ar