there no characteristic type
universally accepted, suggested by common religious associations, if
not defined by ecclesiastical authority, to which the artist was bound
to conform? How is it that the impersonation of the Virgin fluctuated,
not only with the fluctuating tendencies of successive ages, but even
with the caprices of the individual artist?

This leads us back to reconsider the sources from which the artist
drew his inspiration.

The legend which represents St. Luke the Evangelist as a painter
appears to be of Eastern origin, and quite unknown in Western Europe
before the first crusade. It crept in then, and was accepted with many
other oriental superstitions and traditions. It may have originated
in the real existence of a Greek painter named Luca--a saint, too,
he may have been; for the Greeks have a whole calendar of canonized
artists,--painters, poets, and musicians; and this Greek San Luca may
have been a painter of those Madonnas imported from the ateliers of
Mount Athos into the West by merchants and pilgrims; and the West,
which knew but of one St. Luke, may have easily confounded the painter
and the evangelist.

But we must also remember, that St. Luke the Evangelist was early
regarded as the great authority with respect to the few Scripture
particulars relating to the character and life of Mary; so that,
in the figurative sense, he may be said to have _painted_ that
portrait of her which has been since received as the perfect type
of womanhood:--1. Her noble, trustful humility, when she receives
the salutation of the angel (Luke i. 38); the complete and feminine
surrender of her whole being to the higher, holier will--"Be it unto
me according to thy word." 2. Then, the decision and prudence of
character, shown in her visit to Elizabeth, her older relative; her
journey in haste over the hills to consult with her cousin, which
journey it is otherwise difficult to accord with the oriental customs
of the time, unless Mary, young as she was, had possessed unusual
promptitude and energy of disposition. (Luke i. 39, 40.) 3. The proof
of her intellectual power in the beautiful hymn she has left us, "_My
soul doth magnify the Lord._" (Luke i. 46.) The commentators are
not agreed as to whether this effusion was poured forth by immediate
inspiration, or composed and written down, because the same words,
"and Mary said," may be interpreted in either sense; but we can no
more doubt her being the authoress,