titude of the Virgin was carried in the later schools to every
excess of affectation. In a picture by Lanfranco. she cleaves the air
like a swimmer, which is detestable.

13. Rubens painted at least twelve Assumptions with characteristic
_verve_ and movement. Some of these, if not very solemn or poetical,
convey very happily the idea of a renovated life. The largest and most
splendid as a scenic composition is in the Musee at Brussels. More
beautiful, and, indeed, quite unusually poetical for Rubens, is
the small Assumption in the Queen's Gallery, a finished sketch for
the larger picture. The majestic Virgin, arrayed in white and blue
drapery, rises with outstretched arms, surrounded by a choir of
angels; below, the apostles and the women either follow with upward
gaze the soaring ecstatic figure, or look with surprise at the flowers
which spring within the empty tomb.

In another Assumption by Rubens, one of the women exhibits the
miraculous flowers in her apron, or in a cloth, I forget which; but
the whole conception, like too many of his religious subjects, borders
on the vulgar and familiar.

14. Guido, as it is well known, excelled in this fine subject,--I
mean, according to the taste and manner of his time and school. His
ascending Madonnas have a sort of aerial elegance, which is very
attractive; but they are too nymph-like. We must be careful to
distinguish in his pictures (and all similar pictures painted after
1615) between the Assumption and the Immaculate Conception; it is a
difference in sentiment which I have already pointed out. The small
finished sketch by Guido in our National Gallery is an Assumption and
Coronation together: the Madonna is received into heaven as _Regina
Angelorum_. The fine large Assumption in the Munich Gallery may be
regarded as the best example of Guido's manner of treating this theme.
His picture in the Bridgewater Gallery, often styled an Assumption, is
an Immaculate Conception.

The same observations would apply to Poussin, with, however, more of
majesty. His Virgins are usually seated or reclining, and in general
we have a fine landscape beneath.

* * * * *

The Assumption, like the Annunciation, the Nativity, and other
historical themes, may, through ideal accessories, assume a purely
devotional form. It ceases then to be a fact or an event, and becomes
a vision or a mystery, adored by votaries, to which attendant saints
bear witness. Of