mily, the niece of
William II., called the Good. Being both rich and beautiful, she had
many suitors for her hand, but she rejected them all. At the age of
fifteen she renounced the pomps and vanities of the world, and devoted
herself to a life of meditation. She retired secretly to a cavern on
Mt. Heirkte, and here she passed her solitary life. It was not until
five hundred years after her disappearance that her hiding-place was
discovered. There they found her lying in her grotto, as if she had
just fallen asleep, and on her head was a wreath of roses with which
the angels had crowned her. The body was carried in triumph to
Palermo, and she became the patron saint of her native city.

This was in the early part of the seventeenth century,[9] and the
story of the new saint's life immediately became the subject of art.
Van Dyck painted for a church in Antwerp a series of pictures of St.
Rosalia, from which our illustration is taken. The maiden saint kneels
on the steps of a throne to receive a wreath of roses from the
Christ-child. An angel attendant behind her holds a basket of roses.
St. Peter and St. Paul add dignity to the scene.

[Footnote 9: The date of her disappearance is given as 1159.]

As we see at once, this is not an actual incident from the life of St.
Rosalia. The aim of the picture is devotional. It is as if we were
given a glimpse into the court of heaven, where the saints of all ages
gather about the Christ-child's throne.

St. Peter is seen at the Madonna's left, gazing at some little cherubs
who hover in mid air with sprays of flowers. We know him by the
mammoth key he carries in his left hand, a symbol of his authority in
spiritual concerns. The reference is to the words of Jesus when Peter
declared him to be the Christ: "I will give unto thee the keys of the
kingdom of heaven."[10] He seems here a very old man, and one who has
suffered many persecutions in the master's cause.

[Footnote 10: St. Matthew, chapter xvi., verse 19.]

[Illustration: THE MADONNA OF ST. ROSALIA
_Imperial Gallery, Vienna_]

St. Paul stands at the right of the throne, leaning on his sword in an
attitude of meditation. The sword has been chosen as this apostle's
emblem because of his allusion in the Epistle to the Ephesians to the
"sword of the spirit."[11] The books lying on the pavement at his feet
are his various writings.

[Footnote 11: Ephesians, chapter vi., verse 17.]

According to tradition the Apostle Paul