ay for the tinge of melancholy thrown over the commencement of my
sojourn at Madrid by this event,--befalling a person whose society I had
only enjoyed during three days, and whom I scarcely expected to see
again.

The modern capital of Spain is an elegant and brilliant city, and a very
agreeable residence; but for the admirer of the picturesque, or the
tourist in search of historical _souvenirs_, it contains few objects of
attraction. The picture-gallery is, however, a splendid exception; and,
being the best in the world, compensates, as you may easily suppose, for
the deficiency peculiar to Madrid in monuments of architectural
interest.

To put an end to the surprise you will experience at the enumeration of
such a profusion of _chefs d'oeuvre_ of the great masters as is here
found, it is necessary to lose sight of the present political situation
of Spain, and to transport ourselves to the age of painting. At that
time Spain was the most powerful, and especially the most opulent empire
in Europe. Almost all Italy belonged to her; a large portion actually
owning allegiance to her sceptre, and the remainder being subject to her
paramount influence. The familiarity which existed between Charles the
Fifth and Titian is well known; as is likewise the anecdote of the
pencil, picked up and presented by the Emperor to the artist, who had
dropped it.

The same taste for, and patronage of, painting, continued through the
successive reigns, until the period when painting itself died a natural
death; and anecdotes similar to that of Charles the Fifth are related of
Philip the Fourth and Velasquez. All the works of art thus collected,
and distributed through the different palaces, have been recently
brought together, and placed in an edifice, some time since commenced,
and as yet not entirely completed. Titian was the most favoured of all
the Italian painters, not only with respect to his familiar intercourse
with the Emperor, but also in a professional point of view. The Museo
contains no less than forty of his best productions. Nor is it
surprising that the taste of the monarch, being formed by his
masterpieces, should extend its preference to the rest of the Venetian
school in a greater degree than to the remaining Italian schools. There
are, however, ten pictures by Raffaelle, including the Spasimo,
considered by many to be his greatest work.

A cause similar to that above named enables us to account for the riches
assemb