their religion, for this,
perhaps more than anything else, gave a peculiar character to the art
of Spain. The doctrines of Luther, found no willing listeners in
Spain. Indeed, the Spaniards clung all the closer to the Church when
they knew that there were those who wished to change it, and so their
paintings are full of sad-faced, suffering saints, and rejoicing, holy
men and women who gave their lives to religion. In connection with
this extreme religious zeal, the Church found it necessary to impose
rules on the artists who would paint these holy personages. The
Virgin, whom all profoundly reverenced, should, according to
tradition, have fair hair and blue eyes. Her robes must be of pure
white and azure blue, and under no circumstances should her feet be
exposed. She should stand on the crescent moon with its horns pointing
downward. Many other similar rules were at that time thought
necessary, and they greatly limited the artists in their work, for
however good a churchman a man may be, it is impossible for him to
properly prescribe colors and forms for the artist, who, if he is any
thing at all, is the _see-er_ of his age. We want such things as the
artist sees them. We shall see how nearly Murillo got into trouble by
breaking some of these prescribed rules.

If we study the kings of Spain, Charles V. and the Philips, we shall
see two things that greatly influenced the art of Spain. First, they
were fond of art and spent great sums of money in buying fine
paintings by Italian and Flemish masters. Both Titian and Rubens were
favorites in Spain, and many of their pictures were painted expressly
for Spanish monarchs. Then, these rulers were vain and had a great
liking for having their portraits painted. This vanity extended to the
Courtiers and even to the dwarfs, several of whom were usually
connected with the court as a source of amusement. There are portraits
of some of these diminutive creatures so skillfully painted that we
cannot help wishing that more worthy subjects had been used. Thus the
vanity of monarchs and their courtiers gave a direction to Spanish
art which can be accounted for in no other way--their greatest artists
are always great portrait painters. So we see that, while genius in
artists is indispensable, yet is this same genius largely influenced
by climate, by religious enthusiasm, and even by the whims of kings
and queens.

[Illustration: AESOP. _Velazquez._]

Although Murillo stands