thes the scrofulous head of a beggar. Her
ladies-in-waiting turn from the loathsome object of her care, while
other patients await their turn. In the distance is the court feast
that goes on joyously in the palace while Elizabeth, the mistress of
the feast, serves the diseased beggars at the portal.

I have said that we could not stop to notice more than two of this
notable series. Yet, as I run my photographs over, I cannot refrain
from the mention of one other, the noble and wonderfully beautiful
"_Liberation of St. Peter_." It is simply a magnificent angel
awakening Peter who languishes in prison. The suddenly aroused
prisoner, the broken fetters, and above all, that glorious angel,
extending a helping hand--his presence making a light in that dark
cell--tell in no uncertain accents of the power of our beloved
painter.

[Illustration: MADONNA. _Murillo._]

Thus might we go on from picture to picture, and from year to year,
for the list ever strengthens as it lengthens. Two more, at least,
should claim our attention before this sketch is closed. They are
"_St. Thomas_ _giving Alms_" and "_The Madonna of the Napkin_." The
St. Thomas is rightly the companion of that other great charity
picture, "_St. Elizabeth_." The one represents the abnegation of self
in woman's way--she gives service. The other represents man's way--he
gives money. At the portal of the church stands the pale-faced,
spiritual St. Thomas, dispensing his alms to beggars and cripples. In
composition and drawing this is one of Murillo's greatest works. We
are interested to know that it was his own favorite among his
pictures.

"_The Madonna of the Napkin_" is both beautiful and curious. While
Murillo was painting a series of pictures for a Capuchin convent of
Seville, the cook became very much attached to him. When his work was
done and he was about to leave the convent, the cook begged a memento.
But how could he paint even a small picture with no canvas at hand?
The cook, bent on obtaining his wish, presented him with a table
napkin and begged him to use that instead of canvas. With his usual
good nature, the artist complied, and before evening he produced a
beautiful Virgin holding the infant Christ. Though done thus hastily,
this Madonna is one of his best in design and coloring. His other
Madonnas we know well, the one holding a rosary, and the other marked
by nothing but its own surpassing grace and beauty, and known simply
as Murillo'