er. The
famous shrine of S. Ursula is about four feet in length, and the whole
of the outside is adorned with painting. On each side of the cover are
three medallions, a large one in the centre and two smaller at the
sides. The latter contain angels playing on musical instruments; in the
centre on one side is a Coronation of the Virgin, on the other the
Glorification of S. Ursula and her companions, with two figures of
Bishops. On the gable-ends are the Virgin and Child with two sisters of
the hospital kneeling before them, and S. Ursula with the arrow, the
instrument of her martyrdom, and virgins seeking protection under her
mantle. On the longer sides of the reliquary itself, in six rather
larger compartments, is painted the history of S. Ursula.

Of about the same period, possibly a little earlier, is the _Marriage of
S. Catherine_, which is also in S. John's Hospital at Bruges. The
central figure is that of the Virgin, seated under a porch, with
tapestry hanging down behind it; two angels hold a crown over her head:
beside her is S. Catherine kneeling, whose head is one of the finest
ever painted by Memling. Behind her is an angel playing on the organ,
and further back S. John the Baptist. On the other side kneels S.
Barbara, reading: behind her another angel holds a book to the Virgin,
and still further back is S. John the Evangelist, a figure of great
beauty, and of a singularly mild and thoughtful character. Through the
arcades of the porch we look out, on either side of the throne, on a
rich landscape, in which are represented scenes from the lives of the
two S. Johns. The panel on the right contains the beheading of the
Baptist, on the left the Evangelist in the Isle of Patmos, where the
vision of the Apocalypse appears to him--the Almighty on a throne in a
glory of dazzling light, encompassed with a rainbow.

The whole forms a work strikingly poetical and most impressive in
character; it is highly finished, both in drawing and composition.

IAN GOSSAERT (_c._ 1472-1535), called JAN VAN MABUSE from his native
town of Maubeuge, was the son of a bookbinder who worked for the Abbey
of Sainte-Aldegonde. It is possible therefore that he might have formed
an early acquaintance with illuminated manuscripts before studying the
art of painting in the studio of a master. Memling, Gerard, David, and
Quentin Massys have been suggested as his instructors, but it is not
known for certain that he was actually a pupil of any