Leonardo's Virgins and Memling's distances. The donors and the saints appear in costumes similar to those which people wore when Memling painted. The long-peaked cap-a sugar-loaf in shape-seems less awkward in this splendid picture than books of cotemporary costume have made it. A thin transparent veil falls gracefully to the ground; and this, with other peculiarities of dress, are wondrous instances of Memling's truth and delicacy. In St. Barbara and St. Agnes may be seen the tendency to sveltness or length of the human form, which Van der Weyden had in a greater measure, and which later painters afterwards were prone to copy and exaggerate. These two pictures-the Sposalizio and the Clifford altar-pieceappear to have been painted earlier than the Adoration of the Magi in the Hospital of Bruges, which is a work of 1479. In the composition of the latter subject, Memling followed Van der Weyden, and the groups are formed and the figures placed almost exactly as they stand in the Adoration of the Kings in the Munich Gallery. The only difference, in truth, is one of subject. In the wings, instead of the Annunciation we find the Adoration of the Virgin. The scene is more naturally arranged and less symmetrical than that of previous panels, the figures smaller, the tone more deep in harmonies, and more vigorous in chiaro-'scuro. 2. In no picture, however, did Memling develop greater nature, grace, or life in motion than in the shrine of 1 No. 3. Wood; centre 0.58 by 0.47. Wings, 0-25 by 0·47. Signed, "OPUS. JOHANNIS. HEMLING. Dit. werck.dede. maken. broeder. Jan .Floreins. alias Van.der. Rüst. broeder. profes. van. de. hospitale van. Sint. Jans. in. Brugghe. anno. MCCCCLXXIX.” 2 Vide ante, p. 185. This Adoration is No. 35, 36, 37, third Cab. Pinak. Cat. St. Ursula; and we have only to deplore the losses caused to art by the fatal manner in which it has been painted or rubbed down. The reliquary in appearance most resembles the nave of a Gothic edifice,-the outer part of which contains three windows or compartments, each forming a recess, in which an episode is painted; a picture adorns each end of the shrine, and three medallions are placed on each side of the mimic roof. The pictures are, therefore, eight in number, and the medallions six. The legend of St. Ursula has been told in ancient chronicles with many variations. It is agreed, however, that St. Ursula was the daughter of a Christian British king, and that she was courted by a Pagan prince, her neighbour. The will of Heaven was revealed to her in a dream, and she was ordered to abandon England rather than offend the Christian faith by such an union. Accompanied by knights and virgins, St. Ursula set sail; and entering the Rhine, came to Colonia Agrippina, where, by the orders of the Roman emperor, Alexander Severus, the Christian faith was tolerated. There a holy vision told the princess to prepare for her journey to Rome. Accordingly, she sailed again, and came to Bâle, then crossed the Alps, and reached the Holy City, where the Pope received her. Cyriacus, according to the legend, then occupied the papal chair; and inspired, doubtless, by a dream, he resolved to join the pious St. Ursula and her companions in their journey homewards. But, meanwhile, the reign of tolerance had ended at Cologne; and the Pope, the Virgins, and St. Ursula were massacred by the lieutenants of the Pagan emperor Julian. This legend had been painted many years before the time of Memling by some old artist of Cologne; but surely with less grace and sentiment. In scene the first is St. Ursula landing at Cologne, of which the old unfinished tower and crane may be seen with the steeples of St. Severus, St. Cunibert, St. Peter, and St. Paul, and the Beyen Thurm. The painter's ingenuity appears in the mode of telling events. Whilst the principal scenes depict the landing, St. Ursula is also visible through a window at rest, and in the act of dreaming of her journey; the vision of the Holy Father and her companions appearing to her. In scene the second, the princess lands at Bâle ; and in the third, arrives at Rome. The fourth scene is the return to Bâle ; and the fifth, the massacre at Cologne. The sixth, which is the sequel of the fifth, exhibits St. Ursula unhurt, and living after the massacre; but about to perish by the arrow of an aged person, who draws a bow upon her. Memling's masterpiece amongst these compositions is that of the reception at Rome, which, for grouping and design, is superior to the rest; and is further remarkable for the truth and nature of the figures, and harmony of the colours. The next in importance is the sixth, in which the princess stands awaiting the fatal arrow. Numerous figures are painted in modern polished armour, reflecting surrounding objects with such fidelity as a Fleming alone possessed. When Giorgione asserted to his contradictors that painting was preferable to sculpture, because the divers views of the same object could be depicted on the same canvas without necessitating motion, he illustrated his arguments by representing the same |