t is difficult to say which was the worse artist of the two, the
sculptor or the painter. But Saint Luke's pictures generally do not
give us a high idea of his skill as a painter. The legend is a
charming anachronism, unless, indeed, Saint Luke was only a spiritual
presence;--but, as the whole incident was miraculous, the greater the
anachronism, the greater the miracle. The Bambino, however he came into
existence, is invested, according to the assertions of priests and the
belief of the common people, with wonderful powers in curing the sick;
and his practice is as lucrative as any physician's in Rome. His aid is
in constant requisition in severe cases, and certain it is that a cure
not unfrequently follows upon his visit; but as the regular physicians
always cease their attendance upon his entrance, and blood-letting
and calomel are consequently intermitted, perhaps the cure is not so
miraculous as it might at first seem. He is borne by the priests in
state to his patients; and during the Triumvirate of '49, the Pope's
carriage was given to him and his attendants. I was assured by the
priest who exhibited him to me at the church, that, on one occasion,
having been stolen by some irreverent hand from his ordinary
abiding-place in one of the side-chapels, he returned alone, by himself,
at night, to console his guardians and to resume his functions. Great
honors are paid to him. He wears jewels which a Colonna might envy,
and not a square inch of his body is without a splendid gem. On festal
occasions, like Christmas, he wears a coronet as brilliant as the
triple crown of the Pope, and, lying in the Madonna's arms in the
representation of the Nativity, he is adored by the people until
Epiphany. Then, after the performance of Mass, a procession of priests,
accompanied by a band of music, makes the tour of the church and
proceeds to the chapel of the _Presepio_, where the bishop, with great
solemnity, removes him from his Mother's arms. At this moment, the music
bursts forth into a triumphant march, a jubilant strain over the birth
of Christ, and he is borne through the doors of the church to the great
steps. There the bishop elevates the Holy Bambino before the crowds
who throng the steps, and they fall upon their knees. This is thrice
repeated, and the wonderful image is then conveyed to its original
chapel, and the ceremony is over.

The Eve of Epiphany, or Twelfth-Night, is to the children of Rome what
Christmas Eve is