e a deep impression upon Mary, and she was a proud
and devoted mother. Day by day she watched her child grow "strong in
spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him." It is
said that

"All mothers worship little feet,
And kiss the very ground they've trod,"

and this mother had special cause for child worship.

[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD. _National Museum, Florence._]

The Italians always refer to the mother of Jesus as the Madonna,
which is the old Italian way of addressing a lady. This representation
of the Madonna and Child makes us understand better what the two were
to each other. The confiding way in which the boy leans against his
mother's knee shows the love between them. The mother looks like a
queen; on her well-poised head she wears a headdress something like a
crown. As the mother of a prince she bears her honors proudly.

On her lap is the book from which she has been reading. The child
seems dreaming of the wonderful words he has heard, as he rests his
cheek on his little hand, his elbow bent across the open page. A
thoughtful mood is upon them both, and there is something wistful in
the boy's attitude. The message they have read must indeed be a solemn
one. Perhaps it is something which recalls to the mother the promise
of the angel in foretelling the birth of Jesus. She thinks of the
great honors that are to be his, and also of the sacrifices by which
they must be won. The book may be open at the words of one of those
old Hebrew prophets who longed for the coming of the Redeemer. There
is a verse in the prophecy of Isaiah, which speaks of a child upon
whose shoulders the government shall rest.[4] The writer tells some of
the many names by which he shall be called, and we may imagine this
mother and child going over together these strange titles: "Wonderful,
Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of
Peace."

[Footnote 4: Isaiah, chapter ix. verse 6.]

Our illustration is from a bas-relief by Michelangelo, and as we
examine it closely we discover that the sculptor's work was left
unfinished. The rough marks of the chisel are still seen on the
surface of the marble. A child's figure in the background is quite
indistinct. Probably it was intended for the boy St. John the Baptist,
the cousin of Jesus. The child Jesus himself is by no means completed;
his right arm is only faintly indicated.

As we shall learn from other examples of sculpture in