sparks, and electric currents. Yet, if we did
not know otherwise, we might fancy that Michelangelo had some of
these wonderful ideas of modern science in mind, as the symbols of the
great thoughts he was trying to express.

The picture suggests to our latter day scientific imagination that
God's currents of power move as silently, as swiftly, as invisibly and
mysteriously as the currents of electricity. The painter meant to show
that the work of creation was not a mechanical effort of the Almighty,
but that with him a gesture, a word, even a thought, brings something
into being.

The series of which this picture forms a part is painted in fresco on
the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, in the Pope's palace of the
Vatican, Rome. To break up the monotony of the long plain surface he
had to decorate, the painter divided the strip of space in the centre
into nine compartments. These are separated from each other by a
painted architectural framework, so cunningly represented that it
seems to project from the ceiling like a solid structure of beams.

Our illustration shows a portion of the simulated framework which
incloses the picture. On what appears to be a pedestal at each corner
is a seated figure representing a statue. One is a beautiful youth
with a horn of plenty, and the other is a faun-like creature capering
gayly. The purpose of these figures is decorative, like those in the
background of the Holy Family.

IX

JEREMIAH

Michelangelo's decoration of the Sistine Chapel ceiling did not stop
with the series of panels running along the flat space in the centre.
On either side, where the ceiling arches to meet the side walls, he
painted a row of figures, which seem to be seated in sculptured
niches. There are twelve of these figures in all, and seven of them
are Hebrew prophets.

The prophets were holy men of old, who walked with God, and carried
his messages among men. They were men of great courage and conviction,
fearlessly denouncing the sins of their times. Sometimes they were
great reformers, bringing about by their preaching an improved
condition of things. Often their mission was to arouse hope in
discouragement, to strengthen faith in a happier time to come. They
looked forward to a future day, when the Prince of Peace should reign
in the earth.

Jeremiah was a prophet of Judah during the corrupt and troublous times
in the reigns of Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah. He has been compared
by a rece