hrist's coming to the Jewish world, and the sibyls
sang of it to the Gentile world.

"Nowhere, however, do we see the waiting and the longing for the
coming of the Redeemer more strikingly shown than in these
families,--'Genealogy of the Virgin' they are commonly called,--that are
painted in the triangular spaces above the windows. Each represents a
father, mother, and little child, every bit of whose life seems utterly
absorbed with just the idea of patient, expectant waiting. When troubled
and weary, as we all are sometimes, you know, I have often come here to
gain calmness and strength by looking at one or two of these groups;"
and Mr. Sumner paused, with his eyes fixed on one of the loveliest of
the Holy Families, as they are sometimes called, as if he would now
drink in its spirit of hopeful peace.

"They are waiting," he resumed after a few minutes, "as only those can
wait who confidently hope; and, therefore, there is really nothing in
the rendering of all this grand conception that more clearly points to
the Saviour's coming than do these.

"I think this part of the frescoes has not generally received the
attention it merits.

"The decorative figures, called Athletes, that you see seated on the
apparently projecting cornice, at each of the four corners of the
smaller great divisions of the ceiling, are a wholly unique creation of
the artist, and serve as a necessary separation of picture from picture.
They are with reason greatly admired in the world of art.

"These many figures, each possessing distinct personality, were evolved
from the mind of the artist. We can never think of him as going about
through the city streets seeking models for his work as did Leonardo da
Vinci. His figures are as purely ideal as the creations of the old
Greeks. Now think of all this. Think of the sphere of the old master's
thought during these four years, and you will not wonder that he could
not sleep, but, restless, came again and again at night with a candle
fixed in his paper helmet to light the work of his hands."

All were silent. Never before had they seen Mr. Sumner so evidently
moved by his subject; and this made it all the more impressive. They
became impatient as they heard a little group of tourists chatting and
laughing in front of the _Last Judgment_; and when, finally, a crowd of
travellers with a noisy guide entered the Chapel, they quickly decided
to go away and to come again the next day.

"Thank you so m