daily life of
those past centuries. The stamp of thought and the seal of art were set
upon the simplest conveniences of life. The very keys of the locks and
hinges of the doors were designed, not by mere workers in metal, but by
sculptors and artists who were pre-eminent for genius. It was in the
spirit of this period that Benvenuto Cellini modeled saltcellars as well
as statues, and his compeers designed carvings and gildings for state
carriages, and painted pictures upon the panels. Painters of divine
pictures designed cartoons and borders for tapestries, and wreaths and
garlands for ceiling pilasters.

Among the names of painters who designed cartoons for tapestries, we
find those of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, Guido and Giulio
Romano, Albert Duerer, Rubens and Van Dyck. Indeed, there is hardly a
great name among the painters of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
which has not contributed to the value of the tapestries dating from
those times. Among them all none have a greater share of glory than the
series known as "The Acts of the Apostles," designed by Raphael for Pope
Leo X, in the year 1515. The history of these cartoons is full of
interest. After the weaving of the first set of these tapestries, which
was hung in the Sistine Chapel and regarded as among the greatest
treasures of the world, the cartoons remained for more than a hundred
years in the manufactory at Brussels. During this period one or more
sets must have been woven from them, but in 1630 seven were transferred
to the Mortlake Tapestry works near London, having been purchased by
Charles I, who was advised of their existence by Rubens. The Mortlake
tapestry had been established by James I, who was greatly aided by the
interest of the then Prince of Wales, and the Duke of Buckingham. It is
charming to think of "Baby Charles" and "Steenie" busying themselves
with the encouragement of art in the way of the production of tapestry
pictures, and after the accession of the Prince, to follow the progress
of this taste in the purchase of the famous cartoons, and the employment
of no less a genius than Van Dyck in the composition of new and more
elaborate borders for them. It was probably during the reign of Charles
that these glorious compositions went into use as illustrations of
Biblical text, for we find "Paul preaching at Athens," "Peter and Paul
at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple," and "The Miraculous Draught of
Fishes" figuring as full-p