ts on the people. In the
foreground is a group, perhaps intended for the Prophets of the
Destruction, who gaze up, less terrified, but with fear and solemn awe.

[Illustration: [_Cathedral, Orvieto_

SIGNS OF DESTRUCTION]

Next to "The Damnation," these are perhaps the finest of the series, and
show most imagination and dramatic feeling. The foreshortening of some
of the figures is admirable, the composition in the restricted space is
good, and there is superb drawing and modelling in the foreground figure
among the Prophets in the last fresco.

In the centre, over the arch, Signorelli has painted a group of winged
children, who hold a tablet by a bunch of ribbons, in one of whom are
repeated the features of the Christ-child of the Uffizi "Holy Family."

In the space under "The Rain of Fire" has been painted a portrait, but
not a fragment of the face remains, an obelisk-shaped monument having in
later times been placed against the wall, completely destroying it.
Cavalcaselle, for what reason is not clear to me, supposes that it
represented Niccolo Franceschi, the treasurer of the works. On the
opposite side of the doorway is a coloured medallion, representing a man
with a turban, who, leaning his back over the frame as though it were a
window, seems to be gazing up at the painting above. This, Cavalcaselle
suggests, is a portrait of the painter himself; Luzi, however, considers
it to be Empedocles. Over it in the decorations are two small tablets
bearing the master's initials, L. and S.

We began by considering the general impression of the frescoes upon the
mind, their great imaginative qualities, and the solemn mood they
induce. We will conclude by summing up the technical excellences, which
distinguish them from all his previous work by extra power and ability.
The beauty of the compositions, the filling of the spaces and the
effectiveness of the scheme of decoration are as much above the work of
three years before--the Mount Oliveto series--as is the freedom and
dramatic power with which the scenes are rendered.

What chiefly strikes one is the homogeneousness of the whole design,
each part of the work keeping its due place in the great scheme. We are
never unconscious, even while carried away by the emotions of each
separate scene, of the solemn presence of the Judges above, who preside
over the final justice. Considered as subject-pictures, the intense
dramatic feeling makes them extremely powerful in their