and treated in much the same manner, although
less stately than that of the Uffizi. This is one part of a _predella_
formerly belonging to the Mancini Collection of Citta di Castello.[54]
The Archangel, with great wings half folded, and blown drapery, is just
alighting at the feet of the Virgin, who has dropped her book, and drawn
back with startled gesture at the impetuous rush of the messenger.

Connected with these by the same qualities of breadth of treatment, and
almost modern impressionism in the conception of the scene, are two
compartments of a _predella_, belonging to Mr Benson in London,
representing "The Dispute by the Way," and "The Supper at Emmaus." In
the former especially, the dramatic realism with which the Apostles are
depicted, as they argue with animated gestures, is extraordinarily
vivid.

Yet another _predella_ picture--"The Feast in the House of Simon," now
in the Dublin Gallery--belongs approximately to this period. It is a
most beautiful representation of the scene, and is treated somewhat in
the gay manner of Bonifazio or Paolo Veronese. At a long table, crowded
with guests, Christ sits, with His Mother on His right hand, the master
of the feast being conspicuous in the middle. Over Christ's head, the
Magdalen, a charming and graceful figure, pours the ointment, and on the
left of the table Judas, with expressive gesture, calls attention to the
waste. Notwithstanding the small size of the panel, and the number of
the figures, the effect is exceedingly spacious and free. It is a
well-composed scene, full of animation, and broad in treatment, and is
fortunately in a good state of preservation. The altar-pieces to which
all this series of _predelle_ belong are unknown.

We will now consider the fine Standard, painted in 1494 for the church
of Santo Spirito in Urbino.[55] On one side was represented the
"Crucifixion," and on the other "The Descent of the Holy Ghost at
Pentecost," but the canvases have now been divided. In the former, at
the foot of the Cross is grouped the first of those characteristic
scenes of the fainting Virgin which was, probably from its dramatic
element, so favourite a subject with Signorelli. Sincerely and naturally
felt, it in no way trenches on the melodramatic, as one or two of the
later groups tend to do, and the solitary figure of Christ, raised high
above the sorrowing women, is for once, among his Crucifixions, of
dignity and real pathos. The solemnity of the mood