Her father was very angry when he found she had learned about the
Savior and had become a Christian. He condemned her to death and at
last took her out on a hill and killed her, but he, too, was struck
dead. St. Barbara is always represented with a tower that has three
windows in it.

Palma Vecchio painted this picture for some Venetian soldiers nearly
four hundred years ago. When the Germans bombarded Venice (1918) the
Venetians took the picture from the church to a place of safety.
Scarcely a week had passed before a bomb broke through the roof of the
church tearing everything before it at the exact spot where the
picture had hung. But "St. Barbara," one of the great pictures of the
world, was safe.

[Illustration: FIG. 7. ST. BARBARA. PALMA VECCHIO. SANTA MARIA
FORMOSA, VENICE]

CHARLES I AND HIS HORSE

SIR ANTHONY VAN DYCK (1599-1641)

The horse in this picture of Charles I is probably the one Rubens gave
to Van Dyck. It is said that Rubens gave it as a present after Van
Dyck had painted a portrait of Helena Fourment, the master's second
wife, and presented it to him. Van Dyck was twenty-two years younger
than Rubens. You will remember that he was the master painter's
favorite pupil. Having Rubens as a teacher did not make the pupil a
great painter. Van Dyck was never more than a prince; just an heir to
the throne. Rubens was a king and sat on the throne.

The story is told that once Rubens was away from his private studio
when the students bribed the servant to open the door for them. They
stole into the master's studio to see "The Descent from the Cross,"
which he was then painting. By some mishap the culprits rubbed against
the wet paint and spoiled that part of the picture. Of course they
were terrified at the damage done. They finally decided that Van Dyck
was the one to repair the spot. The work was so well done that they
hoped Rubens would not see the repairs. But the first thing that
caught the eye of the master was that particular spot. He at once sent
for the students and asked who had worked on his picture. Van Dyck
stepped out from the others and frankly confessed that he was the
culprit. Rubens was so pleased with his frankness and also at the
skill of the work that he forgave them all.

King Charles I invited Van Dyck to come to England, and then he
knighted him and gave him a pension for life. The hundreds of pictures
of the royal family and court people of England left by Van Dyc