d elsewhere, illustrating with
photographs. Tell of great opera-singers and their careers; mention
Patti, Christine Nilsson, Calve, the De Reszkes, Caruso, and others;
have records of such voices, if possible. Discuss the opera music of
to-day: Is it on the whole melodious, or is there a tendency to return
to the old style recitative? Are the airs as marked as those of a decade
ago?

CHAPTER VIII

THE WORLD'S GREAT PAINTERS

I--THE ITALIANS (PART I)

1. _Italy: the Birthplace of Modern Painting_--The influence of
Byzantium; the intellectual awakening of Europe; the development of
commerce.

2. _The Early Painters_--Cimabue, Giotto, Fra Angelico, Botticelli.

3. _Art Patrons of the Renaissance_--Lorenzo de' Medici; Leo X.

_Leonardo da Vinci: The Father of Modern Painting_--Story of his life;
his versatility; the Last Supper; the Mona Lisa.

READING from Walter Pater's Essay on the Renaissance.

BOOKS TO CONSULT--Luebke: History of Art. J. A. Symonds: The Renaissance
in Italy. Vasari: Lives of the Painters.

A brief introductory paper might take up the influence of Roman
classical literature and history on Italian art, and also the effect of
Greek culture after the Crusades. The childlike subjects and methods of
the early painters are also of great interest, and what they took from
Byzantine art, and how they were influenced by the study of anatomy. The
luxury of the times and its demands for pictures and statues, the
influence of the extravagance of court life, the Popes as art patrons,
all can be discussed. One entire paper might be given to St. Peter's at
Rome, and another to Da Vinci's great picture "Mona Lisa," and what art
critics have said of it. See also Ruskin's estimates of the Primitives.

II--THE ITALIANS (PART II)

1. _Life of Raphael_--His family and his father's influence; change in
his style through his instructors. His patrons, and what he did for
them. His personal disposition, and its effect on his style.

2. _Raphael as a Painter_--Give the impressions of famous travelers,
authors and art critics. Where his paintings are, their number, their
subjects. The Madonna, his favorite subject. Various ways in which he
treated it.

3. _Michelangelo_--The story of his life and training as a painter.
Versatility (as architect, painter, sculptor and poet). Brief
description of his works and their location. Readings from his sonnets.

4. _A Comparison of Raphael and Michelangelo_--Thei