ify
or hallow!

Among the most ancient and most venerable of the effigies of the
Madonna, we find the old Greek pictures of the _Mater Amabilis_, if
that epithet can be properly applied to the dark-coloured, sad-visaged
Madonnas generally attributed to St. Luke, or transcripts of those
said to be painted by him, which exist in so many churches, and are,
or were, supposed by the people to possess a peculiar sanctity. These
are almost all of oriental origin, or painted to imitate the pictures
brought from the East in the tenth or twelfth century. There are a few
striking and genuine examples of these ancient Greek Madonnas in the
Florentine Gallery, and, nearer at hand, in the Wallerstein collection
at Kensington Palace. They much resemble each other in the general
treatment.

The infinite variety which painters have given to this most simple
_motif_, the Mother and the Child only, without accessories or
accompaniments of any kind, exceeds all possibility of classification,
either as to attitude or sentiment. Here Raphael shone supreme:
the simplicity, the tenderness, the halo of purity and virginal
dignity, which he threw round the _Mater Amabilis_ have, never been
surpassed--in his best pictures, never equalled. The "Madonna del
Gran-Duca," where the Virgin holds the Child seated on her arm; the
"Madonna Tempi," where she so fondly presses her check to his,--are
perhaps the most remarkable for simplicity. The Madonna of the
Bridgewater Gallery, where the Infant lies on her knees, and the
Mother and Son look into each other's eyes; the little "Madonna
Conestabile," where she holds the book, and the infant Christ, with
a serious yet perfectly childish grace, bends to turn over the
leaf,--are the most remarkable for sentiment.

Other Madonnas by Raphael, containing three or more figures, do not
belong to this class of pictures. They are not strictly devotional,
but are properly Holy Families, groups and scenes from the domestic
life of the Virgin.

With regard, to other painters before or since his time, the examples
of the _Mater Amabilis_ so abound la public and private galleries, and
have been so multiplied in prints, that comparison is within the reach
of every observer. I will content myself with noticing a few of the
most remarkable for beauty or characteristic treatment. Two painters,
who eminently excelled in simplicity and purity of sentiment, are Gian
Bellini of Venice, and Bernardino Luini of Milan. Squarc