he three letters being
kept perfectly independent, yet interlaced, or rather overlapped, so
that their lines exhibit a figure which has the curious property, like
the cabalistic Abracadabra, of presenting the same appearance from
whatever point it may be viewed.

Another, and often more puzzling uncertainty, may arise out of the
practice of adding to the ordinary letters of the name, the initials
F, P, D, or I--representing _fecit_, _pinxit_, _delineavit_, or
_invenit_. Without adverting to this circumstance, few would recognise
the distinguished name of Anthony van Dyck, in the monogram which he
habitually employed, and of which the F seems to form a principal
part; or that of our dear old friend, Hans Hemling, in the still more
perplexing symbol by which his very best works may be distinguished.
But besides the variations of which the letters are susceptible when
grouped in this manner, many of the artists have indulged in a variety
of strange and puzzling accompaniments.

A more interesting class of monograms are those which employ symbols
instead of letters; or, what is not uncommon, use both letters and
symbols in combination. Many of these resemble the illustrated enigmas
which have become fashionable in the pictorial journals both of
England and of foreign countries, and of which Mr Knight, in the last
issue of his _Penny Magazine_, set so beautiful an example in the
poetical enigmas of Mr Mackworth Praed. The general character of this
class will be sufficiently indicated by the example of the Italian
painter, Palma, whose name is translated _palm_, and who used the
emblem of a _palm_ as well as the initial of his family name; or the
still more characteristic one of a painter of Tuebingen, Jacob
_Zueberlein_ (_little tub_), who appended to his literal monogram the
simple and striking, though not very graceful, emblem of _a tub_.

The several classes which are here slightly indicated, contain under
them many subordinate varieties, which it would be tedious to
enumerate, and which, indeed, it would be almost impossible to
classify. It is a remarkable circumstance, however, in the history of
art, that the signatures of the most distinguished painters are
precisely those which, for themselves, and for their forms, possess
the least interest. With few exceptions, it may be said of the great
painters, that they appear to have avoided the affectation of the use
of monograms; and certainly that those who did employ th