. A single angel stops to gaze ardently towards the
Christ-child.

The mother looks on at the game with queenly dignity. A smile hovers
on her lips, as if the eagerness of the little leader pleased her. As
for Joseph, his glance is directed towards the tree-tops. Perhaps his
senses are not fine enough to discern the spirit company, but he is
well content with the happiness of mother and child.

From the safe pedestal of his mother's knee the child Jesus watches
every motion of the angels with breathless interest. The angel leader
seems to beckon him to join them, and he is almost ready to go. Yet
the firm hands hold him back, and he is glad to cling to his mother's
dress. A circle of light about his head is the halo, or symbol of his
divine origin.

The picture is an important record of our painter's travels in Italy.
It was here he imbibed from the old Italian masters the tender and
devotional spirit which animated their sacred works. Titian was the
special object of his admiration, and he painted a number of Madonna
pictures which show the influence the Venetian painter had upon his
art. The circle of dancing angels recalls the cherub throng of
Titian's Assumption.[2]

[Footnote 2: See Chapter XII. in volume on Titian in the Riverside Art
Series.]

III

THE SO-CALLED PORTRAIT OF RICHARDOT AND HIS SON

A gentleman has brought his little boy to our painter's studio for a
portrait sitting. Father and son are close friends and understand each
other well. On the way they have talked of the picture that is to be
made, and the boy has asked many questions about it. It is rather a
tedious prospect to an active child to have to sit still a long time.
But his father's companionship is his greatest delight, and it is a
rare treat to both to have a whole morning together. Besides, they
have a book with them, a new publication from the Plantin printing
press, and the father has promised to read something to him.

The two are richly dressed for the event, the father in black with a
fur mantle, and the boy in white satin embroidered with gold. The man
wears the stiff quilled ruff of the period, the boy a round collar of
soft lace. It is not every day in the year that a little boy is
allowed to wear his best satin doublet, and the child feels the
gravity of the occasion. We may suppose that these are people of
distinction, and that on certain great occasions the boy accompanies
his father to court. Perhaps, too, as