opied, not invented. The angel faces, on the other hand, are
moulded in the perfect curves which originate in the imagination of
the artist. Donatello was, above all things else, a close student of
human nature. Sometimes, indeed, he chose very unattractive models,
and reproduced them so faithfully that the realism is almost painful.
His artistic eye was always open to new impressions. Perhaps, one day
as he walked through the streets of Florence, he noticed among the
children playing there this little fellow of the long neck and pensive
face. "Ecco," said he, to himself, "il Giovannino."[11] The child's
face and bearing had a quaint seriousness precisely suited to the
character.

It is wonderful how the sculptor's art has made the little boy seem
actually alive in the bas-relief. The hair is executed with the skill
peculiar to Donatello, and seems to grow from the head. Such studies
from real life--_genre_ studies, as they are called--were lessons
which prepared the artist for higher works of idealism. The little St.
John may have been the original material for some of the angel
figures.

[Footnote 8: The circumstances of John's birth are related in the
first chapter of St. Luke, from which the quotations are drawn.]

[Footnote 9: St. Mark, chapter i., verse 7.]

[Footnote 10: See the pictures of St. John the Baptist in the volumes
on _Titian_ and _Correggio_ in the Riverside Art Series.]

[Footnote 11: "There is the little John."]

IV

THE INFANT JESUS AND ST. JOHN

BY MINO DA FIESOLE

Jesus and St. John the Baptist were of nearly the same age, and there
was a peculiar tie between them. Their mothers, Mary and Elizabeth,
were cousins, and before the boys were born the two women had confided
in each other their hopes for the future of their children. Angelic
messengers had predicted a remarkable destiny for both boys. Jesus was
to rule over an everlasting kingdom, and John was to be his prophet
preparing the way for him. These were secrets which the outside world
could not have understood, and Mary paid a visit to her kinswoman that
they might talk of them together.

As John's home was in the hill country and Jesus was born in the town
of Bethlehem, we do not know how soon the boys met. It might be
supposed that Mary and Elizabeth would be eager to bring them
together. While the mothers took council on the training of their
sons, the children would be at play.

The little ones were, we believe, b