e him for his mighty acts:
praise him according to his excellent greatness.

Praise him with the sound of the trumpet:
praise him with the psaltery and harp.
Praise him with the timbrel

and dance:
praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
Praise him upon the loud cymbals:
praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
Let everything that hath breath
praise the Lord."

[Illustration: BOYS WITH CYMBALS (LUCA DELLA ROBBIA) _The Duomo,
Florence_]

The eight illustrations of the gallery omit nothing mentioned by the
psalmist. Here are the trumpets, the harp, the psaltery, and the
timbrel. Here is the choric dance, followed by players on organs and
stringed instruments; after these come the loud cymbals or
tambourines, and finally the "high sounding cymbals" of our
illustration.

The players are a half dozen children, some dressed in tunics, and
others wearing scarf-like garments which leave their limbs free. Two
are crowned with flowers in the Greek fashion, and others have a
fillet or band bound about the hair. The leader walks with his head
thrown back, his mouth wide open, singing with all his might,
oblivious of everything but his music. He holds the cymbals high,
striking them together in the rhythm of his song. His companion is a
jolly little fellow, not at all concerned in the music, but laughing
at something which attracts his attention in the distance.

There is another rogue just behind the leader. Without losing step he
throws his weight forward on bending knee, putting his ear to the
upper cymbal. He is evidently amusing himself with the lingering
vibrations of the metal. The flower-crowned boy bringing up the rear
smiles at us cheerily, as he steps along, clashing his cymbals with
right good-will. The children in the background seem to take their
task more seriously, as if sharing the spirit of the leader.

It is clear that our artist found the models for his figures in the
streets of Florence. These round-faced children with their large
mouths are not pretty enough for imaginary types. They are perfectly
natural, and that is why we like them.

The grouping is skilfully planned to give unity to the composition
without any stiffness. There are no awkward gaps between the figures,
but the lines flow from one to another, binding them together. The
half kneeling posture of the child in the middle makes diagonal lines
to unite the leader