uting all forms of heresy. The
Franciscans, on the other hand, strove for the higher life of
sanctity. The members of each order wore a distinctive dress, such as
we see in our picture. The Franciscan habit was at first gray, and
afterwards dark brown; it is gray in the bas-relief. It consisted of a
plain tunic with long loose sleeves and a scanty cape to which a hood
was attached. A knotted cord fastened the garment around the waist, to
remind the wearer that the body is a beast which should be subdued by
a halter. The Dominican habit was a white woollen gown fastened about
the waist with a girdle. A white scapular was worn over this, and over
all, a black cloak with a hood.

We see at once in our picture that St. Dominick is the elder of the
two men. There was really a difference of twenty years in their ages,
but the artist has made it less. It is as if each, upon seeing the
other approach, had hastened forward with outstretched hands. They
stand now face to face with interlocked arms in mutual contemplation.
It is a moment of perfect understanding. With widely different ideas
of ways and means, they have at heart a single common aim. Both are
called to the same great work, and each feels strengthened by the
contact.

The profile of St. Francis shows the sensitive lines of his face.
Tradition tells us that he was a man of more than average height, with
black eyes, and soft sonorous voice. His expression here is serene, as
one would expect of the gentle friar who called all the beasts his
brethren, and talked with the birds as familiar companions. St.
Dominick has a more strenuous countenance, and is perhaps more deeply
moved than the other. He leans forward and peers into St. Francis's
face with an expression of great tenderness. One is reminded of a
beautiful verse in one of the Hebrew psalms (the eighty-fifth), "Mercy
and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each
other."

The artistic qualities of this relief place it among the best works by
Andrea della Robbia. Only a skilful artist could have rendered the
draperies with such grace and simplicity. They have been compared with
the draperies of the painters Raphael and Bartolommeo. It is said that
the faces were left unglazed in order that all the lines of the
modelling might be preserved.

[Footnote 33: The lives of both saints are related in _The Golden
Legend_. In Caxton's translation (Temple Classics) see volume iv., p.
172, for St.