and at least three must
be laid to the charge of the scholar. Fuhrich was for Overbeck what
Giulio Romano had been for Raphael, and the Tasso Room suffered the same
degradation as the latest stanza in the Vatican.

The Tasso Room may be taken as a measure of Overbeck's capacity. This
"cyclus," or series, shows the painter's power of sustained thought and
faculty of invention. Much, doubtless, is compilation, yet something
remains of originality. The best passages are those not borrowed from
old pictures, but taken from life, which makes the regret all the
greater that here and in the sequel nature was not trusted more
implicitly. On the whole, these compositions leave the impression that
Overbeck had not mental force or physical stamina sufficient for the
task. It is true that the presence of a lyrical spirit is felt; but
scenes of Romance need more fire and passion; the deeds of Chivalry were
not enacted in a cloister. Perhaps self-knowledge wisely counselled
Overbeck to quit the regions of creative imagination. With greater peace
of mind he trod in the future, the safer paths of Christian Art, wherein
precedent and authority served as his guide and support.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: See among other authorities: 'Die Deutsche Kunst in
unserem Jahrhundert, von Dr. Hagen,' vol. ix. Berlin, 1857.]

[Footnote 2: The above compositions suggest the following observations.
Overbeck was in the habit of making over many years replicas with
variations and improvements of favourite themes, and the dates of the
successive stages are not always easily determined. Of the _Preaching of
St. John_, the Dusseldorf Academy possesses an example dated 1831. Also
in the same collection is a mature and almost faultless drawing, fit
companion for Raphael, of _The Raising of Lazarus_; the figure of Christ
is 9 inches high. Overbeck made several renderings of the
universally-beloved composition, _Christ Blessing Little Children_: the
most deliberate is that given in these pages. The replica in the Meyer
Collection, Hamburg, is of the last decade of the artist's life, and
betrays infirmity of hand. _The Entombment_, classed above among works
of the first Roman period, is probably that now in the choice collection
at Stift Neuburg, near Heidelberg, dated 1814, and obviously suggested
by Raphael's _Entombment_ in the Borghese Palace. No drawings have
better pedigree than those in this old family mansion: a predecessor of
the present possessor