ure and beautiful
that he is considered one of the greatest colorists of the world. The
next time you see an oil painting, notice how thick or how thin the
paint is laid on, and then think of what I have told you of Raphael's
method of using color.

[Illustration: LA BELLE JARDINIERE. _Raphael._]

Now while Raphael was painting these drooping-eyed, mild-faced
Madonnas and learning great lessons from the masters of Florence, a
wonderful honor came to him. He was called to Rome by the Pope and
given some of the apartments of the Vatican to decorate in any way he
wished.

The Pope at this time was Julius II. and he was a very interesting
man. He was a warrior and had spent many years fighting to gain lands
and cities for the Church. When peace returned he was still anxious to
do honor to the Church and so, wherever he heard of a great architect,
painter, or sculptor, he at once invited him to Rome to do beautiful
work for the Church. Already he had set Michael Angelo to work on a
grand tomb for him. Bramante, a relative of Raphael's, was working
hard to make St. Peter's the most wonderful Church in all the world.
Now the young Raphael was to beautify still further the buildings
belonging to the church.

Julius did not pretend to be an artist or a scholar, and yet by his
patronage he greatly encouraged art and literature. The story is told
that when Angelo was making a statue of the Pope for the town of
Bologna, the artist asked Julius if he should place a book in the
statue's extended left hand, and the Pope retorted, almost in anger,
"What book? Rather a sword--I am no reader!"

In earlier years Florence had been a glorious sight to our artist and
now in 1508, standing in the "Eternal City," he was more awed than
when first he beheld the city of the Arno. Here the court of Julius,
gorgeous and powerful, together with the works of art, like St.
Peter's, in process of construction, were but a part of the wonders to
be seen. In addition, the remains of ancient Rome were scattered all
about--here a row of columns, the only remains of a grand temple,
there a broken statue of some god or goddess, long lost to sight, and
all the earth about so filled with these treasures that one had only
to dig to find some hidden work of art. The Roman people, too, were
awake to the fact that they were not only living out a marvelous
present, but that they were likewise, in their every day life, walking
ever in the presence of a