itect, sculptor, and painter was marvellous, and would require the
space of a volume to follow it, and name all his achievements, step by
step, so I shall only tell you of some of his best-known works and those
which are most often mentioned.

While he was working upon the halls of the Vatican Julius II. died. He was
succeeded by Leo X., who also was a generous patron to Raphael, who thus
suffered no loss of occupation from the change of popes. The artist became
very popular and rich; he had many pupils, and was assisted by them in his
great frescoes, not only in the Vatican, but also in the Farnesina Villa
or Chigi Palace. Raphael had the power to attach men to him with devoted
affection, and his pupils gave him personal service gladly; he was often
seen in the street with numbers of them in attendance, just as the nobles
were followed by their squires and pages. He built himself a house in a
quarter of the city called the Borgo, not far from the Church of St.
Peter's, and during the remainder of his life was attended by prosperity
and success.

One of the important works which he did for Leo X. was the making of
cartoons, or designs to be executed in tapestry for the decoration of the
Sistine Chapel, where Michael Angelo had painted his great frescoes. The
Pope ordered these tapestries to be woven in the looms of Flanders, from
the richest materials, and a quantity of gold thread was used in them.
They were completed and sent to Rome in 1519, and were exhibited to the
people the day after Christmas, when all the city flocked to see them. In
1527, when the Constable de Bourbon allowed the French soldiers to sack
Rome, these tapestries were carried away. In 1553 they were restored; but
one was missing, and it is believed that it had been destroyed for the
sake of the gold thread which was in it. Again, in 1798, the French
carried them away and sold them to a Jew in Leghorn, who burned one of the
pieces; but his gain in gold was so little that he preserved the others,
and Pius VII. bought them and restored them to the Vatican. The cartoons,
however, are far more important than the tapestries, because they are the
work of Raphael himself. The weavers at Arras tossed them aside after
using them, and some were torn; but a century later the artist Rubens
learned that they existed, and advised King Charles I. of England to buy
them. This he did, and thus the cartoons met with as many ups and downs as
the tapestries had had. W