the four
Evangelists. He was born in surroundings which, in Roman eyes, were
fit only for slaves. Mary and Joseph had come up from their own home
to Bethlehem to pay the taxes exacted at Rome. The town was full of
people on the same errand, and "there was no room for them in the
inn." So it came about that the new-born babe was wrapped in swaddling
clothes and laid in a manger used for feeding cattle.

While he lay in this strange cradle his birth was made known by a
vision of angels to some shepherds on the neighboring hillsides. At
once they betook themselves joyfully to Bethlehem, the first to do
honor to the new-born king. These homely visitors are gathered about
the manger in Correggio's picture. The dark night is without, but a
dazzling white light shines from the Holy Child.

[Illustration: THE HOLY NIGHT (DETAIL)
_Dresden Gallery_]

Our illustration shows only the centre of the picture, where the
mother leans over her babe. The little form lies on a bundle of hay,
completely encircled by her arms. The bend of her elbow makes a
soft pillow for his head; her hands hold him fast in the snug nest.
With brooding tenderness she regards the sleeping child.

A white cloth is wrapped loosely about the baby's body--the swaddling
band, which, when tightly drawn, is to hold the figure straight. The
fingers of one hand peep out from the folds, and one little foot is
free. For the rest we see only the downy top of the baby's head and
one plump shoulder. The little figure glows lite an incandescent body,
and the mother's face is lighted as if she were bending over a fire.
It is a girlish face, for we are told that Mary was a very young
mother. The cares of life have not yet touched the smooth brow. In her
happiness she smiles fondly upon her new treasure.

We have no authentic description of Mary, the mother of Jesus, but it
is pleasant to try to picture her in imagination. As her character was
a model of womanliness, it is natural to believe her face
correspondingly beautiful. The old masters spent their lives in
seeking an ideal worthy of the subject, and each one conceived her
according to his own standards of beauty. Correggio's chief care was
for the hair and hands, which he painted, as we see here, with
exquisite skill. He was usually less interested in the other features,
and the Madonna of our picture is exceptionally lovely among his works
of this kind.

The picture of La Notte illustrates very strikingly an a