able, R.A._ (London, new
ed., 1896).

THE ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN

(_TITIAN_)

THEOPHILE GAUTIER

The pearl of the Museum at Madrid is a Raphael; that of Venice is a
Titian, a marvellous canvas, forgotten and afterwards recovered, which
has its legend also. For many long years Venice possessed this
masterpiece without knowing it. Relegated to an old and seldom
frequented church it had disappeared under a slow coating of dust and
behind a network of spider-webs. The subject could scarcely be made out.
One day, Count Cicognora, a great connoisseur, noticing that these rusty
figures had a certain air, and scenting the master under this livery of
neglect and misery, wetted his finger and rubbed the canvas, an action
which is not one of exquisite propriety, but which an expert on pictures
cannot help doing when he is face to face with a dirty canvas, be he
twenty times a count and a thousand times a dandy. The noble picture,
preserved intact under this layer of dust, like Pompeii under its mantle
of ashes, appeared so young and fresh that the count never doubted but
that he had discovered the canvas of a great master, an unknown
_chef-d'oeuvre_. He had the strength of mind to control his
excitement, and proposed to the _cure_ to exchange this great
dilapidated painting for a beautiful picture, quite new, perfectly
clean, very brilliant, and well framed, which would do honour to the
church and give pleasure to the faithful. The _cure_ joyfully accepted
it, smiling to himself at the eccentricity of the count, who gave new
for old and demanded nothing in return.

When relieved of its dirt and stains, Titian's _Assunta_ appeared
radiant as the sun when it bursts through the clouds. Parisian readers
may form an idea of the importance of this discovery by going to see the
beautiful copy, recently made by Serrur and placed in the Beaux Arts.
The _Assunta_ is one of Titian's greatest works, the one in which he
attains his highest flight: the composition is balanced and distributed
with infinite art. The upper portion, which is arched, represents
Paradise, Glory, as the Spanish say in their ascetic language: garlands
of angels floating and submerged in a wave of light of uncalculable
depth, stars scintillating in the flame, and brighter glints of the
everlasting light form the aureole of the Father, who arrives from the
depths of the infinite with the action of a hovering eagle, accompanied
by an archangel and a s