rims,
is, in the figures, less striking than the others. Here St. Christopher,
who wandered through the world seeking the most mighty Lord, strides
before all, a giant in stature, whilst a host of smaller pilgrims, of
various ages, follow him. A fruitful valley, with many details, showing
a surprising observation of nature, is seen through the slender trees.
The cast of the folds in the ample red drapery of St. Christopher, as in
the upper picture, reminds us still of the earlier style. The whimsical
and singular expression in the countenances of the pilgrims is also very
remarkable. The picture next to the last described is more pleasing; it
represents the troop of holy anchorites passing out of a rocky defile.
In front are St. Paul the Hermit and St. Anthony, the two who set the
first example of retirement from the world; and the procession closes
with the two holy women who also passed the greater part of their lives
in the wilderness, Mary Magdalen and St. Mary of Egypt. The heads are
full of character, with great variety of expression: on every
countenance may be traced the history of its life. Grave old men stand
before us, each one differing from the other; one is firm and strong,
another more feeble; one cheerful and single-minded, another less open.
Some inspired fanatics wildly raise their heads, whilst others with a
simple and almost humorous expression walk by their side, and others
again are still struggling with their earthly nature. It is a remarkable
picture, and leads us deep into the secrets of the human heart--a
picture which in all times must be ranked amongst the master-works of
art, and which to be intelligible needs no previous inquiry into the
relative period and circumstances of the artists who created it. The
landscape background, the rocky defile, the wooded declivity, and the
trees laden with fruit, are all eminently beautiful. The eye would
almost lose itself in this rich sense of still life if it were not
constantly led back to the interest of the foreground.

The opposite wing pictures differ essentially in conception from those
just described. Their subject did not in itself admit such varied
interest, and it is rather the common expression of a tranquil harmony
of mind, and of the consciousness of a resolute will, which attracts the
spectator, combined at the same time with a skilful representation of
earthly splendour and magnificence. Inside the wing to the right we see
the soldiers of