a picture; the ancient symmetry
and the most rigid parallelism are scrupulously observed. Raphael
becomes almost archaic, and, while returning to the simplicity of
primitive traditions, by the force of genius he confounds the scientific
exaggeration that is already so close to decadence. Doubtless he had
raised his eyes high every time he had taken antiquity as a model, but
he raised them much higher still by becoming exclusively Christian
again, and by comprehending that the humblest way is not only the
surest, but also the most sublime. Why is such simple means so highly
successful in exalting our feelings? Why is it, when looking at this
picture, we have moments of divine oblivion in which we fancy ourselves
in Heaven? That is what we must try to penetrate and comprehend.

[Illustration: THE SISTINE MADONNA.
_Raphael_.]

The principal figure of the picture is the Infant Jesus. He is no longer
the graceful _Bambino_ that we have so often seen in the arms of
Raphael's Madonnas, gentle and encouraging to the eyes of mankind, or
again he who, erewhile, in the _Virgin with the Fish_, leaned towards
the young Tobit; it is the God himself, it is the God of Justice and of
the Last Day. In the most humble state of our flesh, beneath the veil of
infancy, we see the terrifying splendour of infinite majesty in this
picture. The divine Infant leaves between himself and us a place for
fear, and in his presence we experience something of the fear of God
that Adam felt and that he transmitted to his race. For attaining such
heights of impression the means employed by Raphael are of an
incomprehensible simplicity. The Infant Jesus nestles familiarly in his
mother's arms. Sitting on a fold of the white veil that the Virgin
supports with her left hand, he leans against the Madonna's right arm;
his legs are crossed one above the other; the whole of the left arm
follows the bend of the body and the left hand rests upon the right leg;
at the same time, the right shoulder being raised by Mary's hand, the
right arm is bent at the elbow and the hand grasps the Virgin's veil.
This attitude, so natural, so true, so unstudied, expresses grandeur and
sovereignty. Nothing can be more elementary nor more powerful. The light
rests calmly upon every part of this beautiful body and all its members
in such fine repose. Humanity was never seen under such radiance. The
Son of God, in transporting to Heaven the terrestrial form of his
infancy,