vainly lifts his spear to save himself; his men are
panic-stricken; his plot is undone. And yet in all this the angelic
avengers do not touch one of the prostrate or falling figures. Even
the horse's hoofs are not planted on Heliodorus. The victory is not
won by force, but by the mysterious power of celestial spirits.

Here is the way this picture affected a lover of art who stood before
it: "The Scourging of Heliodorus is full of energy, power, and
movement. The horse and his rider are irresistible, and the scourging
youths, terrible as embodied lightning; mortal weapons and mortal
muscles are powerless as infancy before such supernatural energies.
Like flax before the flame--like leaves before the storm--the strong
man and his attendants are consumed and borne away."

There is an interesting contrast in this great picture, for while all
this terrible action is going on at one side, one sees in an opposite
part a group of women and children, looking on with astonishment and
alarm. Near by is a figure carried in a chair on the shoulders of
strong men. This figure is Pope Julius II, and the reason why Raphael
introduced him into the painting is as follows:--

Julius was a warlike Pope who had expelled the enemies of the church
from the Papal territories and enlarged the boundaries of these
territories. He was also a great patron of the arts. He called on
Raphael to make designs for this chamber which should represent the
miraculous deliverance of the church from her secular foes; and as he
was regarded as the chief instrument in the victory, Raphael made him
present at this Expulsion of Heliodorus.

Not only the walls of the Heliodorus Room are adorned with pictures,
but the ceiling also is covered with designs, illustrating four Old
Testament stories of divine promises to the patriarchs: The Promise of
God to Abraham of a numerous posterity,[5] The Sacrifice of Isaac,
Jacob's Dream, Moses and the Burning Bush.

[Footnote 5: Sometimes interpreted as God appearing to Noah.]

Probably Raphael, who had friends among the cardinals and other
learned men of Rome, consulted them as to the selection of subjects
for this room. One can trace the thought which binds them all
together. On the ceiling we have God's promises made to his people of
old, while the pictures on the walls show how the same watchful
Providence delivered the church in later years.

VI

THE LIBERATION OF PETER

On the wall below the design o