by his models, and gave such universal satisfaction, that this produced another demand upon his pencil. The interior of the building was to be made to correspond with its exterior in elegance; and Raphael was directed to make such designs in painting, carving, and stucco, as he should deem meet for that purpose. The artist now brought into full exercise his knowledge of antique; he procured, at great expense, drawings and designs of whatever was rare or valuable in antiquity, which he united with surprising felicity and success. The variety and extent of these ornaments, some of which are said to be entire from the hand of Raphael, and all to have been executed according to his designs, and under his superintendance, evince, in the most decisive manner, the versatility and extent of his talents. One of the saloons of the Vatican was to be decorated in the same manner. Here the artist introduced the figures of the saints and apostles, and the interstices were filled up with the forms of various animals, presented at different times to the pope, in arabesque ornaments. Nor did the labours of this industrious artist end here; for every new proof seemed to require a new exercise of his genius. The pope having determined to ornament one of the Vatican apartments with tapestry, applied to Raphael to furnish the design. This he accordingly executed on cartoons, or paper, selecting particular passages from the acts of the apostles, finishing and colouring them with his own hands, as models for the Flemish artists. The tapestry, executed from these designs, was finished with such splendour and elegance, as astonished and delighted all the spectators. A more singular fate befel the cartoons. They remained for a long time in the possession of the artists or of their descendants, until they were purchased by Charles the First. At his death, these relics of Raphael's genius were, along with the other property of that monarch, exposed to public sale. On the accession of William the Third, they were found cut into strips for the use of the tapestry makers. They were, however, purchased by government, and now constitute the principal ornaments of Hampton-court.

Raphael was now determined to give to the world the chef d'ouvre of his genius, and selected, as the subject for his pencil, the transfiguration of our Saviour. Michel Angelo having heard from

all quarters of the fame of his illustrious rival, resolved to enter the lists of competition with him, and associated himself with a painter by the name of Sebastiano del Piombo, distinguished for the attractive colouring of his pencil, and chose for his subject the resurrection of Lazarus. Both of these illustrious rivals commenced their labours on the same day, and both, it may well be presumed, brought to the field of contest the full strength of their genius. The paintings, when finished, were exposed for several days in the chambers of the consistory. Sebastiano's was regarded as a master piece for comprehending energy of design with powerful effect; but for beauty and grace, it was on all hands admitted, that Raphael's was unrivalled. Thus these two illustrious competitors, after the conflict, still left their respective points of preeminence untouched, and unimpaired.

Raphael's labours in the Vatican were not as yet suspended. He designed a series of paintings for another apartment which was finished by Giulio Romano, and Gian Francisco Penni, after the death of the illustrious artist, and his munificent patron, the pontiff. The first of the series designated the vision of Constantine, on the appearance of the crucifix-the second, the victory of that emperor over Maxentius-the third, his baptismand the fourth, his donation to the church. We have thus far, in a very brief and summary manner, attempted to sketch some faint outline of the labours of this wonderful man: But it still remains to be told, that his powers as an architect, were hardly excelled by those of the pencil. On the death of Bramante, Raphael was appointed superintendant of the church of St. Petro, at a salary of three hundred gold crowns, with direction to use such marble as might be found within the city, or within ten miles adjacent. Any one who discovered a remnant of an ancient edifice, was compelled within three days afterwards to acquaint the artist of the fact, under the penalty of a fine. Any per son destroying an inscription, without his permission, was liable to a similar penalty. A plan of this extensive nature was succeeded by one still more extensive, which was, "to form an accurate survey of the city of Rome, with representations of all the remains of the ancient buildings, so as to obtain from what might yet be seen, a complete draught of the whole, as it existed in

the most splendid æra of its prosperity." This important and honourable task was likewise entrusted to Raphael; but unhappily he was prevented by death from its accomplishment.

We have now seen the character of this eminent artist through the medium of his works, and with this, his life in part corresponded. Fortune, not always so prompt at the call of genius, awaited but the beckoning of his pencil, and poured her bounties with a prodigality of munificence. Genius in that age of ecclesiastical intolerance, preserved a high and commanding dignity, and even superstition became tributary to her greatness. The heart of Raphael was tinctured by no mean, selfish spirit of jealousy or envy. He was kind and hospitable to excess, and, ever disposed to assist the efforts of disappointed merit to escape from the restraints of poverty, and glooms of neglect. To his friends, he was generous and munificent, and he delighted to employ his great talents for their benefit. Alike disposed to embellish the superb Vatican, or the humble abode of private friendship, he was anxious to give to after ages memorials, not only of his glory, but likewise of the sincerity of his heart. We can scarcely conceive of a more fortunate coincidence than this-genius surrounded by opulence and honour, bending from her proud elevation, and directing those who are clambering up the almost inaccessible acclivities of glory's hill, what routes to pursue. Such was Raphael, and “O si sic omnia!"

We have now to turn the reverse of this picture, and to sur vey this character, whom fortune and fame so delighted to honour, as accessible to the allurements of sensual pleasure, as of glory. To this he was finally a martyr-neither the solicitations of honour, nor the more soothing accents of friendship, could deter him from an intercourse, at once criminal and destructive. His constitution was at length undermined, and on the day of his birth, and in the thirty-seventh year of his age, he expired.

There is often about genius, an intractible impetuosity, when directed towards either virtue or vice. It is a dazzling, but a precarious, and a dangerous gift. Men of slow temperament may censure the aberrations of such characters, but they know not how awfully attracting temptation is to them. They know not, they cannot know, the nature of such bondage-those strong,

although invisible cords, by which the mind is bound, and drawn, by an almost mechanical force.

The annexed engraving represents the virgin, the infant Je sus, and John, the baptist. The painting is known by the name of the Madonna della Seggiola, and is said to be executed in the second manner of that admired artist. At the third epoch of his art, he acquired a bolder hand, and a colouring more decisive and vigorous. The painting formerly decorated the gallery of Florence, and is now placed in the cabinet of St. Cloud, by order of Buonaparte.

The line of demarkation between him and Angelo, is thisAngelo framed nature according to his own conceptions, and they were gigantic-Raphael disciplined his to nature, and embellished human forms with new majesty, elegance, and grace; he aimed to improve, to heighten, but not to enlarge the natural figure, beyond its appropriate dimensions-the former astonished, and the latter delighted. So natural were his figures, and so unobtrusive, that spectators seeing nothing unusual, no constraint, no artifice, were prone to pass them by, as unworthy of regard, until recalled to admire. It is difficult to conceive of a prouder panegyric than this. The highest compliment ever paid to Garrick, was by Fielding's Partridge, who would allow him to be no actor, because he was actually terrified by the ghost of Hamlet.

No painter has received from his brethren of the pencil more decided panegyric. As a specimen, we will conclude the present essay, by two examples. Fuseli speaks thus: "The inspiration of Michel Angelo, was followed by the milder graces of Raphael Sanzio, the father of dramatic painting-the painter of humanity, less elevated, less vigorous, but more insinuating, more. pressing on our hearts, the warm master of our sympathies. What effect of human connection, what feature of the mind, from the gentlest emotion to the most fervid burst of passion, has been left unobserved-has not received a characteristic stamp from that examiner of man? Angelo came to nature, nature came to Raphael. He transmitted her features like a lucid glass, unstained, unmodified. We stand with awe before Angelo, and tremble at the height to which he elevates us. We embrace Ra

phael, and follow him wherever he leads us; energy, with propriety of character, poise his line, and determine its correctness. Perfect human beauty he has not represented; no face of Raphael's is perfectly beautiful; no figure of his in the abstract, possesses the proportion that could raise it to a standard of imitation: form, to him, was only a vehicle of character, or pathos, and to those he adapted it, in a mode, and with a truth, which leaves all attempt at emulation hopeless. His invention connects the uttermost stretch of possibility, with the most plausible degree of probability, in a manner that equally surprises our fancy, persuades our judgment, and affects our hearts. His composition always hastens to the most necessary point, as its centre, and from that disseminates, to that leads back as rays all secondary ones. Group, form, and contrast, are subordinate to the event, and common place ever excluded. His expression in strict unison with, and decided by character, whether calm, animated, agitatated, convulsed, or absorbed, by the inspiring passion, unmixed and pure, never contradicts its cause, equally remote from tameness and grimace; the moment of his choice never suffers the action to stagnate, or expire; it is the moment of transition, big with the past, and pregnant with the future. If, separately taken, the line of Raphael has been excelled in correctness, elegance, and energy-his colour far surpassed in tone, and truth, and harmony-his masses in roundness, and his chiaroscuro in effect, considered as instruments of pathos, they have never been equalled; and, in composition, invention, expression, and the power of telling a story, he has never been approached."

Mr. Shee, whom both the Muse of poetry and painting claim as their legitimate son, thus speaks what we believe his mother tongue.

"Swift as a comet cleaves the ærial way,
As bright his lustre, and as brief his day;
Urbino rising to the raptur'd eye,

Appear'd, and blaz'd, and vanish'd from the sky.
Monarch of art! in whose august domains,

Colleagu'd with genius, soundest judgment reigns;

Simplicity prevails without pretence,

And fancy sports within the bounds of sense.