supplicants, whose miseries she knows, her beauteous face and eyes evidence her maternal tenderness. Her right hand is raised above her head, in the act of supplication; and her left points out the people beneath her. Showing to Christ those who need her mercy, she so looks at, and prays the Redeemer, as almost, if I may use the phrase, to wring the yearned-for grace from Him. Here let us observe that Christ is visible to her alone, for she alone has her eyes fixed on Him. This was a most wise conception, for it preserves the unity of the action: any other disposition must have been an error, as Mary could not then be the principal object of the picture, as was required of the painter.

"Now, if you consider the tout-ensemble of this great painting, and all its parts, one by one, you will perceive that I have not exaggerated in calling it stupendous, and fit to be placed side by side with Raffaello's Transfiguration." And Missirini, after having described it figure by figure, concludes thus :-" Here the excellence of design, the primary and substantial characteristic of every production of art, is beyond all praise. In every part of the picture we find true sublimity, nay, and that inspiration with which the scenery of a gorgeous theatre is calculated to overflood the soul-here the powerful expression pierces our bosoms and stirs them to their depth. How shall I describe the movements, attitudes, or the graceful flow of the draperies for which the Friar was so famous ? What shall I say of the vivid colouring which is not surpassed by Tiziano's tintings? The shadows are diaphanous, the opposition of the tints homogeneous, and the effect of the chiaroscuro magical."

His picture of Saint Mark, at Florence, is considered to be in painting what Michael Angelo's statue of Moses is in sculpture, and many eminent judges regard it as one of the finest pieces of figure painting in existence.

We have noted, and that briefly, but two of those men, who by the works of the pencil, have lent a lustre to the name of Dominican. It would occupy much more space than we are able to devote to the task to merely enumerate the host of sculptors, architects, painters on glass, and "nuvatori," who have belonged to this order, and whose lives and works form the subject of Father Marchese's work.

As an architect, and as a man of general knowledge, Fra Giovanni Giocondo, of Verona, born about 1430, was highly eminent. He was, according to our author, a master of military fortification, skilled in hydraulics, familiar with Greek and Roman literature, thoroughly conversant with antiquities, an excellent mathematician, and no contemptible. natural historian. By Cæsar Scaliger, he was called "an old and new library of all that was good in science," a "Phoenix of intellects," and by Vasari, a most rare man, and universally learned in all the faculties."

Father Marchese disposes, we think satisfactorily, of the question which originated with Tiraboschi, the learned Jesuit, and author amongst other works of "Storia della Letteratura Italiana," whether Fra Giocondo was a Dominican or Franciscan Friar, and in our minds establishes the claim of the former order to number the architect amongst its illustrious At all events, it appears certain that if Fra Giocondo ever embraced the Franciscan rule, it was in his latter days, though his bas relief portrait at Verona represents him in the Dominican habit, and thus strengthens the belief that he lived and died a Dominican.

Among his works was a bridge over the Seine, the military and engineering defences of Trevigi against the Emperor Maximilian, a design for the re-construction of the Rialto when destroyed by fire in 1513, and numerous other works displaying great architectural and engineering skill. He was at the same time occupied with philological studies, and produced a new edition of the letters of the younger Pliny, of the works of Cæsar, Cato, Vetruvius, Frontinus, Aurelius Victor, and Julius Obsequen's "De Prodigiis.' He was moreover employed to assist Raphael, after the death of Bramante in the completion of St. Peter's, as appears from the following letter addressed by Raphael to his uncle, Simone di Battista di Ciarle da Urbino, dated 1st July, 1514.

As to staying in Rome, I may as well tell you, that I cannot stay anywhere else, so devoted am I to the building of S. Peter's; and I now occupy the place of Bramante. What place is there in the world which is superior to Rome, or what undertaking is there greater than that of S. Peter's? This is the greatest building that has ever been seen, and it must cost more than a million in gold. You must know that the Pope has determined to expend, on this building, sixty thousand ducats annually: indeed, he does not think of anything else. The Pope has given me, as my companion, a most learned friar he is very old, and has passed his eightieth year. The Pope, knowing that he cannot live long, appointed him to be my colleague, for he is a man of great reputation, and exceedingly wise. I will learn of him any fine secret that he may possess regarding architecture, and I hope thus to become perfect in this art. His name is Fra Giocondo, and the Pope sends for us every day, and discourses a while with us about this building.

We must be content with merely mentioning the names of Fra Damiano da Bergamo, the celebrated Intarsiator, or worker in inlaying wood; of Sister Plautilla Nilli, painteress in oil; of Father Danti, mathematician, engineer, and architect; of Father Portigiani, skilled in casting in bronze, and an archi

tect; of Father Paganelli, architect and engineer, and of Fathers Mayno and Andrè, the one a Spanish, the other a French painter. Of Fra Damiano da Bergamo, Father Marchese tells us the following anecdote. The Emperor Charles the Fifth, when at Bologna in order to be crowned by Pope Clement the Seventh, was much struck with the beauty of Fra Damiano's work, surrounding the shrine of St Dominic, and expressed a desire to see the artist :

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On the 7th of March, A.D. 1530, the Emperor, accompanied by Alfonso d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, and some Princes of his court, proceeded to the Dominican convent; and halting before the humble cell of Fra Damiano, knocked, and demanded admittance. The Friar opened the door, and just as the Emperor entered, he closed it quickly-" Hold," said the Emperor, you have shut out the Duke of Ferrara, who accompanies me." "I knew very well that it was he," replied the lay-brother, "and it is because I know him, that I will not permit him to stand under the vault of my cell!" "What?" asked Charles, "have you reason to complain of him?" "Hear me, Sire," answered Fra Damiano; "when I was coming from Bergamo to Bologna,in order to execute the works of the choir, I brought with me those few tools, which are absolutely necessary for the practice of this art, in the exercise of which I hope to spend my life worthily. Well, I had scarcely set foot on the territory of Ferrara, when the officers of the Duke compelled me-poor Friar as I am-to pay an exorbitant and unjust tax; but the rudeness with which they treated me, was still more intolerable; and this is the reason why the Duke of Ferrara shall never see the works which I now exhibit to your Majesty." This spirit of independence was quite novel to Charles, who was continually surrounded by servile sycophants. Nevertheless, he smiled, and told the lay-brother that he would interpose with the Duke of Ferrara, in order that every satisfaction should be given to him. The emperor then left the cell, and told the Duke the reason of Fra Damiano's choler; whereon, the latter promised to indemnify him for any loss he might have suffered, and he, furthermore, guaranteed to exempt himself and his pupils from all taxation as often as they passed through his little principality. The Emperor, accompanied by the Duke, then re-entered Fra Damiano's cell, and the Friar, to convince them that his histories were composed of pieces of wood, and not painted with the pencil, took up a plane, and passed it vigorously over their surface, without doing the least injury to the colouring, which remained in all its integrity and beauty. He then presented the Emperor with a beautiful little history of the Crucifixion, and he gave another to the Duke of Ferrara, who ever afterwards set the highest value on it.

We cannot wonder, after the perusal of these volumes, that the Dominican Order should feel proud of its artists and men of genius. Though other Orders have also, from time to time, contributed their scholars, painters, and sculptors, though the Benedictines can boast their Monaco, and their Clovio ; the Franciscans, their Factor, and their Negroponte; and the

Carthusians and Carmelites, their Cotan, and their Lippi; yet it must be confessed, that in none of these Orders can such a splendid and numerous band be found arrayed, as in that of the Dominicans. With them, peculiarly, as indeed with all the Monastic Orders in the Middle Ages, was to be found the practical illustration of the motto "Laborare est Orare." Those glorious specimens of art which they have left behind, are each a prayer, a prayer more eloquent than could have been composed in words, and still remaining to teach devotion and piety to crowds of admiring beholders.

Who, indeed, can tell, but that often in the lonely hours of the night, in the calm solitude of his cell, after a day devoted to his labor of love, there rose before the eyes of the artist monk, visions of that heavenly palace, the earthly career of whose king and court, it was his delight to study and depict. Then might he have beheld the swiftly moving shining wings of angel and archangel; the sublime and beaming countenances of patriarchs and saints, and all the dazzling effulgence of the heavenly host, and heard the silver music of their harps, and the sound of their celestial voices, sweet, clear, and harmonious, rising up to the throne; and when the grey dawn of morning stole into his cell and dissipated the glorious vision, sprang up to fix it upon the enduring canvas, and to teach the artists of future times, the beauty of that inspiration which is derived from religious contemplation.

If, in the short and hasty notice which we have taken of this subject, we shall have succeeded in drawing some attention to the Art history of the Monastic Orders, and inducing such of our readers as have not yet read them, to peruse Father Marchese's work, we shall feel that we have done, in our humble capacity, "the state some service." The further the subject is pursued in all its branches and details, the more convinced will enquirers be of the truth of the words used by the learned author of the "Ecclesiastical Sketches," when speaking of the mendicant Friars-"In an age of oligarchal tyranny, they were the protectors of the weak; in an age of ignorance, the instructors of mankind; and in an age of profligacy, the stern vindicators of the holiness of the sacerdotal character, and the virtues of domestic life."

In concluding this paper it is right to add, that the Rev. Mr. Meehan has performed his duty as a translator faithfully, earnestly, learnedly, and eloquently; and has added to that reputation already gained by his able contributions to a series "Duffy's Library for Ireland"-not sufficiently appreciated in its most valuable and important volumes.

THE

IRISH QUARTERLY REVIEW.

No. XXIV. DECEMBER, 1856.

ART. I.-ODD PHASES IN LITERATURE.

SECOND PAPER.

1. Les Fantaisies de Bruscambille. A Paris: Chez Jean Millot, 1612.

2, Essai Sur les Livres dans l'Antiquité. Par. H. Gérand. Paris, 1840.

In our former paper, in writing of Burlesque Orders, we omitted the following singular societies:

The order of the society de la Culotte, the statutes of which were compiled in 1724 by Brother Béquillard.

The order de la Centaine derived from that of Fendeurs. The order of Egyptians. Towards the year 1635, Mademoiselle de Pré, niece to the Marquis de Feuquières, at that time lieutenant to the king at Metz, founded, in that city, an order of knighthood to which she gave the name of l'Ordre des Egyptiens, said her cousin, the Abbé Arnauld, because "No one could be admitted who had not completed some ingenious theft. She was elected their queen, under the title of Epicharis, and all her knights carried, suspended from a green ribbon, a golden tablet, on which was inscribed the words: Rien ne m'echappe. Several officers of the army, and of parliament, who were at Metz, had themselves enrolled in this order, which was very fashionable, for it was necessary to have genius in order to

For the First Paper of this series see IRISH QUARTERLY REVIEW, No. XXIII. p. 439.

VOL. VI.-NO. XXIV.

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