No. III. THE MIRACULOUS DRAUGHT OF FISHES. Saint Luke, Chap. V. Verses 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. "And he went into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him, that he would thrust out a little from the land, and he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. "Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Sinon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. "And Simon answering, said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing, nevertheless, at thy word, I will let down the net. “And when they had thus done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes, and their net brake. "And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them; and they came and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. "When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord! "For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of fishes which they had taken. "And so was also James and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. "And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him." THE sublimity of this scene, and the wonderful accuracy with which Raphael has represented it in all its respective features, will be better conceived by a due attention to the verses, which we have extracted from the Holy Testament. The boat in which our Saviour is placed, is in the act of sinking from the immense quantity of fish on board, and whilst Peter, in evident terror, falls upon his knees, and begs Jesus "to depart from him as a sinful man," our Lord answers him, in the memorable words, "Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men." The address of Peter and the answer of Our Saviour constitute the main and leading action of the present composition. They are connected with those in the other boat by the raised hand of James who points towards it, as if asking permission to assist them in hauling their net; and the Partners, in the adjoining boat, fail into the principal group by the disposition of their bodies and faces, which are turned towards Simon Peter and our Lord. In propriety, therefore, this composition can be said to form but one single group. The figure of Peter is most divinely characteristic of his feelings at the moment; his countenance is equally divided betwixt hope and terror; and his attitude of supplication is impressed with an equal warmth of gratitude and reluctant awe at the presence of our Saviour.-The attitude of Jesus is calm and dignified; there is that grace and divinity in his aspect which are peculiar to the Christ of Raphael. His action is beautifully contrasted with the impetuous terror of Peter; and the sober and simple flow of his drapery is in strict unison with his other qualities. In the back ground is a beautiful and expansive landscape, in which the architecture introduced, is strictly that of the age and country.-In the fore ground are some birds that haunt the sea, for the introduction of which Raphael has been condemned by superficial judges. There are likewise shells, and sea-weeds, scattered upon the shore. It was the great praise of Raphael that he always preserved the features of general nature, and never, by pursuing the ideal too far, suffered his representations to be carried out of the ordinary bounds and occurrences of life.-His delineation of the scene before him was thus required to possess every necessary appearance and local image of the Lake of Tiberias at the period in which this miracle was wrought -Where the reality was so dignified of what use was fancy? It is by preserving these general incidents of local scenery, and the characteristics of our common creation, that the sublime is rendered just and accurate, and the beautiful touching, No. IV. PETER AND JOHN. Acts of the Apostles, Chap. 3, Verses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. "Now Peter and John went up together into the Temple at the hour of prayer. "And a certain man, lame from his mother's womb, was carried, whom they daily laid at the gate of the Temple, which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them who entered into the Temple. "Who seeing Peler and John about to go into the Temple, asked an alms. "And Peter fastening his eyes upon him, with John, said, Look on us. "And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. "Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I hare I give thee-In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." The moment of time is that in which Peter takes the cripple by the right hand, and lifts him up.-Never has the pencil expressed a more just or divine feeling than that which at this moment is painted in the countenance of the cripple; the miserable impotence and wretchedness of his situation are finely rendered in his figure; but, as if conscious of the power of Peter to heal him in the name of Jesus, his countenance is suddenly animated with hope, and he seems preparing to leap forward in his native strength, and to praise the wonderful act of God-The calm secuity and divine confidence with which the Apostles work this miracle are no less admicably displayed. The naked boys in this scene are a further proof of Raphael's great judgment in composition.--Cne of them is in such an attitude as finely varies the turns of the other figures; and there is, moreover, another kind of contrast which is produced by their being naked.-This has been objected to Raphael by those who pursue reason and propriety too far in some respects, but not far enough in others.-Notwithstanding its apparent singularity, the effect produced is marvellous-Clothe them in imagination; dress them as you will, the picture suffers by it; and would have suffered if Raphael himself had done it. It is for the sake of this contrast, which is of great consequence in Historical Painting, that Raphael, in this Cartoon, has placed his figures at one end of the Temple near the corner, where we could not suppose the Beautiful Gate to be-But this varies the sides of the Picture, and at the same time gives him an opportunity to enlarge his buildings with a fine Portico, and to form altogether one of the noblest pieces of architecture that can be con ceived. No. V. ELYMAS, THE SORCERER. Acts of the Apostles, Chap. 13, Verses 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. "And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain Sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-jesus: "Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. "But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, secking to turn away the deputy from the faith. "Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,} filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, "And said, full of all subtilty, and all misclif, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness! wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? "And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand. "Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord." THE great object of admiration in the present Cartoon is the figure of the Sorcerer, Elymas. It is the figure of a man struck by the immediate vengeance of Heaven through the means of Paul, with an instantaneous and incurable blindness; and in the study and representation of this character, Raphael has had recourse to that deep knowledge of the principles and passions of human nature, which forms the basis of the ideal in Art, and which "Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their cloaths, and ran among the people, crying out, "And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? we also are all men of like passions with you, and vanities unto the living God.” Elymas is here sui generis; he stands at preach unto you that ye should turn from these the head of his class; he represents all blind men that went before him, and all blind men that will come after him. The general nature, and most minute pecularities of the blind man, are all em. bodied in this single character!-Not only his eyes; but his head, and the elevation of his countenance; his outstretched hands; his cautious step; his feet; the general position of his body,-in a word, every part about him is the member of a blind man alone! The character of St. Paul, in this Cartoon is finely distinguished from that of the same apostle in the Cartoon which represents him preaching at Athens. Paul is not here the orator, but the avenger of God; he points with a consciousness of superiority, and a divine, but calm austerity, towards the Sorcerer, whose impiety he had been compelled to punish. -There is nothing of undue passion or exultation in this character. THIS Cartoon is a continuation of the miraculous scene which Paul and Barnabas had been acting in the temple, viz. the healing of the cripple. The people of Lystra, struck with wonder, at the divine cure which had been wrought before them, and in the immediate phrensy and unmeaning enthusiasm of Paganism, exclaim, that the "Gods had come down among them," and prepare to divinities: The ox, decorated with garmake instant sacrifices to their present ment, Paul and Barnabas interpose, delands, is led up to the altar; and, at this moclaring who they were, and what was the object of their mission, terrified least the pure and sacred doctrines of Christ should Paganism, and eager that their miracles be contaminated by the absurdities of should be referred to that Power alone from whom they had received authority to work them. In this Cartoon, the characteristics chief The terror of Sergius Paulus, and the astonishment of the surrounding group, are impressed with equal force by the divinely to be admired are the wild and barbapencil of this illustrious Master.-In truth, figure of the cripple in the front group, rous impulse of the men of Lystra, and the with the exception of the figure of Ana-whose garments is lifted up, in a suspicious nias, there is no character, in all the works of Raphael, so distinctly and sublimely rendered in all its parts, as the figure of the Sorcerer Elymas. No. VI. THE SACRIFICE TO PAUL AND BARNABAS. 13, 14. "And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying, in the speech of Lycaonia, the gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. "And they called Barnabas, Jupiter, and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. "Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. order to ascertain whether he were really manner, by a Pagan of wavering faith, in the person whom the apostles had previously healed. This figure serves in an admirable manner, to connect the story of the former Cartoon with that of the present. The figure of the man who is about to fell the victim is conceived with astonshing grandeur; in his countenance is expressed all the fury of a false zeal; and in his body, and the action of his arms, a steady and resolute vigour, which serves at once to mark the passions of his mind, and to display his prodigious strength. The distribution and the classing of the figures in this Cartoon, are no less adimirable. It is Christianity first brought into contact with the wild fury and unthinking zeal of Paganism. At Athens, the attempt is made amongst philosophers; at Lystra, it is made among the multitude; the former | reject it with the cold contempt and sullen arrogance of the stoical school; the latter awakened to its prodigious miracies and stupendous truths, are converts in the very moment in which they proceed to make their sacrifice; they are about to become the disciples of Jesus, in the very moment in which they are preparing their rites for Jupiter. History therefore tells us a truth, founded not less upon fact and experience, than upon the reasonableness and general course of the human passions. The philo. sophers of Athens remained Pagans; the Pagans of Lystra became Christians. No. VII. THE CHARGE TO PETER. Saint John, Chap. XIII. Verses 15, 16, 17, 19. 66 So, that when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? he saith unto him, Yea, Lord: thou knowest that I love thee. He said unto him, Feed my lambs. "He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me ? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He said unto him, Feed my sheep. “He said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lorest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? || And he said unto him, Lord, thou kowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. In this Cartoon, that which is chiefly to be admired is the figure of our Saviour. It is no longer the earthly, the human Christ! It is Christ risen from the dead, and be come the "first fruits of them that sleep." The Christ, in the Cartoon of the "Miraculons Draught of Fishes,', is a different character from what he appears at present. This figure cannot be de scribed; it can only be felt. Suffice it to say, there is nothing corporeal, nothing of the grossness of the human form in our Saviour; it is an angelic nature, with a most divine and exalted beauty, and a delicacy which does not impair the grandeur of the figure, whilst it softens down every turn of the members, and chastens the flow of the transparent drapery. The next striking beauty in this Cartoon is a group of the disciples. They seem, as it were, all gathered together in the moment, without ceremony or preparation; they are inartificially huddled and grouped with that impulsive eagerness and curiosity which they naturally felt to hear the last commands of their divine master. There is nothing in composition more perfect than this group. It never was excelled for simplicity, nature, and effect. Every character is distinct; each disciple is shadowed out by his peculiar traits, and, in his business and attention, he is marked with the most wonderful accuracy. The back-ground, and general scenery in which the subject of this Cartoon is cast, is in exact correspondence with the genius and predominating taste of Raphael. It is nature, quiet, local, and exhibiting the same appearances, as to the general scenery. which she might be conceived to have exhibited at the very spot in which this incident took place. There is no struggle for sublime or artificial landscape: the story wanted no setting off; no relief of this kind, |