mention of this miracle): the said bark approached the castles to overwhelm Venice, and to destroy it utterly; anon the sea, which had hitherto been tumultuous, became calm; and these three men, having made the sign of the cross, exorcised the demons, and commanded them to depart, and immediately the galley or the ship vanished: then these three men commanded the fisherman to land them, the one at San Nicolò di Lido, the other at San Giorgio Maggiore, and the third at San Marco. And when he had landed the third, the fisherman, notwithstanding the miracle he had witnessed, desired that he would pay him; and he replied, Thou art right; go now to the Doge, and to the Procuratore of St. Mark, and tell them what thou hast seen, for Venice would have been overwhelmed had it not been for us three. I am St. Mark the evangelist, the protector of this city; the other is the brave knight St. George; and he whom thou didst take up at the Lido is the holy bishop St. Nicholas. Say to the Doge and to the Procuratore that they are to pay you; and tell them likewise that this tempest arose because of a certain schoolmaster dwelling at San Felice, who did sell his soul to the devil, and afterwards hanged himself.' And the fisherman replied, 'If I should tell them this, they will not believe me.' Then St. Mark took off a ring which was on his finger, which ring was worth five ducats; and he said, Show them this, and tell them when they look in the sanctuary they will not find it;' and thereupon he disappeared. The next morning, the said fisherman presented himself before the Doge, and related all he had seen the night before, and showed him the ring for a sign. And the Procuratore having sent for the ring, and sought in the usual place, found it not, by reason of which miracle the fisherman was paid, and a solemn procession was ordained, giving thanks to God, and to the relics of the three holy saints, who rest in our land, and who delivered us from this great danger. The ring was given to Signor Marco Loredano and to Signor Duci Veneti. Andrea Dandolo the procuratore, who placed it in the sanc

Sanuto.
Vite de'

tuary; and, moreover, a perpetual provision was made for the aged fisherman above mentioned."

Venice.

This legend is the subject of two celebrated pictures: — The first, by Giorgione, and one of his grandest works, represents the storm. A ship, manned by demons, is seen Acad. towering over the waves; the demons appear to be seized with consternation; some fling themselves headlong over the side of their vessel, others are clinging to the rigging, others sit on the masts which flame with fire, and the glare is seen over the murky sky and sea. More in front are two barks, one rowed by four satyr like demons, splendid figures admirably painted, literally glowing as if they were red-hot, and full of fierce animation. In the other bark are seen the three saints, St. Mark, St. Nicholas, and St. George, rowed by the fisherman; sea-monsters are sporting amid the waves, demons bestride them; the city of Venice is just visible in the faroff distance. The whole picture is full of vigour and poetic feeling; the fiery glow of colour and the romantic style of Giorgione suited the subject; and it has been admirably

restored.

Venice.

The second picture is by Paris Bordone, and represents the fisherman presenting the miraculous ring of St. Mark to the Doge Gradenigo. It is like a grand piece of scenic decoration; Acad. we have before us a magnificent marble hall, with columns and buildings in perspective; to the right, on the summit of a flight of steps, sits the Doge in council; the poor fisherman ascending the steps, holds forth the ring; the numerous figures, the vivid colour, the luxuriant architecture, remind us of Paul Veronese, with, however, more delicacy, both in colour and execution.

A Christian slave, in the service of a certain nobleman of Provence, disobeyed the commands of his lord, and persisted in paying his devotions at the shrine of St. Mark, which was at some distance. On his return home, he was condemned to the torture. As it was about to be inflicted, the saint

himself descended from heaven to aid his votary; the instruments of torture were broken or blunted, the oppressor and Acad. Venice. his executioners confounded. This legend is the subject of a celebrated picture by Tintoretto, of which Mr. Rogers possesses the original sketch. The slave lies on the ground amid a crowd of spectators, who look on animated by all the various emotions of sympathy, rage, terror; a woman in front, with a child in her arms, has always been admired for the life-like vivacity of her attitude and expression. The executioner holds up the broken implements; St. Mark, with a headlong movement, seems to rush down from heaven in haste to save his worshipper; the dramatic grouping in this picture is wonderful; the colouring, in its gorgeous depth and harmony, is in Mr. Rogers's sketch finer than in the picture.

Venice,

Ducal Palace.

The translation of the body of St. Mark; the carrying off the relics from Alexandria; their arrival in Venice; the grand religious ceremonies which took place on their arrival; are all represented in the mosaics over the portico of St. Mark, executed chiefly between 1650 and 1680. We have the same legend in two compositions of Tintoretto: in the first, the remains of St. Mark are taken forcibly from the tomb by the Venetian mariners; in the other, they are borne away to sea in a night-storm, while in the air is seen hovering a bright transparent form, the soul of the saint flitting with his body to Venice.

ST. LUKE.

Lat. Sanctus Luca. Ital. San Luca. Fr. Saint Luc. Oct. 18.

Or the real history of St. Luke we know very little. He was not an apostle; and, like St. Mark, appears to have been converted after the Ascension. He was a beloved disciple

of St. Paul, whom he accompanied to Rome, and remained with his master and teacher to the last. It is related, that, after the martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul, he preached the gospel in Greece and Egypt; but whether he died a natural death, or suffered martyrdom, does not seem clear. The Greek traditions represent him as dying in peace, and his death was thus figured on the ancient doors of San Paolo at Rome. Others affirm that he was crucified at Patras with St. Andrew.

There is some ground for the supposition that Luke was Col. iv. 14. a physician. But the pretty legend which makes him a painter, and represents him as painting the portrait of the Virgin Mary, is unsupported by any of the earlier traditions. It is of Greek origin, still universally received by the Greek Church, which considers painting a religious art, and numbers in its calendar of saints a long list of painters, as well as poets, musicians, and physicians. "Les Grecs," says Didron, "semblent avoir canonisé des Chrétiens uniquement parcequ'ils s'occupaient de soulager le corps ou de charmer l'esprit." In the west of Europe, the legend which represents St. Luke as a painter can be traced no higher than the tenth century; the Greek painters introduced it; and a rude drawing of the Virgin, discovered in the catacombs, with an inscription, purporting that it was "one of seven painted by Luca," confirmed the popular belief that St. Luke the evangelist was meant. Thus originated the fame of innumerable Virgins of peculiar sanctity, all attributed to his hand, and regarded with extreme veneration. Such ancient pictures are generally of Greek workmanship, and of a black complexion.'

*

The little black Virgin of the Monte della Guardia near Bologna, I saw carried in grand procession through the streets of that city in May 1847. The following inscription is engraved on a tablet in the church of San Domenico and San Sisto at Rome: "Here at the high altar is preserved that image of the most blessed Mary, which, being delineated by St. Luke the evangelist, received its colours and form divinely. This is that image with which St. Gregory the Great (according to St. Antonine), as a suppliant, purified Rome; and the pestilence being dispelled, the angel messenger of peace, from the summit of the castle of Adrian, commanding the Queen of Heaven to rejoice, restored health to

Paris, Bib. du Roi.

In the legend of St. Luke we are assured that he carried with him every where two portraits, painted by himself, one of our Saviour, and one of the Virgin, and that by means of these he converted many of the heathen; for not only did they perform great miracles, but all who looked on these bright and benign faces, which bore a striking resemblance to each other, were moved to admiration and devotion. It is also said, that St. Luke painted many portraits of the Virgin, delighting himself by repeating this gracious image; and in the church of Santa Maria in Via Lata, at Rome, they still show a little chapel in which, "as it hath been handed down from the first ages, St. Luke the Evangelist wrote, and painted the effigy of the Virgin mother of God.”

On the strength of this tradition, St. Luke has been chosen as the patron saint of painters. Academies of art are placed under his particular protection, their chapels are dedicated to him, and over the altar we see him in his charming and pious avocation, painting portraits of the blessed Virgin for the consolation of the faithful.

The devotional figures of St. Luke, in his character of evangelist, represent him in general with his gospel and his attendant Ox, winged or unwinged, as already described; but in Greek art, and in those schools of art which have been particularly under the Byzantine influence (as the early Venetian), we see St. Luke as evangelist young and beardless, holding the portrait of the Virgin as his attribute in one hand, and his gospel in the other. A beautiful figure of St. Luke as evangelist and painter is in the famous "Heures d'Anne de Bretagne.”

In an engraving by Lucas v. Leyden, executed as it should seem in honour of his patron saint, St. Luke is seated on the back of his ox, writing the gospel; he wears a hood like an

the city." A Virgin in the Ara Coli pretends to the same honour: both these are black and ugly, while that in the S. Maria in Cosmedino is of uncommon dignity and beauty. Of these I shall have more to say when treating of the effigies of the Madonna.