Vatican, called at the time the Chamber della Segnatura, and afterwards, from the subjects of the pictures, that delle Scienze. On the ceiling are represented Theology, Philosophy, Poetry, and Jurisprudence. Each of them has on the corresponding side of the room a grand historical piece allusive to its character. On the lower part of the wall are other historical compositions, which refer to the same sciences; and these lesser works, as well as the Caryatids and Telamons distributed around, are monochromatic or chiaroscuros; all of them designed by Raphael, but executed, as it is said, by Polidoro da Caravaggio. Raphael began with the Theology; imitating Petrarch, who, in a sort of feigned vision, had assembled together men of the same pursuits though they had lived at different periods. He there depicted the Evangelists, whose writings form the foundation of Theology; the Doctors of the church, who have preserved its traditions; the Theologians, St. Thomas, S. Bonaventura, Scotus, and others who have illustrated it by their arguments: higher up is the Trinity, surrounded by the elect, and, on an altar underneath the Trinity, the Eucharist; as if to indicate the mysterious nature of that doctrine. The work betrays some vestiges of the old manner: thus, gold is used in the glories of the Saints, and in other ornamental parts; the glory in the upper part of the picture is formed on the plan of that at S. Severo, already noticed; the composition has more symmetry and less freedom than that of the other pieces; and, compared with the others, the whole betrays more littleness of manner. Nevertheless, when examined in detail, this picture evinces such admirable diligence of execution, that some have even gone so far as to prefer it to all the rest. It has moreover been remarked, that Raphael began on the right-hand of the picture, and that by the time he had arrived at the left, he was already a greater painter. This work must have been finished about the year 1508, and so excited the astonishment of the Pope, that he caused all that had been executed by Bramantino, Pier della Francesca, Signorelli,

L'Abate di Arezzo, and Sodoma, (except that the arabesque ornaments of the latter were permitted to remain,) to be effaced, in order that the whole of the historical part might be by the hand of Raphael.

In Raphael's subsequent works, and, indeed, in all that he executed after the year 1509, we must no longer talk of any vestiges of the old style: Raphael had discovered a nobler manner, and thenceforth only sought to carry it to perfection. He had now, on the opposite side, to represent Philosophy: here, therefore, he depicted a Gymnasium in the form of a temple, placing the more distinguished of the ancient philosophers, some within the edifice itself, some on the flight of steps, and others in a lower plane. His favourite Petrarch, and the third chapter" della Fama," afforded him more assistance in this than in any of his other works. Plato, " che in quella schiera andò più presso al segno," is there represented with Aristotle "pien d' ingegno" in the act of disputation; and these two occupy, even in this composition, the post of honour. Here we have Socrates instructing Alcibiades; here, too, we have Pythagoras, beside whom is seen a youth holding up a tablet, on which is represented the theory of harmonic proportion; and here also we have Zoroaster, the King of Bactria, with the globe in his hand. Here, too, may you behold Diogenes stretched on the ground with his tub beside him, and in a state approaching to nudity,“ assai più che non vuol vergogna aperto;" and here "Archimede star col capo basso," represented turning the compasses on a table, and instructing youth in geometry; together with divers others, absorbed in thought or engaged in disputation, whose names we might, perhaps, with due attention, make out better than Vasari has done. To this picture has been given the name of the School of Athens, which, in my judgment, is about as appropriate as the name of the Mass or the Sacrament, applied to the first picture. The third picture, which is that of the Jurisprudence, is divided into two parts. To the left of the

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window stands Justinian with his Code of Civil Law; which Trebonius receives at his hands with an air of submission and obedience, which no other pencil may ever hope to equal. the right is seen Gregory IX. delivering his book of the Decretals to an Advocate of the Consistory, and bearing the features of Julius II.; as though the latter might there see a reflection of himself. In the concluding picture, the Parnaso, we have a view of Mount Parnassus, where, in company with Apollo and the Muses, are represented the Greek, Roman, and Tuscan poets, as far as was possible, with their own proper features. The most admirable head of all is, perhaps, that of Homer, who is placed between Virgil and Dante: he has all the air of an inspired being, combining the characters of the prophet and the bard. The historical chiaroscuros contribute, by their beauty, to the gratification of the spectator, and, by their agreement with the rest, to the unity of the design. Thus, for instance, under the Theology, St. Augustine is represented standing by the seashore, listening to an angel who warns him not to attempt to penetrate into the mysterious doctrine of the Trinity, which must ever be above human comprehension: under the Philosophy is seen Archimedes, in the act of being put to death by a soldier, while wholly absorbed by his studies. This first chamber was completed in the year 1511; for such is the date inscribed near the Parnaso.

Vasari, until the completion of this first chamber, makes no mention of any improvement in Raphael's manner; on the contrary, in his life of Raphael, he uses these words:" Notwithstanding the many monuments of antiquity which he had had an opportunity of observing in that city, and which he had studied with unremitted attention, still he had not, up to this time, imparted to his figures that air of grandeur and majesty, with which he thenceforth contrived to invest them. Now it happened that, at about this period, Michael Angelo, while painting in the Sistine Chapel, caused the Pope that perturbation and alarm, (of

which more in his life,) on account of which he was obliged to fly to Florence. Whence, Bramante, to whom the keys of the chapel were consigned, shewed it, as a friend, to Raphael, in order that he might acquire some notion of Michael Angelo's style:" he then goes on to instance the Isaiah in the church of St. Augustine, and the Sibyls in that della Pace, as well as the Heliodorus. In the life of Michael Angelo he refers afresh to "the intemperate behaviour which obliged him to quit Rome," and proceeds to observe that, when, after his return he had completed about half the work, the Pope immediately ordered it to be exposed to view; "whereupon Raphael d'Urbino, who was particularly happy at imitation, had no sooner seen it, than he adopted a different style, and forthwith produced the Prophets and Sibyls in the church della Pace." This brings us to a point of controversy debated with great warmth both in Italy and other countries. Bellori fiercely attacked Vasari in a pamphlet intitled-Se Raffaello ingrandì e migliorò la maniera per aver vedute l'opere di Michelangiolo-" Whether Raphael's enlargement and improvement of style were owing to his having seen the works of Michael Angelo." He was answered by Crespi, in three letters inserted in the Lettere Pittoriche (vol. ii. p. 323); while many others also have embraced one side or other of the controversy, and brought forward fresh arguments in support of their opinion.

This, however, is no fit opportunity to occupy the reader's time in tedious discussions. It was doubtless greatly to the advantage of Michael Angelo's fame, that he met with two scholars, who, while he himself was yet living, and when Raphael was no more, undertook to write his life; and greatly to the detriment of Raphael's that he did not meet with the like good fortune. Had he still been alive when Vasari and Condivi published their works, he would not have passed them over in silence. He might easily have proved, that when Bonarruoti fled to Florence, that is to say, in the year 1506, he himself was not

at Rome, nor was invited thither till two years afterwards; and that, therefore, he could not have obtained a furtive view of the paintings in the Sistine Chapel. Raphael might have proved, too, that from the year 1508, at which time Michael Angelo had not perhaps commenced his work, till 1511, the year that he exhibited the first half of it, he himself had been constantly aiming at a more elevated style; and that, as Bonarruoti had compassed this point by studying the Belvidere torso, so had he accomplished the same object, by studying not only the torso but other remains of antiquity, whose mauner of design is plainly visible in his works. He might have asked Vasari in what he considered grandeur and majesty of style to consist; and might, both from the example of the ancient Greeks, and the reason of the thing itself, have taught him, that the sublime does not consist in an indiscriminate adoption of muscularity of limb or violence of gesture; but, as Mengs also has observed, in the selection of the nobler, and the neglect of the inferior and meaner parts, and in exciting elevated ideas by novelty of invention. Hence, by little and little, he might have pointed out to him what there was of sublime in the School of Athens, as it is called-in the majesty of the edifice, the contour of the figures, the disposition of the drapery, the gravity of countenance and demeanour; and might easily have traced the source of this sublimity to the remains of ancient art. And granting that he did adopt a more elevated style in his Isaiah, yet he might have confuted Vasari even by his own words, who, in another part of his history, makes this work anterior to 1511, and thus in some sort contemporary with the School of Athens: he might, moreover, have added, that he adopted this more elevated style with a view to meet the demands of the subject, and in imitation of the ancient Greeks. For the Greeks made a marked difference between ordinary men and heroes, and again between heroes and gods; and he, therefore, after having represented philosophers engaged in mere human disquisitions, might well be expected to take a loftier flight,