. Legends of the monastic orders : as represented in the fine arts. Mar-garitone di Arezzo, also with the hood drawn over the head,the Gospel in one hand, the other raised in benediction, isstill preserved in the Church of Sargiano near Arezzo. The character of head in these effigies is nearly the same, andis, or ought to be, the authority for succeeding painters ; and the best have not widely departed from this peculiar type —no doubt the true one. But it has either been set aside altogether or most grossly caricatured by later painters, and more particularly by the German and Spanish schools
. Legends of the monastic orders : as represented in the fine arts. Mar-garitone di Arezzo, also with the hood drawn over the head,the Gospel in one hand, the other raised in benediction, isstill preserved in the Church of Sargiano near Arezzo. The character of head in these effigies is nearly the same, andis, or ought to be, the authority for succeeding painters ; and the best have not widely departed from this peculiar type —no doubt the true one. But it has either been set aside altogether or most grossly caricatured by later painters, and more particularly by the German and Spanish schools. I have seen heads of St. Francis, mere coarse versions of the burly sensual friars we meet begging in the streets of Italy or Spain; and re-minding us rather of Friar Tuck in Ivanhoe, or the dis-guised bandit in Gil Bias, than of the fervent ascetic —the tender-hearted and poetical enthusiast. But even where the true character of head is neglected or degraded, we distinguish St. Francis from all other saints wearing the same habit, 47 simu~. (Simo;; m™\~). ST. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. by the stigmata (or wounds of Christ) in his hands and feet;and he is often in the act of opening his tunic and displayingthe wound in his side: these are proper to him, and, togetherwith the crucifix and the skull, common to other saints, arethe almost unfailing attributes in the countless effigies whichexist of him. The lamb and the lily, as symbols of meeknessand purity, are also given to him. When St. Francis is grouped with other saints, or standsnear the throne of the Madonna or at the foot of the cross, hehas generally a crucifix in his hand, more seldom the lily, andin the early pictures he is often distinguished only by thehabit and physiognomy. When St. Francis and St. Dominickstand together, the crucifix is given to the former, the lily tothe latter. I have seen some devotional figures of St. Francis whichdeviate from the usual version; and shall mention one or two,which, though expre
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