City. All trace of his writings has been lost, but Vasar informs us that his notices of painters were of no slight use in the composition of his own great work. The bold scheme of laying open to the light the buried relics of former splendour, and preserving what remained from further spoliation and decay, was conceived in a spirit worthy of his genius, and commenced with an ardour, skill and method, which, save in a few brief instances, have never been witnessed since. A letter* addressed to Leo X., which has been fortunately preserved, deplores the wilful injury to the noblest specimens of ancient architecture which had been too often sanctioned by preceding popes, and proves the possibility, from the ruins then existing and the descriptions of older authors, of still restoring many both in plan and elevation. Of the numerous designs and drawings he had prepared, none, unfortunately, are known to exist, and two only are preserved in engravings. The same fate, with but few exceptions, has attended the sketches of ancient monuments, which, Vasari informs us, he sent artists into every part of Italy, and even into Greece, to collect. Of his own studies from the antique, M. Passavant recognises two in the collections of the Duke of Devonshire and Sir Thomas Lawrence; several were engraved by Marc Antonio and others.

The ardour with which he devoted himself to this vast and noble project, which three successive centuries of popes, emperors and antiquaries have still left incomplete, was probably too much for his strength; his delicate frame, overwrought and exhausted by his unsparing spirit, sank almost without resistance before the first slight shock that awaited it. Though we possess no account worth reliance of the immediate cause of his death, we have in contemporary evidence the strongest testimony to its effects. Cut down in the flower of his age, and like that favoured tree of his own most favoured land, while laden with golden fruit, bearing in still unopened blossoms the promise of a yet brighter future, he was mourned widely as he was admired, deeply and truly as he had been loved. Young as he was in years and modest in his bearing, there is a feeling of reverence blended in the fond regret with

From the pen, it is supposed, of Raffaelle's accomplished friend the Count Castiglione.

which even strangers dwell upon his memory, recount his virtues, and seek to read their impress and reflection in his works *.

Raffaelle himself had chosen for his burial-place the noblest temple designed by classic taste that has ever yet been consecrated to Christian worship. By his own desire an altar was erected in the niche before his tomb, and a statue of the Virgin, by Lorenzo Lotti, placed above it. His epitaph, from the classic pen of Pietro Bembo, is worthy no less the scholar than the friendt.

M. Passavant's last chapter on Raffaelle and his scholars is perhaps, to the general reader, the most interesting in his work, though it contains but little that is very new in fact or profound in criticism.

The rest of this volume is occupied by a very long appendix, containing various letters, documents, and extracts relating to Raffaelle, his father and family; notices of the painters of the Umbrian school, and the painters, sculptors and architects of the fifteenth century in Urbino; the letters and sonnets of Raffaelle; the sketch of his life by Paolo Giovio; and a catalogue of the prints of Marc Antonio, Agostino Veneziano, and Marco da Ravenna, arranged according to the masters from whose drawings they were engraved.

In speaking of the second volume as entirely composed of catalogue, we had no intention to disparage its merit; we think it, on the contrary, the most valuable portion of the work, and most creditable monument of the zeal, industry and resources of the author.

The first and most important section is devoted to a detailed account of the undoubted paintings of Raffaelle in oil and fresco, arranged as far as possible in chronological order, with their size, subject, past history and present condition, and a list of the studies for each, as far as they are known to exist; followed by a notice of the ancient copies, and the several

*The account of his last illness, adopted by Vasari from Fornari, appears no less unfounded, and even more absurd, than the cardinal's hat with which it is connected.

It was but a short time before that the remains of his affianced bride, Maria da Bibiena (the niece of the cardinal), had been interred in a vault near this spot. Her epitaph, once opposite to his, was removed to make way for that of Annibale Caracci. B. Peruzzi, Giovanni da Udine, and Perino del Vaga, have all chosen their last resting-place near his.

prints and lithographs which have appeared down to the present time. This extends over nearly 400 pages, and, including the tapestries, comprehends 251 paintings; of these little more than a hundred (109) are in oil, distributed nearly, as follows in Florence 18, England 14, Rome 13, Paris 13, Spain 8, Munich 8, Berlin 5, Milan 4, Naples 3, Petersburgh 3, Vienna, Copenhagen, Dresden, Bologna, Brescia and Perugia, each 1; of thirteen we grieve to say all tidings have been lost.

Under the form of a supplement to this list, M. Passavant has collected similar notices of such paintings as are commonly ascribed to Raffaelle, but appear to him to be wholly or in part the work of his scholars or copyists. These, thirty-five in all, are arranged according to their subjects, and shorter notices are added of many others whose claims are yet more doubtful, or still await the decision of judges better qualified than any that have yet examined them.

The next list, a very short one, includes all the little that is now known of Raffaelle's attempts in sculpture. The statues of the prophets Jonas and Elias, and the Dead Boy borne by the Dolphin, are the only works in marble supposed to have been executed from his designs, and how far even these bear the marks of his own chisel is still a matter of doubt.

In the following list M. Passavant has collected all the particulars known or conjectured of the various architectural works with which Raffaelle was in any way concerned. The latter division unfortunately is much the larger of the two. Neither the model he made for St. Peter's nor any of the drawings have been preserved; the only record we possess is the ground plan given by Serlio (cart. 65), and copied with Bramante's name by Bonanni. From this he appears to have rejected the towers with which Bramante had flanked the entrance, and exchanged his Greek cross for a Latin one. The portico raised on steps is supported by thirty-six columns, twelve in width and three in depth, the two external and central rows disposed in pairs. According to M. Passavant

"It is a beautiful plan, simple in its disposition, grand in its effect. The cupola, it is true, would still have been thrown to a considerable distance behind the façade; but as the portico would have been lower, the general effect would have been much less impaired than in the present building. On the whole, judging from this plan and the general character of Ra

phael's style, we may be well assured that his design, had it been carried into execution, would have possessed far more richness, and yet, on the whole, more repose, would have been more beautiful in its details, and more nearly allied to the antique than the present larger and heavier structure, which in its individual parts is remarkable for anything rather than the purity of its style."

M. Passavant is quite justified in boasting that his list of original drawings, imperfect as it still must be, has far better pretensions to completeness than any that has yet appeared. It has, we may add, a much better title to our confidence, as with but few exceptions it contains only such as have been examined and accredited by his own well-practised eye. No less than 576 are here arranged according to the countries and collections which have had the good taste or good fortune to acquire them. Of these 171 are in Italy, principally in the collections of Venice (102) and Florence (43); 112 in Germany (exclusive of the Esterhazy collection), principally in the cabinet of the Archduke Charles at Vienna (75); 189 were in England, 12 only in the British Museum, 20 in the Royal collection. The Lawrence collection, once the largest in the world, contained no less than 132, many of high merit; a part, we grieve to hear, have been allowed to leave the country.

The next division contains short notices of all the various portraits, genuine or spurious, of Raffaelle, and the engravings executed after them. Then follows a catalogue of the older engravings from drawings by Raffaelle, not previously enumerated under the paintings. The volume closes with a complete list of all the works of Raffaelle arranged according to their subjects, so as to form a full and convenient index to the work.

The accompanying plates are of folio size, sketched by a light and faithful hand; but the subjects, chosen rather for their novelty than beauty, will possess more interest for the historian of art than the mere amateur; to his gratitude we leave them, and conclude this imperfect notice in our author's parting words:

"Thus Raphael Santi of Urbino will remain to all time a solitary wonder in the history of mankind; and his works, as long as the faintest vestige remains upon the earth, will continue, like a ray of light from heaven on

the troubled sea of life, to raise all noble souls to a higher, purer gladness. May, therefore, the memory of his lovely genius, whose happy lot it was to live and labour in one of the lands most blessed upon this earth, long maintain its vivifying influence; may it guide the forming arts on the other side the Alps in the new career they have commenced, and lead them ever nearer to the goal he has attained,-to glorify Nature in the works of Art!"

END OF NUMBER XXV.