when this was noised abroad the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. But this is that which was spoken by

the prophet Joel." (Acts ii. 1-6, 16.)

According to the usual interpretation, the word they, in the first verse, does not signify the Apostles merely, but, with them, "the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brethren : hence in so many representations of this subject the Virgin is not only present, but a principal person; Mary Magdalene and others are also frequently introduced.

1. The most striking example I have yet met with is the grand mosaic in the principal dome of St. Mark's at Venice. In the apex of the dome is seen the Celestial Dove in a glory of light; rays proceed from the centre on every side, and fall on the heads of the Virgin and the Twelve Apostles, seated in a circle. Lower down is a series of twelve figures standing all round the dome; "Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, the dwellers in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Cretes, and Arabians," each nation represented by one person, and all in strange dresses, and looking up with

amazement.

2. The Twelve Apostles and the Virgin are seen above seated in an inclosure; tongues of fire descend from heaven; beneath is a closed door, at which several persons in strange foreign dresses, with turbans, etc., are listening with amazement. One of these is in the Chinese costume, - a curious circumstance, considering the age of the picture, and which could have occurred at that date nowhere but at Venice. (Venice Acad., fourteenth century.)

3. In the interior of a temple, sustained by slender pillars, the Twelve Apostles are seated in a circle, and in the midst the Virgin, tongues of fire on each head. Here the Virgin is the principal person. [Attributed by Rosini to Troso da Monza.]

4. An interior, the Twelve Apostles seated in a circle; above them, the Celestial Dove in a glory, and from his beak proceed twelve tongues of flame: underneath, in a small arch, is the prophet Joel, as an old man crowned with a kingly crown and holding twelve rolls or scrolls, indicating the Gospel in so many different languages. The allusion is to the words of Joel ii. 28: "And I will pour out my Spirit upon

all flesh." (Convent of Chilandari, Mount Athos.) This is the Greek formula, and it is curious that it should have been closely followed by Pinturicchio; thus:

5. In a rich landscape, with cypresses, palm-trees, and birds, the Virgin is seen kneeling; St. Peter on the right, and James Minor on the left, also kneeling; five other Apostles on each side. The Celestial Dove, with outspread wings, descends in a glory surrounded by fifteen cherubim: there are no tongues of fire. The prophet Joel is seen above, with the inscription, "Effundam de Spiritu meo super omnem carnem. [Joel ii. 28.] (Vatican, Sala del Pozzo.)

6. The Virgin and the Apostles seated; flames of fire stand on their heads; the Holy Ghost appears above in a glory of light, from which rays are poured on every side. Mary Magdalene and another Mary are present behind; astonishment is the prevailing expression in every face, except in the Virgin and St. Peter. The composition is attributed to Raphael. [One of the tapestries of the Vatican in the series of the Life of Christ called the "Arazzi della Scuola nuova."]

The next event of importance is the separation of the Twelve Apostles when they disperse to preach the Gospel in all lands. According to the ancient traditions, the Apostles determined by lot to what countries they should go: Peter went to Antioch; James the Great remained in Jerusalem and the neighborhood; Philip went to Phrygia; John to Ephesus; Thomas to Parthia and Judea; Andrew to Scythia; Bartholomew to India and Judea. The Parting of the Apostles is a beautiful subject, of which I have met with but few examples; one is a woodcut after Titian. The Mission of the Apostles I remember to have seen by Bissoni over an altar in the Santa Giustina at Padua; they are preparing to depart; one reads from a book; another looses his shoes from his feet, in allusion to the text, "Take neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes; " several are bidding adieu to the Virgin. This picture struck me as dramatic; its merits otherwise I do not remember.

We have next "The Twelve Baptisms." (Greek MS., ninth century. Paris, Bibl. du Roi.) In the upper compartment Christ is standing in a majestic attitude, and on each side are six Apostles, all alike, and in white garments. The inscrip

tion above is in Greek: "Go ye, and preach the Gospel to all nations." Below in twelve smaller compartments, each of the Apostles is seen baptising a convert: an attendant, in white garments, stands by each font, holding a napkin. One of the converts and his attendant are black, denoting clearly the chamberlain of the Queen of Ethiopia. This is a very uncommon subject.

And, lastly, we have "The Twelve Martyrdoms." This is a more frequent series, in pictures and in prints, and occurs in a set of large fresco compositions in the church of San Nereo e Sant' Achilleo at Rome. In such representations the usual treatment is as follows: 1. St. Peter is crucified with his head downwards. 2. St. Andrew, bound on a transverse cross. 3. St. James Major, beheaded with a sword. 4. St. John, in a caldron of boiling oil. 5. St. Philip, bound on a cross in the form of a T. 6. St. Bartholomew, flayed. 7. St. Thomas, pierced with a spear. 8. St. Matthew, killed with a sword. 9. St. James Minor, struck down with a club. 10. St. Simon and St. Jude together; one is killed with a sword, the other with a club. 11. St. Matthias has his head cloven by a halberd. 12. St. Paul is beheaded. (A set of martyrdoms is in the Frankfort Museum; another is mentioned in Bartsch [Le Peintre Graveur], vol. viii. p. 22.)

In early Greek Art

The authority for many of these martyrdoms is wholly apocryphal,1 and they sometimes vary; but this is the usual mode of representation in Western Art. a series of the Deaths of the Apostles often occurs, but they do not all suffer martyrdom; and the subject of St. John in the caldron of boiling oil, so famous in the Latin Church, is, I believe, unknown, or, at least, so rare, that I have not found it in genuine Byzantine Art.

The most ancient series I have met with (in a Greek MS. of the ninth century) shows us five Apostles crucified: St. Peter and St. Philip with the head downwards; St. Andrew on the transverse cross, as usual; St. Simon and St. Bartholomew, in the same manner as our Saviour. St. Thomas is pierced by a lance; and St. John is buried, and then raised

1 Eusebius says that all the Apostles suffered martyrdom; but this is not borne out by any ancient testimony. Lardner's Credibility of Gospel History, vol. viii. p. 81.

by angels, according to the legend. The same series, similarly treated, ornamented the doors of the old Basilica of St. Paul, executed by Greek artists of the tenth century. They were fortunately engraved for D'Agincourt's "Histoire de l'Art," before they were destroyed by fire.

Wherever the Apostles appear as a series, we expect, of course, some degree of discriminating propriety of character in each face and figure. We seek it when they merely form a part of the general scheme of significant decoration in the architectural arrangement of a place of worship; we seek it with more reason when they stand before us a series of devotional representations; and still more when, as actors in some particular scene, they are supposed to be animated by sentiments called forth by the occasion, and modified by the individual character. By what test shall we try the truth and propriety of such representations? We ought to know both what to require from the artist, and on what grounds to require it, before we can rest satisfied.

In the Gospel histories the Apostles are consistently and beautifully distinguished in temper and bearing. Their characters, whether exhibited at full length, or merely touched upon, are sustained with dramatic truth. The medieval legends, however wild, are, as far as character goes, in harmony with these scriptural portraits, and fill up the outline given. It becomes therefore a really interesting speculation to observe, how far this variety of characteristic expression has been carried out in the early types, how far attended to, or neglected, by the great painters, since the revival of Art.

ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL

Lat. SS. Petrus et Paulus. Ital. San Pietro or Piero, San Paolo. Fr. S. Pierre, S. Paul. Spa. San Pedro, San Pablo. (June 29 and 30.)

I have already observed, that, as apostles and preachers of the Word, St. Peter and St. Paul take the first place. Even during their lives, a superiority was accorded to them; and this superiority, as the acknowledged heads and founders of the Christian Church, under Christ, has been allowed down to the present time. The precedence is by common consent given St. Peter; but they are held to be equal in faith, in merit, and in sanctity.

The early Christian Church was always considered under two great divisions; the church of the converted Jews, and the church of the Gentiles. The first was represented by St. Peter, the second by St. Paul. Standing together in this mutual relation, they represent the universal Church of Christ; hence in works of Art they are seldom separated, and are indispensable in all ecclesiastical decoration. Their proper

place is on each side of the Saviour, or of the Virgin throned; or on each side of the altar; or on each side of the arch over the choir. In any case, where they stand together, not merely as Apostles, but Founders, their place is next after the Evangelists and the Prophets.

Thus seen almost everywhere in companionship, it becomes necessary to distinguish them from each other; for St. Peter does not always bear his keys, nor St. Paul his sword. In the earliest examples, these attributes are wholly omitted; yet I scarcely know any instance in which a distinct type of head has not been more or less attended to.

The ancient Greek type of the head of St. Peter," the Pilot of the Galilean Lake," is so strongly characterized as to have the air of a portrait. It is either taken from the description of Nicephorus, so often. quoted, or his description is taken from some very ancient representation it certainly harmonizes with all our preconceived notions of St. Peter's tem

perament and character. He is a robust old man, with a broad forehead, and rather coarse features, an open undaunted countenance, short gray hair, and short thick beard, curled, and of a silvery white: according to the descriptive portrait of Nicephorus, he had red weak eyes, a peculiarity which it has not been thought necessary to preserve in his effigies. In some early pictures he is bald on the top of the head, and the hair grows thick around in a circle, somewhat like the priestly tonsure; and in some