From the De Montor collection.
(Bryan Collection.)
B-22. Adoration of the Infant Christ. (79½X5½.) Perugino. [Macrino d'Alba.]
The Virgin Mary, St. John the Baptist, St. Jerome, St. Joseph, St. Michael, and the Pope Julius II., are kneeling before the divine infant. Three small Angels, also kneeling, carry the nails and the Cross, emblems of the torture which the new-born should suffer. The Christ bears a striking resemblance to that of the little Jesus, so much admired, in a painting of the same artist, now placed in the Louvre, after having decorated the gallery of the King of Holland. St. Michael strikes the beholder by his noble air and his martial type. The head is evidently the portrait of Gaston de Foix, the model of the chivalry of the day. St. John is the lean prophet of the desert, the ascetic, and the eater of locusts and wild honey. At the top of the picture, three Angels play upon different instruments. In the background are seen the Capitol, the image of Roman power, and the vast ruins of the Coliseum. The head of Joseph, who stands behind St. John, must strike the considerate observer by its close resemblance to the type of Joseph which we find in the Holy Families of Raphael. In the Cherub who holds the Cross, we also find great similarity to the little Angel who occupies so prominent a position in the famous Madonna of Foglino, from the same divine pencil. From the collection Errard. Signed and dated 1509.
(Bryan Collection.)
B-23. St. John, Weeping. (20½X16½.) Leonardo da Vinci.
For the authenticity of this picture, we have the high authority of Mr. Woodburn.
(Bryan Collection.)
B-24. St. John. (13½X10½.) Oval. Leonardo da Vinci.
(Bryan Collection.)
B-25. The Birth and Resurrection of Christ. (11X19½.) Raphael.
In the centre of the upper compartment, Christ, draped in red, and bearing the emblematic banner of the Cross, rises from an open tomb. His hand is raised with an expression of command. On each side are two soldiers sleeping, and two starting away in fright. A slender tree also is seen upon each side of the tomb; in the distance is a large hill. In the lower compartment are eight figures, besides the infant Christ. Six kneel in a semicircle about the new-born Saviour, who lies in the middle of the foreground. Three of these, on the left, are shepherds. On the right are the Virgin mother and two Angels. Next to Mary sits Joseph; and on the extreme left, a fourth shepherd approaches. Two slender trees here also appear on each side of the composition. In the distance are heavily undulating hills.
