Raphael and the celebrated Michael Angelo Buonarotti; the former is regarded as the prince of modern painters, and is often styled "the divine Raphael;" he was born at Urbino, in 1483. Michael Angelo was born at Florence, in 1564, and united the professions of painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and musician. Besides these there were many other illustrious Italian painters, the principal of whom were Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Correggio, the three Caracci, Guido, Parmegiano, Salvator Rosa, &c. Was not Raphael also reckoned as excellent an architect as he was a painter? He was not only esteemed the best painter in the world, but also the best architect; he was at least so admired for skill and taste in architecture, that Leo the Tenth charged him with the building of St. Peter's Church at Rome. Who was Leo the Tenth? A great Pope, who was an ardent lover and patron of learning and the arts. He was born at Florence, in 1475, and died in 1521. Give me a list of some of the most celebrated painters besides those already mentioned. The great painters of the _German_ school were Albert Durer, Holbein, Kneller and Mengs, with several others. Of the _Dutch_ school, were Rembrandt, Gerard Dow, Mieris, Ostade, Polemberg, Berghem, and Wouvermans. Of the _Flemish_, Rubens, Teniers, Jordaens, and Vandyck. The admired painters of the _French_ school, were Claude, Poussin, Le Brun, and many others. The _Spaniards_ also have had their Murillo, Velasquez, &c. The _English_, Hogarth, Wright, Reynolds, Wilson, Northcote, Gainsborough, Morland, Barry, and others. The _Americans_, Washington Allston, Benjamin West, Gilbert Stuart, John Singleton Copley, John Trumbull, G. Stuart Newton, Thomas Cole, Henry Inman, and a number of others; besides many now living, or but recently deceased. Upon what materials did the ancients paint their works? Principally upon wood; the boards or tables were prepared with a thin ground of chalk and size of some kind. Linen cloth or canvas was also employed, but there is no evidence of its use before the reign of Nero. Parchment, ivory and plaster were the other materials. _Evidence_, testimony, record. Who was Nero? One of the Roman Emperors, a monster of cruelty, extravagance, and debauchery; he raised a dreadful persecution against the Christians, in which St. Paul was beheaded, and St. Peter crucified. At last, being deserted by his army and the senate, he destroyed himself, after a reign of fourteen years. _Debauchery_, wickedness. What is Poetry? The glowing language of impassioned feeling, generally found in measured lines, and often in rhyme. Most ancient people had their poets. _Glowing_, warm, energetic. _Impassioned_, full of passion, animated. _Rhyme_, the correspondence of the last sound of one verse to the last sound or syllable of another. Name a few of the ancient poets.