A far more tender subject is that which pictures Hagar in the wilderness alone, and repentant of her fault, for which Sarah had chastened her; it is at this moment that the angel appears and commands her return to Abraham. A fine example of this rare subject by Pietro da Cortona is in the Belvedere, at Vienna. Rubens also painted this scene. A picture that is even more pathetic represents Hagar and Ishmael in the wilderness of Beersheba. Ishmael is fainting from thirst, and Hagar flings herself to the ground with the prayer, “Let me not see the death of the child,” when an angel appears to comfort her, and guide her to a hidden spring. The pathos of this scene must appeal to every mother, and a picture of it by Rembrandt is so fine that one can but regret that it is not in a public collection. The visit of the three angels to Abraham is also a rare subject in Art. I have already referred to that painted by Raphael, in the Vatican. Murillo also represented it in a picture now in a private gallery in England. In neither of these pictures have the angels wings. The three beautiful figures by Raphael, however, are not like any men whom we have seen; they impress one as beings of another and a far higher sphere than ours. Murillo, on the contrary, shows us three ordinary travellers, and but for the title of the picture, we should not suspect that these men were celestial visitors. A large picture of this subject by Rembrandt is one of the treasures of the Hermitage. Jacob’s dream, with the ascending and descending angels, is an exquisite motive for illustration, and has been variously pictured. A single angel sometimes watches the sleeper, as if to inspire his dream and bring him a blessing; again, there are many angels, and again, but a small number, who move here and there, up and down, imparting a remarkable effect of airy, graceful motion. The ladder, too, is widely varied, being represented by one or several flights of steps, ascending to the clouds. In the sixth arcade of the Vatican loggie is Raphael’s third and best representation of this dream. Here Jacob’s face is turned towards the ladder, on which are six angels; Jehovah appears above with outstretched arms, and surrounded by a glory. It is not one of the best of Raphael’s works, and, indeed, all representations of Jacob’s dream that I have seen, are, to my mind, insufficient when compared with that of Rembrandt, in the Dulwich gallery. This is a poem as essentially as it is a picture. A stream of dazzling light forms the ladder, up and down which float mystic, radiant angels. The whole impression is so like a dream, so intangible, and yet so apparent, that one wonders how Rembrandt, who so often dwelt upon the all too solid elements of his motives, here caught the innermost spirit of this most spiritual subject. “The Comforting of Elijah” is a subject with rare possibilities, but has been seldom represented.