These subjects are rich in artistic suggestion, and nearly all have been represented in painting or sculpture. The book of the Revelation, too, abounds in visions of angels, from the beginning, when an angel from heaven “signified it” to John the Divine, to the end, when the angel refused to be worshipped, and declared himself the fellow servant of John, and of the prophets, and of all that keep the sayings of the book. [Illustration: FRA BARTOLOMMEO.--AN ANGEL PLAYING THE VIOLIN.] CHAPTER VII. PICTURES WHICH ILLUSTRATE BOTH SCRIPTURE AND LEGEND. In whatever light one may regard the sacred legends of the early Church, it is not possible to understand the representations of angels in Art without some knowledge of these ancient traditions. One who knows nothing of them, finds himself strangely puzzled and disconcerted, before the almost numberless legendary subjects which he sees in churches and galleries. For example, if one knows nothing of the legend of St. Catherine of Alexandria, how can he explain the picture of her mystic marriage to the Infant Jesus, which typifies her renunciation of all earthly things, and her complete dedication of herself to the service of Christ and his Church? St. Catherine is habitually represented with a wheel beside her. When the wheel is whole, it is a symbol of the torture with which she was threatened by the Emperor Maximin; when broken, it is a token of the miracle by which she was saved from a horrible death. During the many years that have passed since my first visit to the gallery of the Louvre, I have retained a vivid remembrance of my discontent before the beautiful picture of St. Margaret. The pleasure that I should have taken in the lovely face and exquisite figure of the saint, in the graceful drapery, and other details of this celebrated picture, was utterly lost through my ignorance. I did not know why she was standing on the frightful [Illustration: LORENZO DI CREDI.--AN ANGEL IN ADORATION.] dragon, with his horrible mouth wide open, and his terrible claw raised as if to clutch the beautiful maiden. As a consequence of this experience, I resolved to study the religious symbolism of the early Christian Church, as I had already studied that of the religion of the classic ages. How frequently now, as then, I meet those who perfectly understand the significance of the head of Medusa, or the lyre of Orpheus, who have no conception of the reason for the representation of a church in the hand of St. Jerome, or of the serpent in the chalice of St. John the Evangelist. There are numerous pictures, in which angels are introduced, that are founded on the Scripture story, but do not follow it strictly. Many subjects are so suggestive of the presence of angels, that there is a legitimate artistic license for introducing them into these scenes.