The shadow of the Cross—no longer cast into the future, but abiding on the mourners after the death of Christ—is figured by a device of singular beauty in Rossetti’s sketch of “Mary in the House of John.” In a small drawing of “The Crucifixion” he had depicted St. John leading the Madonna from the foot of Calvary. Now he shows us the new home, so strangely ignored by painters of the sacred tale, wherein the Mother and the adopted son are together at eventide. Through the window is seen a distant view of Jerusalem, and in the uncertain light the window-bars assume the form of a cross, which thus appears to rest upon the Holy City, and to stand between that quiet household and the outer world. St. John has been writing a portion of his Gospel, and pauses to strike a light, with which the Mother of Jesus kindles a lamp, hanging at the intersection of the bars; so that the light shines from the centre-point of the Cross, where the Head of Christ should be. This delicate emblem gives the touch of hope, the promise of glory through sacrifice, which lightens the darkness of the hour. So fine a use of simple imagery, so perfect an adjustment of the hope to the penalty, admirably illustrates the highest triumph of Pre-Raphaelite art,—the reconciliation of the “crucifixion principle,” the essentially Catholic element in religion, with the “resurrection principle,” peculiar to Protestantism. Mr. Forsyth, whose essays on the Pre-Raphaelites have already been quoted, makes the suggestive remark, that “In Hunt’s technique shadow always means colour as well as darkness: to see colour in shadow is the last triumph of a great painter,” and adds that “Rossetti’s colour is not merely luminous matter; it is transfigured matter.” This conception of the dual truth of Christianity—the necessity of suffering and the assurance of victory—is consistently presented both by Rossetti and Hunt; and it is not merely victory _over_ suffering, as Protestantism insists on, which they teach; but rather victory _through_ suffering; which is the fusion of Catholic ethics with Protestant faith.