In the illustrations to the _Divina Commedia_, of 1481, there is little left of the beauty which the original designs must have possessed. They are, indeed, “disguised into puerility by the feebleness of the engraver”; but, none the less, they remain, with the exception of Botticelli’s superb series of drawings on vellum, in Berlin and in the Vatican, unquestionably the best, one might say the _only_, satisfactory illustrations of Dante’s text. No known copy contains more than the first three engravings printed directly upon the page itself. In every other case, where a greater number of illustrations appear, they are printed separately and pasted in place, indicating the difficulty experienced by the Renaissance printer in making his plates register with the letterpress. The first print of the series shows Dante lost in the wood, emerging therefrom, and his meeting with Virgil--three subjects on a single plate. The second represents _Dante and Virgil with the Vision_ _of Beatrice_. Dante and Virgil are seen twice--first to the left, where Dante doubts whether to follow the guidance of Virgil further, and again on the slope of the hill to the right, where Virgil relates how the vision of Beatrice appeared to him. Near the summit of the rocky mountain is seen the entrance to Hell. “Of the extant engravings in the Broad Manner, unquestionably the most remarkable is the large print on two sheets of the _Assumption of the Virgin_, after Botticelli. The original design [no longer known to exist], whether drawing or painting, from which this engraving was taken, must have been among the grandest and most vigorous works of the last period of Botticelli’s art. The large and rugged treatment of the figures of the apostles, their strange mane-like hair and beards, their fervent and agitated gestures and attitudes, lend to this part of the design a forcible and primitive character, which recalls, though largely, perhaps, in an accidental fashion, the grand and impressive art of Andrea del Castagno. Not less vigorous in conception, but of greater beauty of form and movement, is the figure of the Virgin, and the motive and arrangement of the angels who form a ‘mandorla’ around her are among the most lovely and imaginative of the many inventions of the kind which Botticelli has left us.”[4] In the distant valley is a view of Rome showing the Pantheon, the Column of Trajan, the Colosseum, and other buildings. [4] Sandro Botticelli. By Herbert P. Horne. London: George Bell & Sons. 1908. p. 289. [Illustration: ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN (After Botticelli) Size of the original engraving, 32⅝ × 22¼ inches In the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston] [Illustration: ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. TRIUMPH OF LOVE. FROM THE TRIUMPHS OF PETRARCH. Size of the original engraving, 10⅜ × 6¾ inches In the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]