[Illustration: ANONYMOUS NORTH ITALIAN, XV CENTURY. ANGEL OF THE EIGHTH SPHERE. FROM THE TAROCCHI PRINTS (E Series) Size of the original engraving, 7⅛ × 4 inches In the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston] _The Gentleman_ is the fifth in order in the first group of the _Sorts and Conditions of Men_, and is from the so-called E series (claimed by Sir Sidney Colvin and Mr. Arthur M. Hind, of the British Museum, to be the earlier of the two sets). The sequence runs: (1) The Beggar, (2) The Servant, (3) The Artisan, (4) The Merchant, (5) The Gentleman, (6) The Knight, (7) The Doge, (8) The King, (9) The Emperor, (10) The Pope. _Clio_ is the ninth of the Muses and is from the S series (placed first in point of time, by Kristeller, and about ten years later than the E series, by the British Museum authorities). _The Sun_ naturally finds his place in the group of _Planets_ and _Spheres_. There is a delightful and childish touch in the way in which _Phæton_ is pictured as a little boy falling headlong into the river Po, which conveniently flows immediately beneath him. To this group belongs likewise the _Angel of the Eighth Sphere_, the Sphere of the Fixed Stars, one of the loveliest prints in the entire set, both in arrangement and in execution. Nothing could be in greater contrast to the gracefulness of such a print as the above than the _Battle of Naked Men_ by ANTONIO POLLAIUOLO, “the stupendous Florentine”--if one may borrow Dante’s title; but, for the moment, we will hold Pollaiuolo and his one engraving in reserve while we glance at the work of CHRISTOFANO ROBETTA, who, born in Florence in 1462, was consequently the junior of Pollaiuolo by thirty years. As an engraver, Robetta is inferior to the anonymous master to whom we owe the E series of the Tarocchi prints. His style is somewhat dry, and the individual lines are lacking in beauty; but his plates have that indefinable and indescribable fascination and charm which is the peculiar possession of Italian engraving and of the Florentine masters in particular. The shaping influences which determined his choice and treatment of subject are Botticelli, and, in a much larger measure, Filippino Lippi, though only in a few cases can he be shown to have worked directly from that painter’s designs. The _Adoration of the Magi_ is obviously inspired by Filippino Lippi’s painting in the Uffizi, though whether Robetta actually worked from the painting itself, or, as seems more probable, translated one of Filippino’s drawings, is an interesting question. The fact that the engraving is in reverse of the painting proves nothing; but there are so many points of difference between them--notably the introduction of the charming group of three angels above the Virgin and Child--that one can hardly think Robetta would have needlessly made so many and important modifications of the painting itself, if a drawing had been available. It is interesting, though of minor importance, that