Of the skilful grouping of the central subject, commonly called the Wise Men’s Offering, of the beautiful and true action of each person, the rich dresses of the attendants, the drawing of the figures, and also that of the horses and camels, it is not my province to speak any more than of the exquisitely finished execution. Yet all these assist the history powerfully, and we might have been satisfied that all was told. But the painter did not rest here. On a broad road, winding along a rocky valley, the kings are once more seen, after having paid their homage to the Christ, going to their own land by a different way. Some of their attendants have already reached the shores of the distant bay, and are preparing the ships to receive their masters. Meantime, the effects of Herod’s disappointment are discoverable. On the other side of the town of Bethlehem, towards the bridge, the murder of the innocents takes place; it is distant enough to veil its horrors, near enough to distinguish the facts. But we are assured that the child, and his mother, and Joseph, are safe; for we see them on the road to Egypt, on the same side of the picture whence the southern king arrived. As they pass, an idol, placed upon a column, bows and falls, While each peculiar power foregoes his wonted seat. And thus the history of the Adoration of the Three Kings, or Wise Men, with its immediate consequences, is completed. Of the two episodes, the smaller preparatory one to the left contains three scenes, divided from each other by portions of woody landscape. The most distant is the Annunciation; the middle is the Angel appearing to the Shepherds; and the nearest, the Adoration of the Shepherds. All composed and finished, as carefully as the scenes of the main action, but by skilful management never interfering with it. The greater or supplementary episode begins near the foreground, in a recess of the hills through which the road leads, by which the kings depart from Bethlehem. Christ is risen, and appears with the banner of salvation, freed from the garments of the dead! Farther off he appears to Mary Magdalene in the garden, and then to his mother; and farther still he walks with the disciples towards Emmaus, where he breaks bread and blesses it. Hard by, on the mount of the Ascension, the disciples are kneeling, while the form of Christ is faintly seen through the glory that mingles with the sky. But the purpose of his being on earth would not be shown, were not the descent of the Holy Spirit seen on the right hand. The event in itself has produced a beautiful picture, and taken, as it should be, along with the great whole to which it belongs, completes and perfects the history.