Effort, in Gérôme's case, meant literally a valiant and noble persistence. He was ceaselessly in search of something new. In spite of assured fame, he never repainted the same subject. During the later years of his life, his ambition was to be at the same time an illustrious painter and a sculptor of recognized merit; and in this he succeeded. His attempt to revive, after a fashion of his own, the precious lost art of antique sculpture, although greeted with a wide divergence of opinions, remains a noteworthy achievement. On the eve of his eightieth year and abrupt decease, Gérôme still laboured with the ardour and the splendid faith of youth. He sets an encouraging example, as fine and as stimulating as the best of his splendid pictures. THE LIFE OF GÉRÔME Jean-Léon Gérôme was born at Vesoul on May 11, 1824. Throughout his life he retained a slight trace of the Franche-Compté accent, which gave a keener relish to his witty anecdotes and piquant retorts. He belonged to a family holding an honoured place among the bourgeoisie. His excellent biographer, M. Moreau-Vauthier, relates that his grandfather was on the point of taking orders when the Revolution broke out. His father was a watchmaker and goldsmith at Vesoul. As a child, he himself was in delicate health. Nevertheless, he proved himself a good student at the college in the city of his birth. While there he studied both Greek and Latin. His instructor in drawing, Cariage, having noticed his early efforts, gave him much good advice and encouragement. At the age of fourteen, he copied a picture by Decamps, which had found its way to Vesoul from Paris. The story goes that his father forthwith favoured the idea that he should take up the vocation of an artist. There is no use in exaggerating. As a matter of fact, his family dreaded the hardships of so hazardous a career. But, upon receiving his bachelor's degree at the age of sixteen, a degree which at that epoch was by no means common, he obtained permission to go to the capital and pursue his studies under the auspices of Paul Delaroche, to whom he was provided with a letter of introduction. It is pleasant to picture the young man setting forth alone by _diligence_ and applying himself bravely to the task of acquiring talent and renown. He was most faithful in his attendance at the studio of Delaroche, who, being the son-in-law of Horace Vernet, possessed at that time not only a wide reputation as professor, but also an enormous influence both at the École des Beaux-Arts and at the court of Louis-Philippe. Delaroche, who has aptly been called the Casimir Delavigne of painting, a romanticist who stopped short of being a revolutionary, parted company with the cold traditionalists of the older school in the profound importance that he attached to accuracy and to the truth and interest of movement.