Then we have a scene of wonder. Michael is extended on his bed in profound sleep. An angel at his head, and another at his feet, are about to lift him up; for, says the story, Michael was so jealous of his treasure, that not only he kindled a lamp every night in its honour, but, fearing he should be robbed of it, he placed it under his bed, which action, though suggested by his profound sense of its value, offended his guardian angels, who every night lifted him from his bed and placed him on the bare earth, which nightly infliction this pious man endured rather than risk the loss of his invaluable relic. But after some years Michael fell sick and died. In the last compartment we have the scene of his death. The bishop Uberto kneels at his side, and receives from him the sacred girdle, with a solemn injunction to preserve it in the cathedral church of the city, and to present it from time to time for the veneration of the people, which injunction Uberto most piously fulfilled; and we see him carrying it, attended by priests bearing torches, in solemn procession to the chapel, in which it has ever since remained. Agnolo Gaddi was but a second-rate artist, even for his time, yet these frescoes, in spite of the feebleness and general inaccuracy of the drawing, are attractive from a certain _naïve_ grace; and the romantic and curious details of the legend have lent them so much of interest, that, as Lord Lindsay says, "when standing on the spot one really feels indisposed for criticism."[1] [Footnote 1: M. Rio is more poetical. "Comme j'entendais raconter cette légende pour la première fois, il me semblait que le tableau réfléchissait une partie de la poésie qu'elle renferme. Cet amour d'outre mer mêlé aux aventures chevaleresques d'une croisade, cette relique précieuse donnée pour dot à une pauvre fille, la dévotion des deux époux pour ce gage révéré de leur bonheur, leur départ clandestin, leur navigation prospère avec des dauphins qui leur font cortège à la surface des eaux, leur arrivée à Prato et les miracles répétés qui, joints à une maladie mortelle, arracèhrent enfin de la bouche du moribond une déclaration publique à la suite de laquelle la ceinture sacrée fut déposée dans la cathédrale, tout ce mélange de passion romanesque et de piété naïve, avait effacé pour moi les imperfections techniques qui au raient pu frapper une observateur de sang-froid."]