“The wave Of love which set so deep and strong By Christ’s yet open grave.” [_Matthew Arnold._] Unlike Mantegna and Gian Bellini, Francia has not attempted to give any impression of the physical agony which has passed over the corpse, but has concentrated all his force in the endeavour to give the deep repose and peace of death without sacrificing anything of majesty of form. There are other points in the drawing which might be criticised, and a degree of stiffness in the position of the right arm has been often observed, but no minor defects can prevent Francia’s Pietà from being, in refinement of conception and tenderness of feeling, the highest ideal representation of the subject in the whole range of art. The other portion of this altar-piece, a Virgin enthroned with the Child, St. Anna at her side between two arches, and the Saints Sebastian, Paul, Lawrence and Romualdo below, hangs next to Perugino’s Certosa altar-piece in the National Gallery. An excellent opportunity is thus afforded of comparing the styles of the two painters, and Francia’s work does not show to disadvantage even by the side of Perugino’s masterpiece. In depth and richness of colour he is at least his equal, and although his types are less ideal they are fresher and more natural, and there is less affectation in the attitude of his figures. For the same church of San Frediano at Lucca, Francia painted another large altar-piece the “Coronation of the Virgin,” which is still to be seen there. Here again he gives the subject a mystical character and introduces the patriarchal ancestors of Mary and the chief advocates of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception among the figures who stand below in devout contemplation. Each bears a scroll in his hand: David points to a verse of Psalm xxvii, “_In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me_;” Solomon, a noble, kingly profile, gazes earnestly upwards, showing us a text from his song, “_Thou art all fair, my love_;” while Anselm and Augustine bear scrolls on which we read passages from their own writings relating to the Virgin, and Antony of Padua kneels at the empty tomb where lilies and roses have blossomed. This altar-piece, although less known than Francia’s other masterpieces, yields to none of his works in grandeur and finish. The kneeling Madonna who, robed in purple and gold, receives her crown from the hands of the Eternal, retains the same expression of sweet humility touched with sadness which marks all his Virgins, and the scenes from the History of the Augustinian order on the predella are painted with exquisite taste and delicacy. Another large Coronation, commonly called the altar-piece of All the Saints from the multitude of figures grouped below, is still in the Duomo of Ferrara; while Cesena retains the “Presentation” mentioned by Vasari, although the beauty of colouring to which he alludes has lost much of its freshness.