If, as late as the sixteenth century, we find the Evangelists still expressed by the mystic emblems (as in the fine bronzes in the choir of Sant’ Antonio at Padua), as early as the sixth we have in the Greek MSS. and mosaics the Evangelists as venerable men, and promulgators of a revelation; as in San Vitale at Ravenna (A.D. 547): on each side of the choir, nearest the altar, we find the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah; then follow the Evangelists, two on each side, all alike, all classically draped in white tunics, each holding an open book, on which is inscribed ‘Secundum Marcum,’ ‘Secundum Johannem,’ &c.; and above each the animal symbol or attribute, large, full length, and grandly designed. In modern ecclesiastical decoration, the usual and appropriate situation of the Four Evangelists is immediately under the dome, nearest to the Saviour after the angels, or after the prophets, where either are introduced. I will mention here a few examples celebrated in the history of Art; premising that among the works of Leonardo, of Michael Angelo, and Raphael, we find no representations of the Four Evangelists; which is singular, considering that such figures entered necessarily into every scheme of theological decorative art. By Cimabue (A.D. 1270), larger than life, on the vault of the choir in San Francesco d’Assisi. By Giotto (A.D. 1320), in the choir of Sant’ Apollinare, at Ravenna; seated, and each accompanied by one of the doctors of the Church. By Angelico (A.D. 1390), round the dome of the chapel of San Niccolò, in the Vatican; all seated, each with his emblem. By Masaccio (A.D. 1420), round the dome of the chapel of the Passion in San Clemente, at Rome; admirable for simple grandeur. By Perugino (A.D. 1490), on the dome of the chapel del Cambio, at Perugia; the heads admirable. By Correggio (A.D. 1520), immediately under the cupola of San Giovanni, in four lunettes, magnificent figures: and again in the Cathedral of Parma, each seated in glory, with one of the doctors of the Church. By Domenichino, two sets (A.D. 1620). Those in the church of St. Andrea della Valle, at Rome, are considered his finest works, and celebrated in the history of Art: they are grand figures. The emblematical animals are here combined with the personages in a manner the most studied and picturesque; and the angels which sport around them, playing with the mane of St. Mark’s lion, or the pallet and pencils of St. Luke, are like beautiful ‘Amoretti,’—but we hardly think of angels. The series at Grotta-Ferrata is inferior. The Four Evangelists by Valentin (A.D. 1632), in the Louvre, had once great celebrity, and have been often engraved; they appear to me signal examples of all that should be avoided in character and sentiment. St. Matthew, for example, is an old beggar; the model for the attendant angel is a little French _gamin_, ‘à qui Valentin a commandé de sortir un bras de la manche de sa chemise, que de l’autre main il soutient gauchement.’