In the Chapel of San Lorenzo, in the Vatican, Angelico has painted eight Doctors of the Church, single majestic figures standing under Gothic canopies. According to the names _now_ to be seen inscribed on the pedestals beneath, these figures represent St. Jerome,[250] St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Gregory, St. Athanasius, St. Leo, St. John Chrysostom, and St. Thomas Aquinas. St. John Chrysostom and St. Athanasius represent the Greek doctors. St. Leo, who saved Rome from Attila, is with peculiar propriety placed in the Vatican; and St. Thomas Aquinas, the angelic doctor, naturally finds a place in a chapel painted by a Dominican for a pope who particularly favoured the Dominicans,—Nicholas V. * * * * * The Four Fathers communing on the mystery of the Trinity, or the Immaculate Conception, were favourite subjects in the beginning of the seventeenth century, when church pictures, instead of being religious and devotional, became more and more theological. There is an admirable picture of this subject by Dosso Dossi.[251] Above is seen the Messiah, as Creator, in a glory; he lays his hand on the head of the Virgin, who kneels in deep humility before him; St. Gregory sits in profound thought, a pen in one hand, a tablet in the other; St. Ambrose and St. Augustine are similarly engaged; St. Jerome, to whom alone the celestial vision appears to be visible, is looking up with awe and wonder. Guido, in a celebrated picture,[252] has represented the Doctors of the Church communing on the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin. The figures are admirable for thoughtful depth of character in the expression, and for the noble arrangement of the draperies; above is seen the Virgin, floating amid clouds, in snow-white drapery, and sustained by angels; visible, however, to St. Jerome and St. Ambrose only. * * * * * Rubens has treated the Fathers several times: the colossal picture in the Grosvenor Gallery is well known, where they appear before us as moving along in a grand procession: St. Jerome comes last; (he should be first; but on these points Rubens was not particular:) he seems in deep contemplation, enveloped in the rich scarlet robes of a cardinal of the seventeenth century, and turning the leaves of his great book. In another picture we have the Four Fathers seated, discussing the mystery of the Eucharist; St. Jerome points to a passage in the Scriptures; St. Gregory is turning the page; they appear to be engaged in argument; the other two are listening earnestly. There is another picture by Rubens in which the usual attributes of the Fathers are borne aloft by angels, while they sit communing below. * * * * *