hers were the first: of all the hopes which the Resurrection has since diffused through nations and generations of men, hers were the first. To her sorrowful image how many have looked up through tears, and blessed the pardoning grace of which she was the symbol—or rather the impersonation! Of the female saints, some were the chosen patrons of certain virtues—others of certain vocations; but the accepted and glorified penitent threw her mantle over all, and more especially over those of her own sex, who, having gone astray, were recalled from error and from shame, and laid down their wrongs, their sorrows, and their sins in trembling humility at the feet of the Redeemer. Nor is it only the popularity of Mary Magdalene as the representative and the patroness of repentant sinners which has multiplied her image through all Christendom. As a subject for painting, Whether the fair one sinner it or saint it, it is rich in picturesque capabilities. It combines all that can inspire, with all that can chasten the fancy; yet, when we review what has been done, how inadequate the result! In no class of subjects have the mistakes of the painters, even the most distinguished, been so conspicuous as in the representation of the penitent Magdalene; and it must be allowed that, with all its advantages and attractions, it is a subject full of perils and difficulties. Where the penitent prevails, the saint appears degraded; where the wasted, unclad form is seen attenuated by vigils and exposed in haggard unseemliness, it is a violation of that first great rule of Art which forbids the repulsive and the painful. And herein lies the fault of the earlier schools, and particularly of the old Greek and German painters;—their matter-of-fact ugliness would be intolerable, if not redeemed by the intention and sentiment. On the other hand, where sensual beauty has obviously been the paramount idea in the artist’s work, defeating its holiest purpose and perverting its high significance, the violation of the moral sentiment is yet more revolting. This is especially the fault of the later painters, more particularly of the schools of Venice and Bologna: while the French painters are yet worse, adding affectation to licentiousness of sentiment; the Abbé Mèry exclaims with reasonable and pious indignation against that ‘_air de galanterie_’ which in his time was regarded as characteristic of Mary Magdalene. The ‘larmoyantes’ penitents of Greuze—Magdalenes _à la Pompadour_—are more objectionable to my taste than those of Rubens. * * * * *