I have seen this idea varied. St. Michael stands majestic with the balance poised in his hands: instead of a human figure in either scale, there are weights; on one side is seen a company of five or six little naked shivering souls, as if waiting for their doom; on the other several demons, one of whom with his hook is pulling down the ascending scale.[77] With or without the balance, St. Michael figures as Lord of souls when introduced into pictures of the Assumption or the Glorification of the Virgin. To understand the whole beauty and propriety of such representations, we must remember, that according to one of the legends of the death of the Virgin her spirit was consigned to the care of St. Michael until it was permitted to reanimate the spotless form, and with it ascend to heaven. In one or two instances only, I have seen St. Michael without wings. In general, an armed figure, unwinged and standing on a dragon, we may presume to be a St. George; but where the balance is introduced, it leaves no doubt of the personality—it is a St. Michael. Occasionally the two characters—the protecting Angel of light and the Angel of judgment—are united, and we see St. Michael, with the dragon under his feet and the balance in his hand. This was a favourite and appropriate subject on tombs and chapels dedicated to the dead; such is the beautiful bas-relief on the tomb of Henry VII. in Westminster Abbey. In some representations of the last judgment, St. Michael, instead of the banner and cross, bears the scales; as in the very curious bas-relief on the façade of the church of St. Trophime at Arles. St. Michael here has a balance so large that it is almost as high as himself; it is not a mere emblem, but a fact; a soul sits in each scale, and a third is rising up; the angel holds out one hand to assist him. In another part of the same bas-relief St. Michael is seen carrying a human soul (represented as a little naked figure) and bringing it to St. Peter and St. Paul. In a celebrated Last Judgment, attributed by some authors to John Van Eyck, by others to Justus of Ghent, St. Michael is grandly introduced.[78] High up, in the centre, sits the Saviour, with the severe expression of the judge. Above him hover four angels with the instruments of the Passion, and below him three others sounding trumpets (_v._ p. 54),—I suppose the seven pre-eminent angels: the Virgin and St. John the Baptist on each side, and then the Apostles ranged in the usual manner. ‘In the lower half of the picture stands St. Michael, clad in golden armour, so bright as to reflect in the most complete manner all the surrounding objects. His figure is slender and elegant, but colossal as compared to the rest. He seems to be bending earnestly forward, a splendid purple mantle falls from his shoulders to the ground, and his large wings are composed of glittering peacock’s feathers. He holds the balance; the scale with the good rests on earth, but that with the souls which are found wanting