_Merson, Plate 29,_ is a poetic seer as well as an artist. The sphinx riddle was "What is man?" Merson has placed the answer before the sphinx at last. He who was himself the answer to the world-old question, propounded a new question which all must answer, "What think ye of Christ" (Matt. 22:42). [Illustration: Repose in Egypt.] Plate 29. _Repose in Egypt._ Olivier L. Merson. _Morris, Plate 30,_ gives us a glimpse of the life of the Holy Family during the sojourn in Egypt. Joseph is resting in the tent after his day's work, and Mary is teaching the child to walk. All are unconscious of the ominous shadow so evident now to us. The hatred which threatened the child, would not spare the man. The exile in Egypt is but the prophetic shadow of the coming event--crucifixion. The child's hands extend towards the cactus and the palm, symbols of suffering and of victory. [Illustration: Shadow of the Cross.] Plate 30. _Shadow of the Cross._ P. R. Morris. THE RETURN TO NAZARETH. When Herod was dead, Joseph, instructed by an angel, brought Mary and Jesus into the land of Israel, and made them a home in Nazareth. The mother with her divine child in this Nazareth home has ever been the favorite subject with painters. "Madonna" pictures have been multiplied into the thousands. The most famous are those which were painted by Raphael,--the Sistine Madonna, Madonna of the Chair, Madonna da Tempi, Madonna of the Goldfinch, etc.,--reproductions of which are familiar to everybody. Among other famous painters of the Madonna is _Murillo,_ who, in _Plate 32,_ represents the mother and child as the neighbors might have seen them in their humble home. The child is of course beautiful. (Luke 2:40.) In _Plate 33,_ the artist has emphasized the last phrase of Luke 2:40, "The grace of God was upon him." The Father in heaven is visibly present, and the grace descends upon the child in the form of a dove, as suggested by Luke 3:22. The action of all the accessory figures, the arrangement of the light, everything in the picture, is calculated to focus the attention upon the face of the child Christ. [Illustration: Madonna and Child.] Plate 32. _Madonna and Child._ Murillo. 1618-1682. [Illustration: Holy Family.] Plate 33. Louvre. _Holy Family._ Murillo. 1618-1682.