The remaining decorations of these chambers were all illustrative of the history of Leo X., whose imprisonment in Ravenna, and subsequent liberation, is typified by St. Peter released from prison by the angel. It was in this piece that the painter exhibited an astonishing proof of his knowledge of light. The figures of the soldiers, who stand without the prison, are illuminated by the beams of the moon: there is a torch which produces a second light; and from the angel emanates a celestial splendour, that rivals the beams of the sun. He has here, too, afforded another proof how art may convert the impediments thrown in her way to her own advantage; for the place where he was painting being broken by a window, he has imagined on each side of it a staircase, which affords an ascent to the prison, and on the steps he has placed the guards overpowered with sleep; so that the painter does not seem to have accommodated himself to the place, but the place to have become subservient to the painter. The composition of S. Leo the Great, who checks Attila at the head of his army, and that of the other chamber, the battle with the Saracens in the port of Ostium, and the victory obtained by S. Leo IV., justify Raffaello's claim to the epic crown: so powerfully has he depicted the military array of men and horse, the arms peculiar to each nation, the fury of the combat, and the despair and humiliation of the prisoners. Near this performance, too, is the wonderful piece of the Incendio di Borgo (a city enveloped in fire), which is miraculously extinguished by the same S. Leo. This wonderful piece alternately chills the heart with terror, or warms it with compassion. The calamity of fire is carried to its extreme point, as it is the hour of midnight, and the fire, which already occupies a considerable space, is increased by a violent wind, which agitates the flames that leap with rapidity from house to house. The affright and misery of the inhabitants is also carried to the utmost extremity. Some rush forward with water, but are driven back by the scorching flames; others seek safety in flight, with naked feet, robeless, and with dishevelled hair; women are seen turning an imploring look to the Pontiff; mothers, whose own terrors are absorbed in fear for their offspring; and here a youth, who bearing on his shoulders his aged and infirm sire, and sinking beneath the weight, collects his almost exhausted strength to place him out of danger. The concluding subjects refer to Leo III.; the Coronation of Charlemagne, by the hand of that Pontiff, and the Oath taken by the Pope on the Holy Evangelists, to exculpate himself from the calumnies laid to his charge. In Leo, is meant to be represented Leo X., who is thus honoured in the persons of his predecessors; and in Charlemagne is represented Francis I., King of France. Many persons of the age are also figured in the surrounding group, so that there is not an historical subject in these chambers that