into new combinations from the antique, is a task, says Taja, far above the reach of human powers. Taja has however himself given us a delightful description of these works.[45] It confers the highest honour on Raffaello, to whom we owe the fifty-two subjects, and all the ornamental parts. Nor were the pavements, or the doors, or other interior works in the palace of the Vatican, completed without his superintendence. He directed the pavements to be formed of _terra invetriata_, an ancient invention of Luca della Robbia, which having continued for many generations as a family secret, was then in the hands of another Luca. Raffaello invited him to Florence to execute this vast work, employed him in the gallery, and in many of the chambers, which he adorned with the arms of the Pope. For the couches and other ornaments of the Camera di Segnatura he brought to Rome F. Giovanni da Verona, who formed them of mosaic with the most beautiful views. For the entablatures of the chambers, and for several of the windows and doors, he engaged Giovanni Barile, a celebrated Florentine engraver of gems. This work was executed in so masterly a manner, that Louis XIII., wishing to ornament the palace of the Louvre, had all these intaglios separately copied. The drawings of them were made by Poussin, and Mariette boasted of having them in his collection. Nor was there any other work either of stone or marble for which a design was required, which did not come under the inspection of Raffaello, and on which he did not impress his taste, which was consummate also in the sister art of sculpture. A proof of this is to be seen in the Jonah, in the church of the Madonna del Popolo, in the Chigi chapel, which was executed by Lorenzetto under his direction, and which, Bottari says, may assume its place by the side of the Greek statues. Among his most remarkable works may be mentioned his designs for the tapestry in the papal chapel, the subjects of which were from the lives of the Evangelists, and the Acts of the Apostles. The cartoons for them were both designed and coloured by Raffaello; and after the tapestries were finished in the Low Countries, the cartoons passed into England, where they still remain. In these tapestries the art attained its highest pitch, nor has the world since beheld anything to equal them in beauty. They are exposed annually in the great portico of S. Peter, in the procession of the _Corpus Domini_, and it is wonderful to behold the crowds that flock to see them, and who ever regard them with fresh avidity and delight. But all these works of Raffaello would not have contributed to the extension of art at that period, beyond the meridian of Rome, if he had not succeeded in extending the fruits of his genius, by the means of prints. We have already noticed M. A. Raimondi, in the first book, and we have shewn that this great engraver was courteously received, and was afterwards