Pinturicchio, following out his ardent taste for brilliant and bizarre effect, made plentiful use of these colour varieties; but what probably makes the work of Beccafumi so striking, as compared with that of his predecessors, is, that in his later work he discards these vivid contrasts, confines himself almost entirely to low tones of colour, which shade from one into the other; and produces his effects by a species of _chiaroscuro_. Instead of outlining each piece, or figure, in a single colour, he frequently uses on the same subject, white and two or three different shades of pale-coloured grey marble. On a face, or a nude figure, this gives the effect of shadows of varying intensity, but, at times, runs perilously near the ludicrous, by making some of the persons parti-coloured. In the Elijah series,--his earliest work,--probably with an idea of improving on his predecessors, he had introduced small pieces of vivid green and red marble, to indicate jewelled borders to the robes of Ahab, and other important personages. This treatment, adopted again by Professor Franchi, when completing that Story, he soon wholly discarded, still retaining, however, the old _graffito_ method for his outlines. But this also he abandoned more and more as he proceeded. Had he not been so fine a draughtsman his experiments in this direction would have been dangerous. Even now, it is doubtful, whether the results are so practically durable, or so artistically satisfactory, on the floor, as the older work. It would seem, as if they, in a sense, the apotheosis of this species of work, should be set up perpendicularly, so that the full effect of their superb draughtsmanship could be fairly perceived and appreciated. Professor Franchi must have found himself in a great dilemma, when he undertook to complete this work. He could hardly revert to the manner of the pre-Beccafumi schools, and it would have been too dangerous to imitate closely Beccafumi himself. Fortunately, he had special gifts, and had the courage to follow his own instinct. The result has been, works, which, if in vivid contrast to all that had gone before, and essentially modern in feeling, are works of art of unquestionable brilliance. They resemble cartoons in marble, and are drawn with extraordinarily realistic force. All the three larger designs are instinct with life, and irresistibly suggestive of energetic movement. We may especially notice for this _Elijah being caught up to Heaven_. (Ill. XXVI.) [Illustration: LOMBARDI PHOTO.] [BY PROF. ALESSANDRO FRANCHI (FROM A DRAWING) XXVI. ELIJAH CAUGHT UP TO HEAVEN (No. 38)]