The author of this charming fancy of the gentle and faithful Moabite, which was painted for this volume, is one of the rising and already recognized painters of France, having taken several medals under the severe critical awards of the French annual _Salon_. The tender grace and modesty of both face and figure are enhanced by the delicacy of the color. X. _Queen Esther._ HENRI-ALEXANDRE ERNEST BOULANGER (Paris, France, b. 1815). Having just returned from one of his trips to the Orient, whither he had gone with his brilliant _confrère_ GÉROME, to refill his portfolio with new faces and costumes and scenes, to be wrought up into new pictures, MONS. BOULANGER was fortunately able to respond promptly to the demand for two original designs and paintings for the present work. "Queen Esther" is one of these. The proud and serene beauty of the face, the dignity of the form and bearing, and the simple richness of the costume make this a notable picture. And, although the background is devoid of everything save the sombre shadow which gives relief to the figure, the imagination easily supplies the haughty king, the throng of courtiers, and the crowd of suppliant Jews behind their queen. XI. _Judith._ HORACE VERNET (France, b. 1789; d. 1863). Artists have always been fond of this strong subject, but none have so well succeeded in rendering the beauty of the intrepid Jewess, combined with her resolution and force of character. The horror of the old woman, who holds the dreadful basket to receive the head, is finely contrasted with the superb sternness of Judith's face and action, just as the illuminated, gorgeous tapestry of the tyrant's tent is rebuked by the quiet sky and the steady shining of the stars. It is a grand composition, and most effective in coloring. XII. _The Sistine Madonna._ RAPHAEL SANZIO (Urbino, Italy, b. 1483; d. 1520). Originally painted as an altar-piece for the Sistine Chapel, in the Vatican at Rome (whence its name), this grand picture is now in the Dresden Gallery. The painting has, below the Virgin's figure, to the right and left, the kneeling figures of Saint Barbara and Pope Gregory the Sixth, under whose reign both the chapel and the picture were produced. The halo about the Virgin and Infant is filled with indistinct cherub faces, and at the very bottom, apart from the main design, are the two cherubs which appear in the plate. The original design is necessarily shorn of many of these details in the combination given, but the more important portions of the painting are well shown. XIII. _The Daughter of Herodias._ EMIL VERNET-LECOMTE (Paris, France, b. 1821).