the death of Coypel, M. Pasquier, _député du Commerce de Rouen_, paid
16,500 _livres_ for the mutilated remains, as I find in a very old
account.

[Illustration: MAGDALEN.
_Correggio_]

All the great museums of the world possess Correggios, and I will only
mention the exquisite _Saint Catherine_ and the resplendent _Antiope_ of
the Louvre; the _Danaë_ of the Borghese Gallery, a _chef-d'oeuvre_ of
grace and delicacy; and, finally, in the Dresden Gallery, our _Magdalen
in the Desert_, that jewel so well-known and so often reproduced.

This Magdalen as a matter of fact holds the first place among the small
Correggios. There are two kinds of Magdalens in art: I. the Repentant,
emaciated, growing ugly, disfigured by tears and penitence at the end of
her life, with a skull in her hand or before her eyes, not having had
even--like the one sculptured in the Cathedral of Rouen--"for three
times ten winters any other vesture than her long hair," according to
Petrarch's verse; II. the Sinner, always young, always beautiful, always
seductive, who has not lost any of her charms nor even of her coquetry,
and with whom the Book of Life takes the place of the Death's Head.

Our Magdalen belongs to the latter class. In a solitary spot, but
attractive with its verdure and rocks, on a grassy knoll the saint is
stretched out at full length, with her shoulder, her bosom, her arms,
and her feet adorably bare. A blue fabric drapes the rest of her body
and forms a coquettish hood for her head and neck. Her flesh has a
robust elegance of line. Leaning on her right elbow, her hand, half
hidden in her hair, supports a charming and meditative head, while her