that Adam felt and that he transmitted to his race. For attaining such
heights of impression the means employed by Raphael are of an
incomprehensible simplicity. The Infant Jesus nestles familiarly in his
mother's arms. Sitting on a fold of the white veil that the Virgin
supports with her left hand, he leans against the Madonna's right arm;
his legs are crossed one above the other; the whole of the left arm
follows the bend of the body and the left hand rests upon the right leg;
at the same time, the right shoulder being raised by Mary's hand, the
right arm is bent at the elbow and the hand grasps the Virgin's veil.
This attitude, so natural, so true, so unstudied, expresses grandeur and
sovereignty. Nothing can be more elementary nor more powerful. The light
rests calmly upon every part of this beautiful body and all its members
in such fine repose. Humanity was never seen under such radiance. The
Son of God, in transporting to Heaven the terrestrial form of his
infancy, has made it divine for all eternity. Raphael doubtless owed to
antiquity something of the power that enabled him spontaneously to
create such a masterpiece; but in this case he has far surpassed his
models, and we should search vainly in antique art for a more ideal and
grand figure than that of this marvellous infant. However, hitherto we
have only examined the body, what shall we say about the head to give a
true idea of it? In fact, that is perhaps the most extraordinary and
most indescribable part of the whole picture. The Infant Jesus seems to
recoil from the spectacle of human shame; he lovingly presses against
the Virgin's breast, softly rests his forehead against his Mother's
cheek, and darts towards the world one of those flaming and terrible
glances at which, it is said, everything in heaven, on earth, and in
hell trembles. His disordered hair stands upright and quivers as in the
breath of the tempest, and sombre clouds pass across the widely modelled
forehead; the brows are frowning, the pupils dilate and the flame is
ready to dart forth; the eyes, profound and terrible, are preparing to