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THE NATIVITY.

This expression, synonimous with birth, is only used in three cases; we say the nativity of the Virgin, the nativity of St. John the Baptist, and the nativity of Jesus Christ, more commonly called Christmas. When speaking of the two first, the names are added; but when the nativity is simply mentioned without addition, it always means that of our Saviour, now in question.

The subject has been frequently treated, especially by the painters of the ancient schools, and those of the german usually handle it with a remarkable simplicity. In these ancient pictures, the Virgin is generally pourtrayed with a very large mantle, which is doubtless given her as an emblem of her high dignity; and in this picture Hemeling, a painter of the xv century, wishing at the same time to shew the destitute state of the Saviour's mother, represents her in adoration before her divine infant, whom she has just placed upon the skirts of her mantle. St. Joseph, in the foreground, is cloathed in a religious dress; it was at that period all the science of the costume. When a painter desired to give any holy personage a very ancient dress, he usually took his model in the convents he had had an opportunity of seeing.

ÉCOLE ALLEMANDE. oooooooo HEMELING. 00000000 GALERIE DE MUNICH.

LA NATIVITÉ.

Cette expression, qui est synonyme de naissance, n'est employée que dans trois circonstances: on dit la nativité de la Vierge, la nativité de saint Jean-Baptiste, et la nativité de Jésus-Christ, dont la fête est plus connue sous le nom de Noël. Lorsqu'on veut parler des deux premiers sujets, on y ajoute toujours le nom du personnage; mais lorsqu'on n'y joint aucune dénomination, et qu'on dit simplement la Nativité, c'est de celle de Notre Seigneur dont il est question.

Ce sujet a été traité très fréquemment, surtout par les peintres des anciennes écoles, et ceux de l'école allemande y ont mis une naïveté remarquable. La Vierge dans ces tableaux est ordinairement représentée avec un manteau très ample, qui sans doute lui est donné comme un emblème de sa haute dignité. Dans celui-ci le peintre Hemeling, né à Damme près de Bruges, et qui y travaillait en 1479, a voulu en même temps faire connaître le dénûment dans lequel se trouvait la mère du Sauveur : il l'a représentée en adoration devant son divin enfant qu'elle vient de placer sur le pan de son manteau. Saint Joseph, sur le devant, est vêtu d'un habit religieux; c'était à cette époque toute la science du costume. Lorsqu'un peintre voulait donner à quelque personnage un habit bien ancien, il prenait ordinairement son modèle dans les couvens qu'il avait eu occasion de voir.

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THE SHEPHERDS OF ARCADIA.

Among the pictures of Poussin, this deserves to be distinguished by the poetical philosophy it is empressed with. In the midst of a landscape is a group of some trees, near which has been constructed a tomb that several persons are attentively examining. This allegory exemplifies that the recollection of death is always present to us, in all the circumstances, and amidst all the prosperities of life.

Arcadia, cited by the ancient poets as the most delightful region in the world, for its beautiful pastures, the abundance of its flocks, and purity of its manners, was considered as the cherished country of the gods, and where, however, the inhabitants were not less governed by the laws of nature. One of them having died, they have placed upon his tomb an inscription remarkable for its simplicity: Et in Arcadia ego. Some young shepherds, a woman, and an old man have just read it, it seems as though him whose loss they deplore addresses to them these words: And I also have lived in Arcadia. This idea of death affects each of the persons present, and fills their minds with a degree of melancholy, from the very natural thought that one day they also must quit this transitory existence to enter into the bosom of eternity!

This picture, so remarkable for the sentiment, for a long time formed part of the royal collection; it has been engraved by Maurice Blot.

Breadth, 5 feet 4 inches; height, 2 feet 10 inches.

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