There is a repetition of the subject in
the possession of Lucien Bonaparte.
[9] The Last Supper of Leonardo da Vinci, which is in the Refectory of the
Convent delle Grazie at Milan.
[10] Leonardo appears to have used a mixture of oil and varnish for this
picture, which alone, without the various other causes of its ruin, would
have prevented any long duration of its beauties. It is now almost
entirely effaced.
EXTRACT XV.
Rome.
_Mary Magdalen.--Her Story.--Numerous Pictures of her.--Correggio--Guido
--Raphael, etc.--Canova's two exquisite Statues.--The Somariva Magdalen.
--Chantrey's Admiration of Canova's Works_.
No wonder, MARY, that thy story
Touches all hearts--for there we see thee.
The soul's corruption and its glory,
Its death and life combine in thee.
From the first moment when we find
Thy spirit haunted by a swarm
Of dark desires,--like demons shrined
Unholily in that fair form,--
Till when by touch of Heaven set free,
Thou camest, with those bright locks of gold
(So oft the gaze of BETHANY),
And covering in their precious fold
Thy Saviour's feet didst shed such tears
As paid, each drop, the sins of years!--
Thence on thro' all thy course of love
To Him, thy Heavenly Master,--Him
Whose bitter death-cup from above
Had yet this cordial round the brim,
That woman's faith and love stood fast
And fearless by Him to the last:--
Till, oh! blest boon for truth like thine!
Thou wert of all the chosen one,
Before whose eyes that Face Divine
When risen from the dead first shone;
That thou might'st see how, like a cloud,
Had past away its mortal shroud,
And make that bright revealment known
To hearts less trusting than thy own.
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