[Footnote 121:  Cosa allora rara, non essendosi dissotterata quella abbondanza che si e fatta ne’ tempi nostri, i. 203.]

[Footnote 122:  “2nd Commentary,” in Vasari, I. xxviii.]

[Footnote 123:  Gaye, i. 360.]

[Footnote 124:  Cf. the action of the Directory in year vi. of the French Republic.  They ordered the statues looted in Italy to be paraded in Paris—­hoping to find the clue to ancient supremacy.  Louis David pointedly observed, “La vue ... formera peut-etre des savans, des Winckelmann:  mais des artistes, non.”]

[Footnote 125:  “Works,” 1796, i. 151.]

[Footnote 126:  “Lectures,” 1838, p. 248.]

[Footnote 127:  Semper, p. 93.]

[Footnote 128:  Ed. 1768, p. 74.]

[Footnote 129:  “Donatellus, qui primum omnium vetustis monumentis mirifice delectatus est, eaque imitari ac probe exprimere in suis operibus adsidue studuit.”—­“Dactyliotheca Smithiana,” 1768, II. p. cxxvi.]

* * * * *

[Illustration:  Alinari

TABERNACLE

ST. PETER’S, ROME]

[Illustration:  THE CHARGE TO PETER

LONDON]

[Sidenote:  Work at Rome.]

Up till a few years ago the most important work Donatello made in Rome was unknown.  We were aware that he had made a tabernacle, but all record of it was lost, until Herr Schmarsow identified it in 1886.[130] It was probably made for the Church of Santa Maria della Febbre,[131] and was transported to St. Peter’s when Santa Maria was converted into a sacristy.  The tabernacle is now in the Sacristy of the Canons, surrounded by sham flowers and tawdry decoration, which reduce its charms to a minimum.  Moreover, the miraculous painting of the Madonna and Child which fills the centrepiece—­having, perhaps, replaced a metal grille or marble relief, has been so frequently restored that a discordant element is introduced.  The tabernacle is about six feet high; it is made of rather coarse Travestine marble, and in several parts shows indications of the hand of an assistant.  It has suffered in removal; there are two places where the work has been repaired, and the medallion in the lower frieze has been filled with modern mosaic; otherwise it is in good order.  It is essentially an architectural work, but the number of figures introduced has softened the hard lines of the construction, giving it plenty of life.  Four little angels, rather stumpy and ill-drawn, are sitting on the lower plinth.  Above them rise the main outer columns which support the upper portion of the tabernacle, and enclose the central opening, where the picture is now fixed.  At the base of these columns there are two groups of winged children, three on either side, looking inwards towards the central feature of the composition.  They bend forward reverently with their hands joined in prayer and adoration—­admirable children, full