The day's ride included a visit to Agrippa's Pantheon, now denuded of its
bronze roofing and marble exterior. A circular opening in the huge dome
admits both light and rain. Leo standing with Lucille by the tomb of
Raphael in one of the recesses, for a moment was silent. Then he said,
"Lucille, it is impossible to fully appreciate the many and beautiful
works of this 'prince of painters.' He was born on Good Friday, 1483, and
lived exactly thirty-seven years. He was of slight build, sallow, and had
brown eyes. Over nine hundred prints of his works are known. Besides his
works in fresco at the Vatican, for a time he had charge of the
construction of St. Peter's, and he also painted masterpieces now at
Bologna, Dresden, Madrid, Hampton Court, and executed numerous
commissions for Leo X.; and Madonnas, holy families, portraits, etc.,
for others. Raphael stands unrivaled, chiefly in his power to portray
lofty sentiments which persons of all nationalities can feel, but few
can describe. He also excelled in invention, composition, simplicity
and grandeur. For moral force in allegory and history, and for fidelity
in portrait, Raphael was unsurpassed. His last and most celebrated oil
picture, the transfiguration, unfinished, stood at his head as his body
lay in state.
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