SAINT ANDREW S CHAPEL, PLYMOUTH. 67 



fcince before it, and those which bear the most directly 

 upon the mind of a Christian are all eclipsed by the 

 association of ideas which the Crucifixion alone can 

 bring together into one condensed point. This super- 

 iority of subject is so evident, that no ancient Pagan, 

 no modern Idolater, no Deist, Brahmin or European 

 can deny it, for one moment, when he is acquainted 

 with all or even with only the most prominent features 

 of this sublime and mysterious event. In a pictorial 

 point of view there is a peculiarity attached to the 

 subject which is inapplicable to most others, namely, 

 that it may be treated in a great variety of ways em- 

 bracing a vast and complicated scene, or restrained to 

 the great episode alone ; accordingly the subject has 

 been handled by a multitude of artists, some like 

 Rubens, ( at least in one instance) introducing a variety 

 of groups and secondary scenes to support the main 

 object, others like Vandyke, where the Saviour is 

 attended by a single group only, and finally, the great- 

 er number who have confined their production to the 

 " Christ crucified" alone. 



Although not obvious to the uninitiated, in all these 

 compositions there is one difficulty to contend with, 

 one which in the eye of an artist is of a very perplexing 

 nature, namely, that the Protagonist or principal figure 

 assumes of necessity such an elevated and divergent 

 form of light, that it requires every effort of art to 

 cause it to diffuse and compose well with the rest of 

 the picture ; hence perhaps Rafselle and Michael Angelo 

 were disinclined to undertake the subject, and a descent 

 from the cross has always been deemed more favour- 

 able to the pencil of the greatest artists. In the West 

 we have of this kind the celebrated production of Ru- 

 bens in the Cathedral at Antwerp and another by 

 Rembrandt now in a Public Gallery. 



Artists, on some occasions, preserving the subject of 

 the Crucifixion, have, very improperly, transferred the 

 chief light from the principal figure to one forming an 

 action of a subordinate character, such for instance 

 occurs in a fine picture by Guercino where the Virgin 



