334 



ARIADNE FLORENT1NA. 



with some charming young girl who has a new and beauti. 

 fully made dress brought to her, which entirely becomes her, 

 so much, that in a little while, thinking of nothing else, she 

 becomes it ; and is only the decoration of her dress. But 

 with Holbein it is as if you brought the same dress to a stout 

 farmer's daughter who was going to dine at the Hall ; and 

 begged her to put it on that she might not discredit the com- 

 pany. She puts it on to please you ; looks entirely ridiculous 

 in it, but is not spoiled by it, remains herself, in spite 

 of it. 



157. You probably have never noticed the extreme awk- 

 wardness of Holbein in wearing this new dress ; you would 

 the less do so because his own people think him all the finer 

 for it, as the farmer's wife would probably think her daughter. 

 Dr. Woltmann, for instance, is enthusiastic in praise of the 

 splendid architecture in the background of his Annunciation. 

 A fine mess it must have made in the minds of simple German 

 maidens, in their notion of the Virgin at home \ I cannot 

 show you this Annunciation ; but I have under my hand one 

 of Holbein's Bible cuts, of the deepest seriousness and import 

 his illustration of the Canticles, show- 

 ing the Church as the bride of Christ. 



You could not find a subject requir- 

 ing more tenderness, purity, or dignity 

 of treatment. In this maid, symboliz- 

 ing the Church, you ask for the most 

 passionate humility, the most angelic 

 beauty : " Behold, thou art fair, iny 

 dove." Now here is Holbein's ideal of 

 that fairness ; here is his " Church as 

 the Bride." 



I am sorry to associate this figure in 

 your minds, even for a moment, with 

 the passages it is supposed to illustrate ; 

 but the lesson is too important to be 



omitted. Remember, Holbein represents the temper of 

 Northern Reformation. He has all the nobleness of that 

 temper, but also ah 1 its baseness. He represents, indeed, the 



