212 REVIEWS THE DANCE OP DEATH. 



" The fearful 'presence of God upon the Mount i" a scene illustrated 

 in various scenes of Moses' ascent of Mount Sinai : Moses figuring 

 in all of them, as in Michael Angelo's famous statue, with horns. 



'' All Angel destroy eth the Assyrian host ;" a wood-cut of singu- 

 larly spirited execution. 



" The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, until I 

 make thine enemies thy footstool." 



The visions of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, the " Wheels within 

 wheels," the " Four beasts," with other subjects equally profound and 

 difficult for the pencil. 



Each of the illustrations is accompanied with the fitting passage 

 from sacred writ, in English, Latin, French, Italian, and Spanish, 

 without any note or comment on the discrepancies sometimes notice- 

 able in the translation. The incidents in the life of the Patriarch 

 Job, for example, furnish the subjects of several illustrations, of which 

 the following are the accompaniments of one : — 



English, — Then said his wife unto him : Dost thou still retain 

 thine integrity ? Curse God and die. 



Latin, — Dixit autem illi uxor sua : Adhuc tu permanes in sim- 

 plicitate tua ? benedic Deo et morere. 



French, — JEt sa femme lui dit : Tu conserveras encore ton inieg- 

 rite ! Benis Dieu, et meurs. 



Italian, — E la sua moglie gli disse, Ancora perseveri tu nella tua 

 integrita ? henedici Iddio, e muori. 



Spa.nish, — Y su muger le dixo: ^Aun te estds tuentusimplicidad? 

 henedice a Dios, y muerete- 



The mere English reader will perceive the diversity between the 

 " curse God " of the English version and the various forms of 

 "benedicite" in the others. 



Such, however, are graphic samples of the modes of simple illustra- 

 tion which appealed to the eye, and to the faith, of ages moreprimitive 

 and frequently far more earnest in their faith than our own. 



But a more curious interest attaches to the larger portion of the 

 same volume, devoted to the art and literature of the famous " Dance 

 Macabre," or Dance of Death. 



Among the favourite devices of medieval art, by means of which the 

 painter and the sculptor were employed to lend their aid in enforcing 

 the lessons of morality and religion on an illiterate age, none are more 

 worthy of notice and study than the " Dances of Death," a singular 



