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near the eye, the full effect of their light and 

 airy character. Paul Veronese, who indeed 

 never scrupled to sacrifice propriety to ef- 

 fect, has placed the Magdalen washing our 

 Saviour's feet, under a magnificent portico, 

 decorated with every rich and splendid or- 

 nament. The view is through the columns 

 to the open air, not towards the interior 

 building; and this I think is a circumstance 

 to which he was generally attentive : he 

 likewise took care so to dispose his columns 

 that a large portion of the back-ground, and 

 particularly of the sky, should be seen 

 through them. The effect of this disposi- 

 tion will best be perceived, by comparing 

 it with that of Raphael in a scene of the 

 same kind. In the cartoon, which repre- 

 sents the apostle curing the lame man at 

 the beautiful gate of the temple, he likewise 

 has placed the figures in a portico ; and in 

 allusion to the name of the gate, has given 

 to the architecture a degree of richness and 

 decoration, beyond that which appears in 

 any of his other compositions. The columns 

 are twisted ; their shafts are enriched with 



