Raphael'S Sposalizio

The Brera Gallery, Milan, was formerly a Jesuit College, erected in 1618. The gallery contains 400 oil paintings, many of great excellence, besides some admirable frescoes detached from the walls of monasteries. There is also a library, founded by Maria Theresa. The gem of the collection is Raphael's celebrated Sposalizio, in Sala VII. The picture is signed and dated 1504, and illustrates a legend.

When Mary was come of age to marry, the High Priest, Zacharias, inquired of Lord concerning her, and an angel came to him and said, "Go forth and summon all the widowers among the people, and let each bring a rod in his hand, and he to whom the Lord shall show His sign, he shall be the husband of Mary." And Zacharias did as the angel commanded, and Joseph, the carpenter, a righteous man, came with the rest, and when he presented his rod to the priest, lo, it budded, and the priest said to him, "Thou art chosen by the Lord to take the Virgin and to keep her for Him."

It is this incident Raphael has chosen--the espousal in front of the Temple. The High Priest joins their hands, and Joseph places a ring on the finger of his bride. He is a man in middle life, while she is but fourteen. Behind Mary is a group of the virgins of the Temple; behind Joseph, who holds in his hand the rod which has blossomed into a lily, are the disappointed suitors, one in the act of breaking his wand against his knee. With something of the formality of the older school, for Raphael was only twenty-one, there is yet such refinement and beauty that the whole scene is likened to a lyric poem.