Page:An Elementary History of Art.djvu/408

 378 Painting done by Marco d'Oggione in 1510, is in the Royal Academy), have been preserved, enabling us to form some idea of the impressive solemnity and beauty of the original. The painter has chosen to represent the moment when, at the words " One of you shall betray Me," a thrill of horror ran through the assembled disciples. The head of the Redeemer, full of Divine majesty and courage to endure, yet expresses human sorrow, with human weak- ness and shrinking from pain ; whilst the groups on either sides are rendered with a force of character and dramatic power perhaps never equalled, certainly never surpassed. The accusation affects each disciple in a dif- ferent manner, and a glance is enough for the recognition of the gentle John, the impetuous Peter, or the dark and gloomy Judas. In this great work we see how Leonardo, whilst adopting the traditional style of treatment of sacred subjects and the traditional type of the Saviour's face, has given to the whole a dignity of expression and an elevation of sentiment hitherto unattained — the result of his complete mastery of all the elements of perfect art. This picture also serves to illustrate Leonardo's great defect — a poverty of line, which presents a striking contrast to the wonderful play and power of outline possessed by his great rival Raphael. While at Milan, he executed a famous equestrian statue of Lodovico Sforza, which dis- appeared a few years after its completion, and is now only known by sketches for it left by Leonardo. In 1499 Leonardo returned to Florence and executed many important works; of these a cartoon of the Holy Family, called the Cartoon of St. Anna, in the Royal Academy, is one of the most celebrated. A second, now lost, supposed to have been one of the masterpieces of