Page:Val d'Arno (Ruskin, 1890).djvu/279

Rh St. John is preaching. These are quite the best people he can find to call, or advise. You see many of them carry rolls of paper in their hands, as he does himself In comparison with the books of the upper cornice, these have special meaning, as throughout Byzantine design.

290. —Next to this subject of the preaching comes the Baptism; and then, the circumstances of St. John's death. First, his declaration to Herod, "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife:" on which he is seized and carried to prison:—next, Herod's feast,—the consultation between daughter and mother, "What shall I ask?"—the martyrdom, and burial by the disciples. The notable point in the treatment of all these subjects is the