which, if it was mine, I would cut in two parts. The three
figures in the air attract the eye so strongly that little or no
attention is paid to those below on the mountain. I apprehend
that the nature of the subject does not admit of that keeping and
dependence which ought to be maintained in the disposition of the
lights and shadows in a picture. The groups seem to be entirely
independent of each other. The extraordinary merit of this piece,
I imagine, consists not only in the expression of divinity on the
face of Christ, but also in the surprising lightness of the
figure that hovers like a beautiful exhalation in the air."

Smollett's remarks about the "Last Judgement" of Michael Angelo,
(that it confuses the eye as a number of people speaking at once
confounds the ear; and that while single figures are splendid,
the whole together resembles a mere mob, without subordination,
keeping, or repose) will probably be re-echoed by a large
proportion of the sightseers who gaze upon it yearly. But his
description of the "Transfiguration" displays an amount of taste
and judgement which is far from being so widely distributed. For
purposes of reproduction at the present day, I may remind the
reader that the picture is ordinarily "cut in two." and the
nether portion is commonly attributed to Raphael's pupils, while
the "beautiful exhalation," as Smollett so felicitously terms it,
is attributed exclusively to the master when at the zenith of his
powers. His general verdict upon Michael Angelo and Raphael has
much in it that appeals to a modern taste. Of Raphael, as a
whole, he concludes that the master possesses the serenity of
Virgil, but lacks the fire of Homer; and before leaving this same
Letter XXXIII, in which Smollett ventures so many independent
critical judgements, I am tempted to cite yet another example of