Among the dregs and offal of mankind
Vainly I seek an utter wretch to find.
He who for thirty silver coins could sell
His Lord, must be the Devil's miracle.
Padre Bandelli thinks it easy is
To find the type of him who with a kiss
Betrayed his Lord. Well, what I can I'll do;
And if it please his reverence and you,
For Judas' face I'm willing to paint his."

* * * * *

"... I dare not paint
Till all is ordered and matured within,
Hand-work and head-work have an earthly taint,
But when the soul commands I shall begin;
On themes like these I should not dare to dwell
With our good Prior--they to him would be
Mere nonsense; he must touch and taste and see,
And facts, he says, are never mystical."

[Illustration: PLATE VI.--THE HEAD OF CHRIST

In the Brera Gallery, Milan. No. 280. 1 ft. 0-1/2 ins. by
1 ft. 4 ins. (0.32 x 0.40)]

The copy of the "Last Supper" (Plate V.) by Marco d'Oggiono, now in
the Diploma Gallery at Burlington House, was made shortly after the
original painting was completed. It gives but a faint echo of that
sublime work "in which the ideal and the real were blended in perfect