r .6

FIRST LECTURE.

borrowed it in the expullion from Paradife, without anyalteration, from Mafaccio; and like him turned Adamout with both his hands before his face. And how hashe reprefented Mofes at the burning bufh, to exprefsthe aftonifhed awe of human in the vilible prefence ofdivine nature? by a double repetition of the lame ex-pedient; once in the ceiling of a Stanza, and again inthe loggia of the Vatican , with both his hands beforehis face, or rather with his face immerfed in hishands. As we cannot fofpeCt in the matter of ex-preffion the unworthy motive of making ufe of thismode merely to avoid a difficulty, or to denote the in-fo p portable fplendour of the vilion, which was fo farfrom being the cafe, that according to the facred re-cord, Mofes ftept out of his way to examine the inef-fectual blaze: we muft conclude that nature herfelfdictated to him this method as fuperior to all he couldexprefs by features; and that he recognized the famedictate in Mafaccio, who can no more be fuppofed tohave been acquainted with the precedent of Timanthes,than Shakfpeare with that of Euripides , when he madeMacduff draw his hat over his face.

Mafaccio and Raphael proceeded on the principle,Gherard Laireffe copied only the image of Timanthes,and has perhaps incurred by it the charge of what Lon­ ginus