we can only say that to us it seems an aggravation, rather than a justification, of the original offence; and of the latter, that it is not true. Dr Moore has pointed out* that, in the first seven cantos of the Inferno, with the exception of the 'people of much worth' in Limbo, almost all the persons mentioned are men of no account. And in other parts of the Inferno also characters are found on whom the most patient research has failed to throw any light.† Even of those about whom something is known, many seem to be quite fourth-rate people.

We remember reading in the days of our childhood a story of Lionardo da Vinci. We do not know whether it was based on any legend or tradition, or whether it was merely the creation of a graceful fancy. The story, as we remember it, was something like this. When Lionardo was painting his great fresco of the Last Supper he reserved the figure of the Saviour for the supreme effort at the last. He painted first the eleven faithful apostles. But when he came to the traitor, the tempter suggested to him to avenge himself on a personal foe by representing him in the character of Judas, which he did with perfect success. But after yielding to the passions of hatred and revenge, he strove in vain to paint 'a semblance such as His,'‡ and he threw down his brushes in despair. The day came when the fresco was to be unveiled, and Lionardo stood with downcast eyes awaiting the inevitable shame and exposure. But instead of the shouts of derision which he had expected, an awestruck silence fell on the assembly, and Lionardo lifted his eyes to seek the cause. And he saw in the centre of his picture a figure in form and hue more beautiful than even he could have conceived, for an angel from heaven had descended in the night and completed the unfinished work. But the hues of heaven could not last in the atmosphere of this low earth; and that is why the central figure of the world's masterpiece was the first to fade.

* Studies,' 170.

† Borsiere, Inf. xvi, 67-72; Buoso, xxv, 140; Cianfa, ib. 43; and Puccio Sciancato, ib. 148.

Si fatta la sembianza,' Par. xxxi, 107. This occurs in the simile of the pilgrim from Croatia gazing on the Veronica at Rome—perhaps the loveliest simile in the whole of the Commedia,

We might almost dream that something of the same kind had occurred in the composition of the Divina Commedia, so great is the distance between its highest and its lowest, between Dante with his cheeks begrimed with the soot of hell, and Dante with his face irradiated with the beatific vision.

It is not for us to measure the distance between any man's best and worst. The strange story' of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde has a serious significance for almost all of us. Nay, in extreme cases, Dante's terrible imagination of a continual interchange of the human and serpentine natures is not too violent an allegory. Once, and only once, on this earth moved One

'Che nacque e visse senza pecca';

One who could sound the depths and scan the heights to which human nature is capable of sinking and aspiring; One who needed not that any should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.'

Art. III. THE PALACE OF KNOSSOS.

1. The Annual of the British School at Athens. Vols VI-IX. London: Macmillan, 1900-4.

2. The Pottery of Knossos. By D. Mackenzie. Journal of Hellenic Studies, XXIII, I. London: Macmillan, 1903. 3. Monumenti Antichi. Issued by the R. Accademia dei Lincei. Vols XII, XIII. Milan: Hoepli, 1902-3.

4. Excavations at Phylakopi in Melos. Published by the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. (J.H.S. Supp. Paper, IV.) London: Macmillan, 1904.

5. Mycenaean Tree and Pillar Cult.

J.H.S. XXI. London: Macmillan, 1901.

By A. J. Evans.

6. Homerische Paläste. By Ferd. Noack. Leipzig: Teubner, 1903.

THE ruins of the Knossian palace* are now almost entirely uncovered. This does not mean that the capital of prehistoric Crete will have been explored by the end of the coming season, or the season after it. A large area north, west, and south of the royal buildings, which has been proved by soundings to contain extensive remains of early houses of great interest, has still to be excavated; and cemeteries of prehistoric epochs, tapped at various points upon a wide outer circle, appear, from the results of the past season, to retain a fair proportion of virgin graves. There seems also to be an outlying north-western quarter of the palace itself, containing rich magazines, not yet opened up.† The paved road to it has been followed for some distance, and will be explored further in 1905; while the primitive lower levels all over the site are to be re-examined.

Moreover, the fortunate explorer has yet to put before us all he has learned himself. A comprehensive volume, with copious pictorial illustration, is to be issued by the same house which has published his preliminary reports, at the instance of the Committee of the British School at Athens; and we understand that a special work on the

*The plan published herewith is that of the Later Palace, drawn by Mr Theodore Fyfe, and exhibited at Burlington House in 1902, with the results of the season of 1903 added. It is the most complete plan yet issued, and appears by kind permission of Messrs. Macmillan and Mr A. J. Evans. See plan: Western Theatral Area.