_Carlo Crivelli_ (Venetian: painted 1468-1493). _See 602._
This picture (like 724) is signed by "_Sir_ Charles": it is dated
1491. It bears the painter's sign-manual also in the fruits and the
vase of flowers. The giver of the picture (which was dedicated to the
Virgin, and which, as recorded in a Latin inscription below, cost no
inconsiderable sum) is kneeling, in the habit of a Dominican nun, at
the foot of the throne. On the Madonna's left is St. Sebastian, pierced
with arrows and tied to a pillar, but with the happy look of "sorrow
ended" on his face. On her right is St. Francis. Near his feet are
some flowers and a snail--typical of the kindness and humbleness of
the saint, of whom it is recorded that "he spoke never to bird nor to
cicala, nor even to wolf and beast of prey, but as his brother," and
who thus taught the lesson "Never to blend our pleasure, or our pride,
With sorrow of the meanest thing that feels" (_Wordsworth_).