From the life of the Virgin in the temple we have several beautiful pictures. As she was to be placed before women as an example of every virtue, so she was skilled in all feminine accomplishments ; she was as studious, as learned, as wise, as she was industrious, chaste, and temperate.
She is seen surrounded by her young companions, the maidens who were brought up in the temple with her, in a picture by Agnolo Gaddi. (Florence, Carmine.) She is instructing her companions, in a charming picture by Luini : here she appears as a girl of seven or eight years old, seated on a sort of throne, dressed in a simple light blue tunic, with long golden hair ; while the children around her look up and listen with devout faces. (Brera, Milan.)
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