The Child is older than is usual in such groups, and differs in another way, for tiring of a reading lesson, He has laid His arm upon the book: a pretty touch.
Michelangelo's Bacchus, an early work, is opposite.

It is a remarkable proof of his extraordinary range that the same little room should contain the David, the Madonna, the Brutus, and the Bacchus.

In David one can believe, as I have said, as the young serious stalwart of the Book of Kings.

The Madonna, although perhaps a shade too intellectual--or at any rate more intellectual and commanding than the other great artists have accustomed us to think of her--has a sweet gravity and power and almost domestic tenderness.

The Brutus is powerful and modern and realistic; while Bacchus is steeped in the Greek spirit, and the little faun hiding behind him is the very essence of mischief.