“It is by his irresistible power to reach the adventurous side in the character, not only of his own, but of all nations, that Marryat is largely human.” (Conrad)

“La Gioconda is, in the truest sense, Leonardo’s masterpiece — the revealing instance of his mode of thought and work. In suggestiveness, only the Melancholia of Dürer is comparable to it; and no crude symbolism disturbs the effect of its subdued and graceful mystery.” (Pater)

by Walter Pater