Fra Angelico | Page 8

utterly bare of ornament, but in this very simplicity lies all the charm and poetry of Angelico.
Before a subject so ideal, so solemn, which reveals in such intensity of faith and feeling how his thought spontaneously turned to the prayer of the Salutation which was certainly on the artist's lips as he painted, or was inspired by some sweet Annunciation hymn such as this, which probably has been often repeated before this entrancing picture:
Alzando gli occhi vidi Maria bella Col libro in mano, e l' angel gli favella.
Dinnanzi a lei si stava inginocchiato Quell' angel Gabriel tanto lucente, Ed umilmente a lei ebbe parlato: "Vergine pura, non temer niente; Messaggio son di Dio onnipotente, Che t' ha eletta e vuolti per sua sposa."
E poi le disse: "In cielo è ordinato, Che siate madre del figliuol di Dio, Però che gli angeli il padre han pregato, Che con effetto adempia el lor disio; E da parte del sommo e buono Dio, Questa benedizione a voi s' appella."
Queste parole fur tanto infiammate E circundate di virtù d' amore, Che ben parean da Dio fussin mandate, E molto se n' allegra nel suo core: "Da poi che piace all' alto Dio Signore, Io son contenta d' essere sua ancella."
Ella si stava dentro alla sua cella, E grande meraviglia si faceva, Però che a nessun uomo ella favella, E molto timorosa rispondeva. L' angelo disse allora: "Ave Maria, Di grazia tu se' piena, o chiara stella."
Allor discese lo Spirito santo, Come un razzo di sol l' ha circundata, Poi dentro a lei entrò quel frutto santo In quella sacrestia chiusa e serrata; Di poi partori inviolata E si rimase vergine e donzella.
O veri amanti, venite a costei, Quella che di bellezza è madonna: L' aria e la terra si sostien per lei, Del ciel regina e del mondo colonna, Chi vuol veder la donzella gioconda Vada a veder la nunziata bella.[15]
The other predella at Cortona represents various episodes in the life of the Virgin:--the Nativity, Marriage, Visitation, Adoration of the Magi, Presentation in the Temple, Death, Burial and lastly the apparition of the Virgin to the blessed Dominican Reginald of Orleans. Padre Marchese believes that this last scene did not originally belong to the predella; but the doubt is unfounded, for nothing is more natural than the artist's wish to connect the history of the Virgin with his Order, of which she is the patroness.
[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN. (Cortona.)]
[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN. (Uffizi Gallery.)]
Cavalcaselle, as well as Marchese, affirms that the scene of the Marriage of the Virgin reproduces that of the picture in the Uffizi at Florence. This may be, as far as the subject and scene go, but in the disposition of the figures, the development of action, the two works have nothing in common. Of course in both there must be the priest who unites the bridal couple, and around them the usual personages in various attitudes of complaisance, surprise, and rejoicing, but the grouping of the figures in the predella at Cortona is more naturally conceived. The women on the right appear to come from the house where they had met to assist at the ceremony; the men stand on the left. The background with its portico, and the walls, above which the trees of a garden project, are shown with more truth and solidity. To give wider scope to the scene Fra Angelico has depicted the marriage in an open space. The picture in the Uffizi, on the other hand, is so conventional both in architecture and landscape that it is impossible to establish a comparison between the two.
[Illustration: THE VISITATION.]
The Visitation depicts the wife of Zacharias meeting the Virgin, and lovingly embracing her; a serving maid leaning against the threshold, half hidden by the door, is listening with devotion, while another woman kneels on the ground in the road raising her hands to heaven.
In the Adoration of the Magi we find the usual qualities of composition and feeling. One of the Kings has already rendered homage to the Redeemer, and is talking to St. Joseph, who thanks him with earnest devotion; and while the second falls prone before the divine Child, and kisses His feet with profound emotion, the third prepares himself to render the required homage. All around are elegant little figures of pages and servants, in life-like and natural attitudes.
[Illustration: ADORATION OF THE MAGI.]
The last story represents the Assumption of the Virgin, at which, according to ancient tradition, Christ is present and carries in his arms the soul of His mother in the form of a little child.
[Illustration: ADORATION OF THE MAGI. (Uffizi Gallery.)]
Padre Marchese wrote that both the Adoration and this Assumption are in every respect similar, or replicas of those in the Uffizi. If anything, the pretty little panels of