Fra Angelico | Page 8

the ancient Christian legend which directly
connects the story of original sin with that of the Redemption.
This mystic subject, which does not lack grace and freshness in the
Cortona painting, finds its fuller development in San Marco at Florence.
Here the Madonna is seated on a wooden stool, her head projected

forward almost in ecstasy, with hands clasped on her breast, and in
similar attitude the angel half kneels before her. The scene takes place
before a little grated window in the colonnade of a cloister, 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