Page:Essays and Studies - Swinburne (1875).pdf/347

 faultiest and most favourite types of his master reappear in the late frescoes of Lippino which add even to the church of Santa Maria Novella new glory and beauty. In those two great pictures of martyrdom and miracle there are faces suggestive of overmuch leather and bony outline, such as Botticelli, in the violent pursuit of realism, too often allowed himself to design for the sake of genuine expression and physical fidelity. Whereas in Lippino's earlier and greater frescoes at the Carmine there is no shortcoming of the kind. A fair sample of the somewhat lean and fleshless beauty, worn down it seems by some sickness or natural trouble rather than by any ascetic or artificial sorrow, in which Botticelli must have taught his pupil to take pleasure, is here in the veiled head of Simonetta, thin-faced, with small sharp features, bright intent eyes, and rippling hair; a model, it will be remembered, dear to the teacher of Lippino. Scarcely less in the manner of his master is the figure of an angel waiting by a door, or the group of witches and beggars, full of a fierce tumultuous grace. Near these is the strange typical figure of a woman holding what seems some armorial blazon on a scroll in her hand; her face is also thin, fierce, and hesitating; some doubtful evil, some mystery of a witch's irresolute anger, is half expressed and half suppressed by her features and action. If indeed she was meant simply for the presiding genius of a family or some allegoric spirit about to proclaim their titles, the artist has contrived to give her rather the aspect of a sorceress who holds their house in her hand, a Sidonia ready to destroy their hope of generation by a single spell. Especially will she recall the heroine of Meinhold to those who have