Page:The painters of Florence from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century (1915).djvu/133

1455] work Angelico has lavished the richest ornament and the most radiant colour on the angels who stand before the throne, each with a spark of fire on his forehead and glittering stars on his purple wings. The broad flight of steps leading up to the throne of Christ heightens the solemnity of the imposing ceremonial, and the long sweep of the Virgin's flowing mantle gives an air of youthful charm and lovely humility to her kneeling form. Foremost among the hosts of the blessed are St. Louis, with crown and fleur-de-lis, St. Thomas Aquinas, with rays of light issuing from his book, St. Dominic, with the star on his brow and the lily in his hand, fixing his eyes in adoring love on the face of Mary; and on the right a group of virgin-martyrs—Agnes with her white lamb, Katharine with her wheel, and Magdalen in red robes, with long yellow locks, and the vase of precious ointment in her hand. "So, and no otherwise, do the blessed saints appear," exclaims Vasari, in his enthusiasm, "could we see them in their place in Heaven! But the expression on their faces and the colour of their robes could only be painted by a saint or angel like themselves!" The employment of flat tones and pure colour, the absence of shadow and lavish use of gold with which Angelico seeks to represent the glories of heaven, give the picture a primitive air; but the carefully thought-out space-construction and structure of the figures show a degree of scientific knowledge little inferior to Masaccio's own. Another smaller, but hardly less beautiful. Coronation was painted by Fra Angelico for the hospital of S. Maria Nuova—an institution closely connected with the Dominicans of San Marco—and is now in the Uffizi. Here we have