The Whole
Interest, Therefore, Of The Piece Concentrates In The Centre Figures,
The Madonna And Child, And Two Angel Children Gazing Up From The Foot
Of The Picture.
These angel children were the first point on which my
mind rested, in its struggle to overcome its disappointment, and bring
itself _en rapport_ with the artist.
In order fully to appreciate
their spiritual beauty, one must have seen an assortment of those
things called angels, which occur in the works of the old masters.
Generally speaking, I know of nothing more calculated to moderate any
undue eagerness to go to heaven than the common run of canvas angels.
Far the greater part are roistering, able-bodied fellows with wings,
giving indisputable signs of good living, and of a coarseness slightly
suggestive of blackguardism. Far otherwise with _these_ fair
creatures, with their rainbow-colored wings, and their serene,
upturned eyes of thought baptized with emotion. They are the first
things I have seen worthy of my ideas of Raphael.
As to the Madonna, I think that, when Wilkie says she is "nearer the
perfection of female elegance and grace than any thing in painting,"
he does not speak with discrimination. Mere physical beauty and grace
are not _the_ characteristics of the figure: many more perfect
forms can be found, both on canvas and in marble. But the merits of
the figure, to my mind, are, first, its historic accuracy in
representing the dark-eyed Jewish maiden; second, the wonderful
fulness and depth of expression thrown into the face; and third, the
mysterious resemblance and sympathy between the face of the mother and
that of the divine child.
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