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carefully studied, and the brutality of an insolent
officer is forcibly represented. But perhaps the most
interesting of his works out of Orvieto are those in his
native place, Cortona. In the Church of the Gesu in that
town there is an altar-piece representing Madonna in glory
with saints, which also contains on a smaller scale than
the principal figures a little design of the Temptation in
Eden. You recognise the master's individuality in the
muscular and energetic Adam. The Duomo has a Communion of
the Apostles which shows Signorelli's independence of
tradition. It is the Cenacolo treated with freedom. Christ
stands in the midst of the twelve, who are gathered around
him, some kneeling and some upright, upon a marble
pavement. The whole scene is conceived in a truly grand
style--noble attitudes, broad draperies, sombre and rich
colouring, masculine massing of the figures in effective
groups. The Christ is especially noble. Swaying a little
to the right, he gives the bread to a kneeling apostle.
The composition is marked by a dignity and self-restraint
which Raphael might have envied. San Niccolo, again, has a
fine picture by this master. It is a Deposition with
saints and angels--those large-limbed and wide-winged
messengers of God whom none but Signorelli realised. The
composition of this picture is hazardous, and at first
sight it is even displeasing. The figures seem roughly
scattered in a vacant space. The dead Christ has but
little dignity, and the passion of S. Jerome in the
foreground is stiff in spite of its exaggeration. But long
study only serves to render this strange picture more and
more attractive. Especially noticeable is the youthful
angel clad in dark green who sustains Christ. He is a
young man in the bloom of strength and beauty, whose long
golden hair falls on each side of a sublimely lovely face.
Nothing in painting surpasses the modelling of the
vigorous but delicate left arm stretched forward to
support the heavy corpse. This figure is conceived and
executed in a style worthy of the Orvietan frescoes.
Signorelli, for whose imagination angels had a special
charm, has shown here that his too frequent contempt for
grace was not the result of insensibility to beauty.
Strength is the parent of sweetness in this wonderful
wing