r clasped hands have the
exaggerated length of finger and also the look of extraordinary
pliability which he invariably gives. Outside the room in the open court
kneels the Angel of the Annunciation and by his side kneels St. Emedius,
the patron of Ascoli, with a model of the city in his hands. These
figures are realistic in gesture and expression, interested, eager,
responsive, filled with quick life and joyous impulse. The richly
embroidered garment of the angel, his gilded wings, his traditional
attitude, neither overpower nor detract from the vivid individuality of
the beautiful face so firmly yet so freely modeled within its delicate
hard bounding line. This feeling of actuality in the scene is carried
still farther by the introduction of a charming little child on a
balcony at the left, peering out from behind a pillar with naive
curiosity and half-shy, half-bold determination to see the end of the
adventure. All this is conceived in the spirit of modernity and the
personal quality is unmistakable and enchanting. There is no excess of
emotion nor is there undue restraint. There is a blithe sense of the
interest of life and the personality of human beings that gives a value
to the subject and a meaning beyond its accepted symbolism. On the
technical side, also, the panel has remarkable merit even for this
expert and careful painter. His Venetian fondness for magnificent
externals finds ample expression in the rich accessories. A peacock is
perched on the casement of the Virgin's room, flowers and fruits, vases
and variegated marbles all come into the plan of the handsome
environment, and are justified artistically by the differentiation of
textures, the gradation of color, the research into intricacies of
pattern, the light firm treatment of architectural structure, and the
skilful subordination of all superficial detail to the elements of the
human drama, the figures of which occupy little space, but are
overwhelming in significance.

[Illustration: In the Metropolitan Museum, New York.

ST. GEORGE

_From a panel by Carlo Crivelli_]

It is interesting to compare this _Annunciation_ with the two small
sextagonal panels of the same subject in the Staedel Museum at Frankfurt
which are earlier in date. In many respects the compositions are closely
similar. There is the same red brick wall, the same Oriental rug hanging
from the casement, the types of Angel and Virgin are the same, but in
the Frankfurt panel there