the condottieri in the
_Age of Despots_.]

[Footnote 57: See Chapter III. of the volume on _Greek Sculpture_, in
the Riverside Art Series.]

XV

SHRINE

BY MINO DA FIESOLE

We have seen from the examples in our collection that the art of
sculpture may be applied in many forms to the decoration of churches,
without and within. Statues like those in the niches on the church of
Or San Michele, sculptured altars like that by Donatello in the church
at Padua, organ galleries like that by Luca della Robbia in the
Florence cathedral, monumental tombs like those of Ilaria del Carretto
and the Cardinal of Portugal, medallions and lunettes on walls and
ceilings, are among the treasures enriching the churches of Italy.

Sculpture may also be used to ornament almost every article of church
furnishing: pulpits, fonts, and basins for holy water, wardrobes and
cabinets, chests and chairs, as well as a multitude of those smaller
objects wrought in metal which belong to the goldsmith's art. Upon all
such things as these the Italian artists of the fifteenth century
spent much careful and loving labor.

[Illustration: SHRINE (MINO DA FIESOLE) _Church of Santa Croce,
Florence_]

Our illustration shows a kind of church furniture common in this
period. It is a sculptured cabinet to contain articles used in the
altar services, such as the sacramental wafers or the holy oil. A
receptacle for objects so sacred is called a shrine. The architectural
framework is in the form styled a tabernacle, such as we have seen in
the niches on the outside of Or San Michele.[58]

The artist was Mino da Fiesole, whose decorative works were very
popular, both for the delicacy of their finish and the quality of
sentiment they expressed. His idea here was to make the design suggest
a sacred story, the story of Christ's resurrection. The opening into
the cabinet is the entrance of the tomb, and without, the angels await
the coming of the risen Lord.

Our thoughts turn to the Sunday morning in the garden of Joseph of
Arimathea, when the faithful women came to the rock-hewn tomb. The
stone had been rolled away, and angels greeted them with the glad
tidings, "He is risen."[59] The angels of our picture press forward
eagerly to peer into the shadowy depths of the interior. There are two
who are close to the door, while two more, with long torches, stand on
the step below. Above the door hovers a dove, the emblem of the Holy
Spirit.

Various fe