te a little blue drapery."

It is interesting to know that this great picture took Titian three
years, off and on, to finish. It was a commission from the Duke of
Ferrara, who supplied canvas and frame for it, and repeatedly wrote to
press for its delivery; it reached him in 1523.

_A Popular Handbook to the National Gallery_ (London and New York,
1888).

FOOTNOTES:

[3] _Modern Painters_, Vols. I., XXVII., XXX. (Preface to Second
Edition), pt. i. sec. ii. ch. 1 sec. 5, pt. ii. sec. ii. ch. 1. sec. 15;
Vol. III. pt. iv. ch. ix. sec. 18; Vol. V. pt. ix. ch. iii. sec. 31;
_Arrows of the Chace_, I. 58.

THE CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN

(_FRA ANGELICO_)

THEOPHILE GAUTIER

_The Coronation of the Virgin_, by Fra Beato Angelico, seems to have
been painted by an angel rather than by a mortal. Time has not tarnished
the ideal freshness of this painting, delicate as a miniature in a
missal, and whose tints are borrowed from the whiteness of the lily, the
rose of the dawn, the blue of the sky, and the gold of the stars. No
muddy tones of earth dull these seraphic beings composed of luminous
vapours. Upon a throne with marble steps, the varied colours of which
are symbolic, Christ is seated, holding a crown of rich workmanship
which he is about to place upon the head of his divine mother, kneeling
before him, with her head modestly inclined and her hands crossed upon
her breast. Around the throne, throng a choir of angel-musicians,
playing the trumpet, the theorbo, the _angelot_, and the _viola d'
amore_. A light flame flutters about their heads and their great wings
palpitate with joy at this glorious coronation which will transform the
humble handmaid of the Lord into the Lady of Paradise. To the left, an
angel kneels in prayer. In the lower part of the painting with faces
uplifted to the sky the hosts of the blessed, distributed in two
groups, adore and contemplate. On one side, are Moses, Saint John the
Baptist, the apostles, the bishops, and the founders of orders,
distinguished by some emblem, and for greater certainty bearing their
names inscribed around their nimbus, or upon the embroideries of their
vestments. Saint Dominick holds a branch of lilies and a book. A sun
forms the agrafe of Saint Thomas Aquinas's mantle; Charlemagne,
"_l'empereur a la barbe fleurie_," is recognizable by his crown of
_fleur-de-lis_. Saint Nicholas, bishop of Myra, has by his side the
three balls of gold, symbolic of the