for another of much greater consequence; for the sake of the general harmony and effect of the picture.  The figure of Ariadne is separated from the great group, and is dressed in blue, which, added to the colour of the sea, makes that quantity of cold colour which Titian thought necessary for the support and brilliancy of the great group; which group is composed, with very little exception, entirely of mellow colours.  But as the picture in this case would be divided into two distinct parts, one half cold, and the other warm; it was necessary to carry some of the mellow colours of the great group into the cold part of the picture, and a part of the cold into the great group; accordingly, Titian gave Ariadne a red scarf, and to one of the Bacchante 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,