The Madonna in art . With the exception of the Zingarella, whois the most motherly, they are all in aplayful mood. The same playfulness, but 138 THE MADONNA IN ART. of a more sweet and motherly kind, lightsthe face of the Madonna della Scala. Thecomposition is somewhat in the portraitstyle, showing the mother in half length,seated under a sort of canopy. The babeclings closely to her neck, turning aboutat the spectator with a glance half shyand half mischievous. His coyness awak-ens a smile of tender amusement in thegentle, young face above him. The picture has an interesting was or
The Madonna in art . With the exception of the Zingarella, whois the most motherly, they are all in aplayful mood. The same playfulness, but 138 THE MADONNA IN ART. of a more sweet and motherly kind, lightsthe face of the Madonna della Scala. Thecomposition is somewhat in the portraitstyle, showing the mother in half length,seated under a sort of canopy. The babeclings closely to her neck, turning aboutat the spectator with a glance half shyand half mischievous. His coyness awak-ens a smile of tender amusement in thegentle, young face above him. The picture has an interesting was originally painted in fresco overthe eastern gate of Parma, where Vasarisaw and admired it. In after years, thewall which it decorated was incorporatedinto a small new church, of which itformed the rear wall. To accommodatethe high level of the Madonna, the build-ing was somewhat elevated, and, beingentered by a flight of steps, was known asS. Maria della Scala (of the staircase).The name attached itself to the picture. Correggio.— Madonna della Scala. THE MADONNA OF LOVE. 141 even after the church was destroyed (in1812), and the fresco removed to thetown gallery. The marks of defacementwhich it bears are due to the votive offer-ings which were formerly fastened uponit, — among them, a silver crown worn bythe Madonna as late as the eighteenthcentury. Though such scars injure itsartistic beauty, they add not a little to theromantic interest which invests it. Beside such names as Raphael andCorreggio, history furnishes but one otherworthy of comparison for the portrayal ofthe Mater Amabilis — it is Titian. HisMadonna is by no means uniformly moth-erly. There are times when we look invain for any softening of her aristocraticfeatures; when her stately dignity seemsquite incompatible with But when love melts her heart 1 See the Madonna of the Cherries in the Belvedere atVienna, and the Madonna and Saints in the Dresden Gallery. 142 THE MADONNA IN ART. how g
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