The study and criticism of Italian art . e of thelower part of the curtain is paralleled in the back-ground of that picture. If I chose to make com-parisons with works not yet universally accepted asAntonellos, as for instance Mr. Bensons Madonna,I could find further striking resemblances; but I de-liberately look for them in such paintings alone assignatures or documents and internal evidence com-bine to put beyond question. Hands are if anything even more peculiar to theartist than folds. The two in the lower left-handcorner holding the glass are so entirely in thescheme of hands like the An
The study and criticism of Italian art . e of thelower part of the curtain is paralleled in the back-ground of that picture. If I chose to make com-parisons with works not yet universally accepted asAntonellos, as for instance Mr. Bensons Madonna,I could find further striking resemblances; but I de-liberately look for them in such paintings alone assignatures or documents and internal evidence com-bine to put beyond question. Hands are if anything even more peculiar to theartist than folds. The two in the lower left-handcorner holding the glass are so entirely in thescheme of hands like the Angels at Syracuse andthe Madonnas at Messina that they alone wouldsuffice to make me wonder whether the work inwhich they occurred was not by Antonello. Theright hand holding the cherries has the thumb firmlybent back as in the Messina Madonna just men-tioned, and the Virgin in the Syracuse Annuncia-tion once again. As for the other hand in ourpicture it is singularly like that of the Gregory inthe Messina Polyptych. ANTONELLO DA MESSINA. \_Syra use. ANNUNCIATIO wmmm wmm AND ANTONELLOS ALTAR-PIECE 105 Even such trifles as the billets and circlets em-bellishing the throne re-occur in the Syracuse picture,besides a bit of carving so lingeringly Gothic as thekind of quatrefoil that we get a glimpse of on theseat. We agreed that there was no great likeness intype between the two faces in this picture andothers of Antonellos. Yet when we turn our atten-tion to details there is no lack of the modelling of the mouth and chin of theChild recalls the Dresden St. Sebastian, and theVirgins mouth if closed would resemble more thanone in Antonellos portraits. Finally, the hair ofthe Child, with its rebellious curls, is painted with avividness of touch that reminds us of the Gabriel atSyracuse. The design and peculiarities of the Vienna Ma-donna thus point to Antonello as its author, and itnow remains to be seen whether anything is hiddenaway in this panel that betrays a lat
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubje, booksubjectartitalian
