The Ocala evening star., 1915-03-30

the mountain-ever winding up-up
tho the ancient olive groves, all the
mountain enveloped in a mysterious
beauty and romance-to arrive, after
climbing a long, steep rock-hewn
stairway, worn by the feet of she
brothers of ST. Dominic for Lundreds
of years at the monastery, aad enter
ing the cloisters one seems and feels
to have entered another world. Lean
ing on the old stone parapet l lost my
self, going back in spirit to the tran
quill beauty and fresh emotions of the
past. Leaning there | gazed down,
down thro the wonderful clear atmos-l
phere of Italy; away across the val
ley, across the old-world waters of
the Arno, until my eyes rested on
that exquisite city of Florence, the
glittering marbles of palace and tow
ers, and high over all, that wonderful
-Sancta Maria Della Fiore, by
Brunelleschi! And beyond, high
frowning, the medieval Tower of the
Signoria, considered one of the mas
terpieces of the age; and away to one
side dimly one sees the plaza of the
Monastery of San Marco, its cloisters
frescoed by the hand of Angelica the
blessed. In these cloisters, given by
the great. Medici to the Order of
Order Of Dominic, Fra Angelica pass
ed to the consummation of his pure
life.
The art of Angelica as a colorist
and a draughtsman is perfect, so
beautiful and so noble that one rec
ognizes it by the glorious and perfect
play of colors however surrounded by
the brilliant works of the same school
his may be known as wonderful jew
els among the glitter of common
stones. His figures are so sanity, so
pure and so expressive of the love Of
heaven that the hand of human paint
er will never more trace the like. He
makes you think of your Christ, not
of his painting.
Remember, that in looking upon a
picture. this rule: All great art is in
praise of sop1ething one loves and the
higher the love the higher the art, in
coordinate proportion.
The last of the eleventh century
and the beginning of the twelfth,
about 1897, there arose in Florence a
man, called by some the elect of God
-Cimabue. Italian art had been an
imitation of the conventional Greek.
Cimabue strove to break away from
this servile imitation and his painting
of the Madonna in St Maria Novalla
| is the proof of force of expression
and fullness of form. On the compile
ton of this picture, all the populace Of
Florence, men, women and children,
rich and poor, in gala costumes, with
singing and lights, formed a process
sion carrying this painting through
all the streets of the city and adjacent
hamlets, praising God for giving them
such painter who could give them
such a painting. Such wonderful
enthusiasm for noble things of art is
in these days unknown; we have not
the reverence of spirit or the simple
love of beauty
Cimabue's disciple was Giotto, 1876,
! the friend of Dante who aided him in
the Interpretation of the beautiful and
true. When at Florence / saw hawk
ed in the streets small bronze medal
lions Of the heads of Dante and Giotto.
This cast was from the wonderful
frescoe discovered on the walls Of the
Brancacci chapel, said to be BY Masae-
clio. This frescoe was covered by the
hand of some vandal of the sixteenth
i century with whitewash. Can you
comprehend that?
1cor.o1,,doa or, I,hird pnooA