El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-02-05

" ures is the altar piece. OF "taber-
uacle picture" which Fra Angelica has
left US, exhibited in the Uffizi gallery
+ in Florence This beautiful gallery
contains several OF the artists best
pictures. But If we we're to look
down the well lighted marble corridor
and see the grand and imposing vista
filled with pictures and statues. We
would probably see copyists here and
there seated at their easels. Stopping
to watch one Of these at work. we
find that he is copying Fra Angelico's
angels for which the demand IS so
great that the copyists cannot work
fast enough. These angels on gilded
panels have made Fra Angelica famil-
lar in America. for they are imported
into every city. The model for this
fascinating picture was ordered 10 be
made Of wood IN the shape Of a tryp-
itch Fra Angelica painted upon il in
1888 a Madonna and Child, larger than
lie. with twelve small angels in the
border OF the altar piece.
Angels of Great Beauty.
The picture was to be painted inside
and out. according to contract. in the
artists best workmanship. with bril-
liant and varied colors. and gold and
silver Of the finest quality that could
oe procured The Madonna holds the
child in her arms. while in the cornice
are the twelve angels. of such great
beauty that they seemed to have been
rained down from heaven" Anyone
acquainted with Fra Angelico's paint
ings would admit that his genius most
clearly shows itself in his paintings
OF angels. He endoWs them with the
freshness Of youthful prime, but he
never represents them as infants, Ike
the school OF Perugino. being OF the
opinion that the age Of childhood
could not express the zeal and intel
tiers and messengers OF the Most
High"
This remarkable work was done
with the imperfect medium OF the
time, called tempera. oil was not
Of plain color mixed with fig Juice and
honey. Fra Angelico's colors were
clear and pure The expressions Of
his faces were heavenly. His chief
gift was Imaginative spirituality but
he failed IN painting the real and ac-
tual His drawing IS often faulty. and
his proportions incorrect He could
depict repose but not action: land
when he attempts 10 portray the
workings Of any evil or malignant
passions Lle EEsulL is almost luLl-
crously weak All his sinners look
like wolves in Sleeps clothing. Even
IL he tries to paint foul fiends-an
effort into which his gentle nature
was on rare occasions eguiled-they
are only very ugly but very tame hob
COLLINS. with scarcely any flavor OF
the genuine devil in their compost
Privileges of the Guilds.
It was the custom in that day for
men OF the same trade to band them
selves into organizations known as
and political societies. and played an
important part in the public affairs
Of the middle ages In Italy they were
an excellent means Of supporting the
citizens against the nobility. They
even possessed certain political priv /
ileges- When the advantages of these
associations became known and felt
they rapidly increased: and in the
struggles Of the citizens against the I
nobility the principal resistance I
against the latter was made through I
the corporation. They became so de- 1
sirable that even free citizens found 1
Il beneficial to become members Of a 1
guild They accumulated wealth and /
distributed IL freely. Thus Il was that /
Fra Angelica entered into a contract
to paint his best altar piece, THE ia
and then play soldier with us said
Billie.
And Uncle Wiggfly did and the
sword chopped wood very nicely in
Iced, and when the Skuddlemagoon \
and the Pipsisewah came back to get
Uncle WigEily he wasn't there. hav-
ug gone home with the squirrel I
bows and the bundle OF lzindIing. So
his teaches rs that even a drum may
be OF some use IN this world, and II {
he cork doesn't pop out Of the bottle
u Eetchup and make the pepper
sneeze, I'll tell you next about Uncle
WiCgily's snow house.
Copyright, 1918, By the Mcclure
Newspaper Syndicate.)