Old Charon, in his boat, "with eyes of brass, who beats the
delaying souls with uplifted oar," is taken directly from Dante:--
Caron demonio con occhi di bragia
Loro accenando, tutte le raccoglie,
Batte col remo qualunque si adagia.
[Image #45]
SPIRITS OF THE BLESSED, PART OF "THE DAY OF JUDGMENT"
SISTINE CHAPEL, ROME
(_By permission of the Fratelli Alinari, Florence_)
Those portions of the fresco in the semicircular spaces at the top, angels
bearing implements of the Passion, appear to have been painted the last.
They approximate in style to the works afterwards done in the Pauline
Chapel, and are not so absolutely true in drawing as the rest of the work.
Here, for the first time, is a sense of fatigue in the workmanship. They
appear to have been treated as two separate compositions filling their
lunettes. Michael Angelo has used the favourite device of Raphael to give
movement, direction, and force of line, two figures pointing almost side
by side in almost exactly parallel actions. Nothing gives so much sense of
rush, as may be seen in many of the compositions in the Loggia. One
instance here is the angel bearing the Crown of Thorns and the figure near
him. Another is just below, two figures near the right arm of the Judge.
One of the finest and most superb groups ever designed by Michael Angelo
is the group of angels blowing the trumpets of doom in the forefront of
the fresco.
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