THE ANGELS OF BURNE-JONES
VEROCCHIO: BAPTISM (detail of Leonardo's Angel)
The Burne-Jones type had rounder, more inquiring eyes, thinner cheeks, a sadder mouth, a more willowy figure. It appears often in long, flowing hair, with swirling drapery, and dramatic action. At other times one sees it as a romantic type consumed by a fever of passionate sentiment. The Annunciation shown herewith is not a very good illustration of this. The Madonna has a dull stare in her eyes as though she was something of an invalid, and even the angel has a semi-malarious look. But the melancholy, the sadness, the morbidity, so apparent in Botticelli are also apparent here. The picture is a fine example of the painter's decorative sense. It has been put together with much skill. Notice the architecture, the passageway at back, the bas reliefs, the repeated lines of the draperies in both the Madonna and the angel. One could almost wish it in stained glass, so beautifully would it fill an upright window.
Every painter of Botticelli's rank in Italy had a score or less of followers, and among them all there was never any dearth of sentimental Madonnas and pathetic angels. Florence held no monopoly of the subject.