lla" and the "Adoration of the Magi." The Coronation has been
too much damaged by useless retouching to be able fully to judge of
its merits. It is for this cause perhaps that some people have
ventured to doubt its authenticity: "one perceives," writes Cartier,
"his religious conception, and desire to follow his model, but the
whole composition lacks order and space, the figures are heavy,
attitudes embarrassed, proportions short, outlines coarse and the
whole painting is strained."[17]

[Illustration: MADONNA DELLA STELLA (OF THE STAR).
(San Marco, Florence.)]

Now this is not absolutely exact. Naturally if we compare this little
reliquary with the great "Coronation" at the Louvre, we find the
composition more compressed, but it is not confused. True, the types
of the Virgin and Redeemer have not that grand simplicity which with
sincere enthusiasm we admire in his later panels of the same subject.
But possibly we have here the artist's first conception, an idea which
he successively developed and perfected till he reached the highest
grade of beauty, first in the picture at the Louvre, then in the truly
celestial one of the Florentine Gallery.

In the little painting of the Madonna della Stella (of the Star) we
have qualities of grace and nobility all Fra Angelico's own. The six
adoring angels on the slope of the frame, and the two seated at the
base playing musical instruments, not only fully reveal his ability,
but might be classed with those of the Linen Weaver's Tabernacle as
among the most beautiful and ethereal he ever painted.

The third reliquary which is divided into two parts represents the
"Adoration of the Magi," below, and the "Annunciation" above. The
Virgin has a book on her lap, her arms crossed on the breast, and head
extended towards the celestial messenger who kneels before her; but
both figures, though showing Fra Angelico's characteristic sentiment,
have exaggerated proportions; the neck is inordinately long, the
colouring enamelled, and so brilliant as to give the picture the
character of a fine and elegantly illuminated missal. In the
"Adoration" the Virgin displays the same defects of proportion, but
among the figures of the three Kings and the personages accompanying
them, are some of exceptional elegance and exquisite beauty. On the
whole the scene may be classed among the finest and most graceful of
the works which Fra Angelico has left to us.

[Illustration: THE ANNUNCIATION AND THE AD