Also, the one
holding the child is rather pretty. Also, the servant pouring out the
water does it from a great height, without splashing, most cleverly.
Also, the lady coming to ask for St. Anne, and see the baby, walks
majestically and is very finely dressed. And as for that bas-relief in
the style of Luca della Robbia, you might really almost think it
_was_ Luca! The very best plated goods, Master Ghirlandajo, no
doubt--always on hand at your shop.
Well, now you must ask for the Sacristan, who is civil and nice enough,
and get him to let you into the green cloister, and then go into the
less cloister opening out of it on the right, as you go down the steps;
and you must ask for the tomb of the Marcheza Stiozzi Ridolfi; and in
the recess behind the Marcheza's tomb--very close to the ground, and in
excellent light, if the day is fine--you will see two small frescos,
only about four feet wide each, in odd-shaped bits of wall--quarters of
circles; representing--that on the left, the Meeting of Joachim and
Anna at the Golden Gate; and that on the right, the Birth of the
Virgin.
No flourish of trumpets here, at any rate, you think! No gold on the
gate; and, for the birth of the Virgin--is this all! Goodness!--nothing
to be seen, whatever, of bas-reliefs, nor fine dresses, nor graceful
pourings out of water, nor processions of visitors?
No. There's but one thing you can see, here, which you didn't in
Ghirlandajo's fresco, unless you were very clever and looked hard for
it--the Baby! And you are never likely to see a more true piece of
Giotto's work in this world.
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