Child in an oval picture frame supported by cherubs.a This however does not seem so novel as some of Perugino's ovals which are bordered with the heads of cherubs.b

Wings are seldom sufficient to suggest lightness in the air, because they can scarcely be designed of the size and strength which we judge to be proportionate to the presumed weight of the body, without making the form appear abnormal, though there are instances in which partial success has been achieved by using comparatively small figures and giving them unusually large wings. The use of more than a single pair of wings is hardly permissible because of the apparent anomaly. Actually one pair is not less incomprehensible from an anatomical point of view than several pairs, but custom has driven from our minds any suggestion of incongruity in respect of the representation of the common type of Angel. Naturally when skilfully arranged, the more wings, the stronger the illusion of flight, and if a habit of giving four wings to an Angel were engendered, we should perhaps see nothing strange in them. Even six wings have been given to Angels without making them appear ungraceful.d

When there is no assistance, as clouds or flowing drapery, lent to Angels to promote the illusion of suspension, it is necessary to give them an attitude which is nearly horizontal. Properly managed, a

a Virgin and Child, Chiesa Nuovo, Rome.

b Ascension of Christ, Perugia; Assumption, Florence Academy, and others.

cJ. H. Witt's Bless the Lord.

d Picart's The Burning Coal.

pair of comparatively small wings may in this way appear to support a heavy form.a Luini actually adds the weight of the body of St. Catherine to three Angels, flying horizontally, who carry her to the tomb ; an invention, strangely enough, followed by Kulmbach in Germany at about the same time. In both cases the illusion is excellent. Some of the early Flemish and German masters, including Van Eyck and Holbein, employed Angels in scenes with the Virgin to hold suspended behind her seat, large falls of brocaded material, and it is curious to note that the Angels themselves seem to be supported by the drapery. In order to assist the suggestion of lightness, Perugino sometimes arched the lower limbs of the Angels, adding a narrow tape scroll; an addition improved upon by Raphael who substituted for the scroll a loosened girdle flying out from the waist.g

The most frequently used form of support for figures in suspension are irregular masses of clouds, upon which the figures sit or stand, and occasionally are partly enfolded therein. Sometimes the cloud bank is more or less shaped for the purpose of relief, or for variety in design. Thus, Raphael makes part of the cloud a perfect footrest for the Virgin," and

a Rembrandt's The Angel quitting Tobias, Louvre. b The Brera, Milan.

c St. Mary's, Krakan.

d Virgin and Child at the Fountain, Antwerp.

e Virgin and Child, Augsburg.

f The Ascension, Borgo San Sepolcro, Perugia.

8 Creation of Woman, Castello Gallery; Prophets and Sybils, Perugia, and others.

h Foligna Madonna, Vatican.

Palma Giovane does a similar thing for a figure of Christ, but in this case the illusion is hazarded as the seat is not directly indicated. Ingres produces an excellent illusion by making the footrest a small separate cloud, which is a variation from the practice of many painters of the Renaissance, who used a separate cloud for each personage in the composition, or even with each foot as with Carlo Crivelli.c In a fresco of the Evangelists at Florence, each of them sits with his insignia on a foliated bank of clouds. Perugino in using a similar plan sometimes places the clouds at the bottom of the picture, no part of the earth being seen, so that the illusion is considerably enhanced. At other times he shows Angels apparently running through the air, with each front foot resting on a tiny cloud, giving the impression that it is fastened there. Durer extended this plan by directly attaching a small cloud to each foot, the effect being somewhat whimsical. Titian was unsuccessful in the use of an isolated cloud. In a Resurrection scene Christ stands on a small thin cloud, and holds a flag-pole, the lower end of which rests upon the cloud. Obviously with such a design no suggestion of ascent can enter the mind. Some artists, as Luca Signorelli,i hide the lower part of the figure behind clouds, but this method,

a Christ in Judgment, Venice.

c Coronation of the Virgin, Milan.

b The Oath of Louis XIII.

d Santa Maria. By an unknown artist of the Ghirlandaio school.

e Christ's Rule.

* Madonna and Child with Penitents, and others.

8 The Virgin with a Canary, Berlin.

i Madonna and Child in Glory, Arezzo.

h Urbino Gallery.