[a] Rembrandt's The Angel quitting Tobias, Louvre.
[d] Virgin and Child at the Fountain, Antwerp.
[f] The Ascension, Borgo San Sepolcro, Perugia.
[g] Creation of Woman, Castello Gallery; Prophets and Sybils, Perugia, and others.
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,[a] and Palma Giovane does a similar thing for a figure of Christ,[b] 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,[c] 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.[d] In a fresco of the Evangelists at Florence, each of them sits with his insignia on a foliated bank of clouds.[e] 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.[f] 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.[g] Durer extended this plan by directly attaching a small cloud to each foot, the effect being somewhat whimsical.[h] Titian was unsuccessful in the use of an isolated cloud.[i] 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.
[e] Santa Maria. By an unknown artist of the Ghirlandaio school.
[g] Madonna and Child with Penitents, and others.
[Illustration: PLATE 23 (See page 247) Patricia, by Lydia Emmet (_Private owner, N. Y._)]
Some artists, as Luca Signorelli,[a] hide the lower part of the figure behind clouds, but this method, while indicating suspension, cannot provide an illusion of movement without an assisting device. Thus Schonherr shows an Angel so concealed in a nearly horizontal position with wings fully expanded, the effect being good.[b] When a figure is suspended on clouds, very rarely indeed is repose emphasized by placing it in a horizontal position, but Poussin once adopts the plan,[c] and Guercino goes so far as to represent a reclining Angel resting her head on her hand as if suffering from fatigue.[d] Perfect repose of the Deity in an upright position on clouds is produced by Gustave Doré, who reduces the size of the earth, above which He stands, to an insignificant proportion, so that the imagination sends it moving round below Him.[e]