DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51584#0074
70 EARLY ITALIAN PAINTERS.
tiles. They fight with each other: on the right
the angels ascend to heaven with those they have
saved ; while the demons drag their prey to a fiery
mountain, visible on the left, and hurl the souls
down into the flames. Next to these corpses is a
crowd of beggars and cripples,. who with out-
stretched arms call upon Death to end their sorrows ;
but she heeds not their prayer, and has already
passed them in her flight. A rock separates this
scene from another, in which is represented a
second hunting-party descending the mountain by a
hollow path : here again are richly-attired princes
and dames on horses splendidly caparisoned, and a
train of hunters with falcons and dogs. The path
has led them to three open sepulchres in the left
corner of the picture; in them lie the bodies of three
princes, in different stages of decay. Close by, in
extreme old age and supported on crutches, stands
the old hermit St. Macarius, who, turning to the
princes, points down to this bitter “ Memento mori.”
They look on apparently with indifference, and one
of them holds his nose, as if incommoded by the
horrible stench. One queenly lady alone, deeply
moved, rests her head on her hand, her countenance
full of a pensive sorrow. On the mountain heights
are several hermits, who, in contrast to the followers
of the joys of the world, have attained in a life of
contemplation and abstinence to a state of tranquil
blessedness. One of them milks a doe, squirrels are
tiles. They fight with each other: on the right
the angels ascend to heaven with those they have
saved ; while the demons drag their prey to a fiery
mountain, visible on the left, and hurl the souls
down into the flames. Next to these corpses is a
crowd of beggars and cripples,. who with out-
stretched arms call upon Death to end their sorrows ;
but she heeds not their prayer, and has already
passed them in her flight. A rock separates this
scene from another, in which is represented a
second hunting-party descending the mountain by a
hollow path : here again are richly-attired princes
and dames on horses splendidly caparisoned, and a
train of hunters with falcons and dogs. The path
has led them to three open sepulchres in the left
corner of the picture; in them lie the bodies of three
princes, in different stages of decay. Close by, in
extreme old age and supported on crutches, stands
the old hermit St. Macarius, who, turning to the
princes, points down to this bitter “ Memento mori.”
They look on apparently with indifference, and one
of them holds his nose, as if incommoded by the
horrible stench. One queenly lady alone, deeply
moved, rests her head on her hand, her countenance
full of a pensive sorrow. On the mountain heights
are several hermits, who, in contrast to the followers
of the joys of the world, have attained in a life of
contemplation and abstinence to a state of tranquil
blessedness. One of them milks a doe, squirrels are