There is great spirituality and ecstasy in St.
Bernard's face, his white robe contrasts well with two saints behind
him, which carry out Fra Bartolommeo's favourite triangular grouping,
and with a rich harmony of colour balance his white robe.
The Virgin is drawn with great nobility and grace, her drapery
admirably majestic, yet airy, and a sweet, infantile playfulness
renders the Child charming. The angels beneath the Virgin's feet are
lovely, but the group of seraphs behind are the least pleasing of all.
They are of the earth, earthy, and seem reminiscences of the Florentine
maidens the artist met in the streets. Possibly this is the part most
injured by the restorer's hand. The colouring of the two saints behind
S. Bernard-one in a green robe with bronze-gold shades, and the other
blue and orange-is very suggestive of Andrea del Sarto, and seems to
render probable Rosini's assertion that the Frate "taught the first
steps of this difficult career to that artist who alone was called
'senz' errori.'"
Having once retaken the brush, Fra Bartolommeo recovered his former
skill and fame; a beautiful specimen of this period is the _Meeting
of Christ with the Disciples of Emmaus_ (1506), a fresco in a lunette
over the door of the refectory at S.
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