Of how the angels dance and sing
In gardens of eternal spring,
Because their sins have been forgiven....
And never more for them shall be
The terrors of mortality.
When life is difficult, I dream
Of how the angels dance in Heaven....[2]
[Footnote 2: By Lady Alfred Douglas.]
That is what Botticelli dreamed. He saw the beautiful angels in green,
white, and red dancing with joy, because of the birth of their Saviour,
and into their hands he put scrolls, upon which were written:--'Glory
to God in the Highest.' The rest of the verse, 'Peace and goodwill
towards men' is on the scrolls of the shepherds, brought by the angel
to behold the Babe lying in the manger. The three men, embraced with
such eagerness and joy by the three angels in the foreground, are
Savonarola and his two chief companions, burnt with him, who, after
their long suffering upon earth, have found reward and happiness in
heaven.
[Illustration: THE NATIVITY
From the picture by Sandro Botticelli, in the National Gallery, London]
Such is the meaning of this beautiful little picture, as spiritual
in idea as any of the paintings of the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries.
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