We have seen that the first Madonnas were painted against a background
either of solid gold, or of cherub figures, and that the latter style
of setting was continued in the early pictures of the enthroned
Madonna. The effect was to idealize the subject, and carry it into the
region of the heavenly. This was the germinal idea which grew into the
"Madonna in Gloria."

The glory was originally a sort of nimbus of a larger order,
surrounding the entire figure, instead of merely the head. It was oval
in shape, like the almond or mandorla.

A picture of this class is the famous Madonna della Stella, of Fra
Angelico. It is in a beautiful Gothic tabernacle, which is the sole
ornament of a cell in San Marco, Florence. At every step in these
sacred precincts, we meet some reminder of the Angelic Brother. How
the gray walls blossomed, under his brush, into forms and colors of
eternal beauty! After seeing the larger wall-paintings in corridors
and refectory, this little gem seems to epitomize his choicest gifts.
A rich frame, fit setting for the jewel, encloses an outer circle of
adoring angels, and within, the central panel contains only the full
length figure of the Virgin with her child, against a mandorla formed
of golden rays running from centre to circumference. The Madonna is
enveloped in a long, dark blue cloak, drawn around her head like a
Byzantine veil. A single star gleams above her brow, from which is
derived the title of the picture. She holds her child fondly, and he,
with responsive affection, nestles against his mother, pressing his
little face into her neck. Faithful to the standards of his
predecessors, and untouched by the new spirit of naturalism all about
him, the monk painter preserves, in his conception, the most sacred