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Edition 3: La Serenissima

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follows the line of Joseph���s right arm, through Christ, to Mary���s impossibly placed knee. The other diagonal runs from Mary���s directed gaze, down her right arm, through Christ and straight to the King, who, in turn, directs the viewer back up towards the child.35 In addition to Christ being the axial figure, the act of Adoration is emphasised through the unequivocal directions of the gazes which are paralleled by the folds of Joseph���s drapery, Mary���s right arm and the right leg of Jesus. The Virgin is depicted in monumental form, without regard for anatomical correctness. Botticelli has enlarged and elongated her body, thus drawing attention to the tiny figure of the Christ child amidst large swathes of folded drapery. This device was neither new to Botticelli, nor indeed, depictions of the Virgin and Child in general. For example, artists such as Giotto and Duccio signified the importance of the Virgin by depicting her as disproportionately large. In the Mystic Nativity Botticelli���s Virgin can be seen as pivotal in his flattened composition which unites the quite decoratively detailed figures with the more geometrically depicted setting. Similarly, in the Adoration fragments, the flat, decorative surface contrasts with the solidity of the more fully depicted figures and is exploited to its full extent in the monumental depiction of the Virgin, who, despite being no longer enthroned, loses none of her grandeur. The lack of spatial depth which characterises Botticelli���s late works stands in remarkable contrast to his earlier illustrations of the Adoration. In the London tondo, for example, several layers recede into the background, HYLAND 15

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