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Duccio's Maesta |
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Front view
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About the
third hour of the night, Jesus Christ came with sweet melody and song,
with the orders of the angels, the companies of patriarchs, the assembly
of martyrs, the convents of confessors, the carols of virgins. And
before the bed of our blessed Lady the companies of all these saints
were set in order and made sweet song and melody. ‘Come
my chosen,’ Jesus said, ‘and I shall set you in my seat, for I have
coveted your beauty.’ Our
Lady answered, ‘Sir, my heart is ready’. Then, all they that had
come with Jesus Christ sang sweetly, saying, ‘this is she that never
touched the bed of marriage in delight, and she shall have fruit in the visitation
of holy souls.’
Then she sang about herself,
saying, ‘all the generations shall say that I am blessed, for He that
is mighty has done great things to me, and the name of Him is holy’.
The cantor, then sang singing in a higher key; ‘Come from Lebanon, my
spouse, come from Lebanon, come, you shall be crowned’. ‘I come’,
She replied, ‘for in the beginning of the book it is written that I
should do your will, for my spirit has rejoiced in you, my saviour.
And so, in the morning, the soul
issued out of her body and flew up in the arms of her son. And she was
as spared from the pain of the flesh just as she was from corruption of
her body. (The Golden Legend) |
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