A godly painting held over their heads
As they process through a street in Florence,
Each face is free from manic glee or dread
And transcends with a tranquil tolerance;
They are transformed by the art’s deep meaning,
The ideals that they uphold in their lives
Of what is proper and what is demeaning;
Are those mere humans or gods who walk by?
The cloud’s shape mimics the foreground’s alignment,
Forming a passageway from ground to sky
That leads out of our human confinement
Beyond a life bound to be sick and die.
But, none truly traveled it, none were gods,
It is we who must this new way now trod.
Evan Mantyk is a poet and English teacher living in New York.
Featured Image: “Cimabue’s Celebrated Madonna is carried in Procession through the Streets of Florence” by Sir Frederic Leighton
In Leighton’s Painting
“The cloud’s shape mimics the foreground’s alignment…”
—Evan Mantyk
In Leighton’s painting, Cimabue’s Madonna ‘s at a slant
and carried through the streets of Florence, Italy.
Before it, Cimabue, in white, and elegant,
walks with his pupil, Giotto, young, triumphantly.
Behind are other painters and Charles of Anjou
on horse. Clad, at the corner, in gray, Dante leans
and views the vibrant hues, the elongated crew,
the clear, distinct, clean lines, the intricate design,
the distant trees, the tall gray wall, and flowers strewn.
It is a beautiful example of divine
and human mingling, th’ ordinary and regnant,
the present and the past, the ideal and the fine.