XVIII. PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE 77

scene; for I think I cannot be deceived in interpreting the flying angel, with its branch of palm or lily, to be the Angel of Death, sent in visible fulfilment of the thankful words of Simeon: “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace.”¹ The figure of Anna is poor and uninteresting;² that of the attendant, on the extreme left, very beautiful, both in its drapery and in the severe and elevated character of the features and head-dress.

¹ [Luke ii. 29.]

² [She looks at the Child, and bears a scroll with the words, “Quoniam in isto erit redemptio seculi” (“Since in Him shall be the redemption of the race”).-ED. 1899.]

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