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| Dieric Bouts Christ Blessing ca. 1480 oil on panel Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe |
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| Bernardino Luini Modesty and Vanity ca. 1515 oil on canvas Musée Fesch, Ajaccio, Corsica |
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| Girolamo Savoldo Tobias and the Angel ca. 1530-35 oil on canvas Galleria Borghese, Rome |
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| Camillo Procaccini St John the Baptist 1577 oil on canvas Gallerie Estense, Modena (Palazzo Ducale Sassuolo) |
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| Federico Zuccaro Angel ca. 1585 drawing Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna |
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| Anonymous Florentine Artist Elegant Youth Pointing 16th century drawing Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna |
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| Cavaliere d'Arpino (Giuseppe Cesari) Sibyl ca. 1595 drawing Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna |
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| Alessandro Tiarini Rinaldo and Armida (scene from Gerusalemme Liberata by Torquato Tasso) ca. 1610 oil on canvas Galleria Borghese, Rome |
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| Sebastián de Herrera Barnuevo Allegorical Sculpture Group before 1671 drawing Courtauld Gallery, London |
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| Corrado Giaquinto Angel Annunciate ca. 1750 oil on canvas Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest |
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| Alexander Runciman Seated Figure Prophesying ca. 1780 drawing Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh |
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| Enoch Wood Demosthenes ca. 1800 lead-glazed earthenware Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio |
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| Edward John Poynter Figure Study for Faithful unto Death ca. 1865 drawing Courtauld Gallery, London |
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| Peter Pongratz Guardian Angel 1971 tempera on canvas Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna |
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| Bo Bartlett The Parabolist 1999 oil on linen Denver Art Museum |
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| Co Westerik Hand above Torso 2007 oil, acrylic, and tempera on canvas, mounted on panel Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam |
A Night at the Opera
When the old servant reveals she is the mother
Of the young count whose elder brother
Has betrayed him, the heroine, disguised
As the Duke's own equerry, sings Or'
Che sono, pale from the wound she has received
In the first act. The entire court
Realize what has in fact occurred and wordlessly
The waltz song is to be heard now
In the full orchestra. And we, too,
Recall that meeting of Marietta with the count
Outside the cloister in Toledo. She faints:
Her doublet being undone, they find
She still has on the hair-shirt
Worn ever since she was a nun
In Spain. So her secret is plainly out
And Boccaleone (blind valet
To the Duke) confesses it is he (Or' son'io)
Who overheard the plot to kidnap the dead
Count Bellafonte, to burn by night
The high camp of the gipsy king
Alfiero, and by this stratagem quite prevent
The union of both pairs of lovers.
Now the whole cast packs the stage
Raging in chorus round the quartet – led
By Alfiero (having shed his late disguise)
And Boccaleone (shock has restored his eyes):
Marietta, at the first note from the count
(Long thought dead, but finally revealed
As Alfiero), rouses herself, her life
Hanging by a thread of song, and the Duke,
Descending from his carriage to join in,
Dispenses pardon, punishment and marriage.
Exeunt to the Grand March, Marietta
(Though feebly) marching, too, for this
Is the 'Paris' version where we miss
The ultimate dénouement when at the command
Of the heroine (Pura non son') Bellafonte marries
The daughter of the gipsy king and
– Charles Tomlinson (1978)
[this is the entire poem, with its broken ending]