Fra Angelico. Stephan Beissel
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and Agnolo Gaddi decorated three other chapels in Santa Croce with frescoes. Even today, what remains of these partially destroyed and faded paintings seizes the viewer with the beauty of their lines, the simplicity of their composition, and the gentle harmony of their colouring.
22. Cenni di Pepo, known as Cimabue, The Santa Trinità Madonna, c. 1280. Tempera on wood panel, 385 × 223 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
23. Giotto di Bondone, Maestà (The Madonna of Ognissanti), 1305–1310. Tempera on wood panel, 325 × 204 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
The smaller part of Florence was built across the Arno on its left bank. Here was found the large church of the Carmelites, Santa Maria del Carmine. In its cloister and chapel of the Brancacci family are paintings once attributed to Masolino and his student Masaccio (1423 and 1428), but which are probably the work of Masaccio alone, (Saint Peter Healing the Cripple and Tabitha Resurrected, and The Tribute Money).
If Masolino really had a hand in part of these paintings, Fra Angelico would have surely paid him a visit during his work, for it is believed that like Masolino, Fra Angelico was a student of Gherardo Starnina († after 1406, Florence). It seems equally probable that he would have seen Masaccio at work, although Angelico was more successful in capturing the essence of saintliness and was less preoccupied than Masaccio by external reality, the appearance of life, and perspective. Behind Santa Maria del Carmine rises a hill, whose summit is crowned by the scintillating marble edifice of Italy’s most elegant Romanesque monument, San Miniato al Monte. Its three naves are divided by twelve columns partially composed of ancient materials and are covered by an exposed-beam construction whose twelfth century decorative painting is unique. In the sacristy, Spinello Aretino painted eight paired compositions showing a series of bustling and dramatic groups from the life of Saint Benedict. The same artist decorated the Dominican Farmacia de Santa Maria Novella with frescoes depicting the story of the Passion, and was even called to Siena for other work. Aretino’s mysticism is so similar to that of Fra Angelico, that Angelico must have known Aretino’s work and captured the intimate emotion that reigns over it.
In the beautiful Gothic church of Santa Trinità built around 1250 by Nicolo Pisano on the right bank of the Arno, Fra Giovanni surely contemplated with genuine love, the altarpiece of the Bartholini Chapel, painted by Don Lorenzo Monaco († 1425), “the most beautiful and best-preserved altarpiece” by this monk of the Camaldolese order. An intimate friendship attached him to Fra Angelico. The old Camaldolese monk was more related to Giotto and his school than the young Fra Angelico, who, despite his mystical tendencies, was passionate about a more living art and revealed himself to me more apt in taking advantage of the progress made by his contemporaries. To be convinced of this, it suffices to follow the artist and his work. As in Cortona, Fra Giovanni must have given the first fruits of his labour in Fiesole to his convent. On one of the refectory walls he painted a life-sized Crucifixion with the figures of the Virgin and Saint Dominic, (The Calvary).
24. The Blessed Dominicans, 1423–1424. Tempera on wood panel, 31.8 × 21.9 cm. The National Gallery, London.
25. The Blessed Dominicans, 1423–1424. Tempera on wood panel, 31.6 × 21.9 cm. The National Gallery, London.
According to Marchese, the figure of Saint Dominic, kneeling at the foot of the Cross seems to have been added later. The painting was “restored” in 1566 by Francesco Mariani. His contemporaries applauded this restoration, seeing it as an improvement. Later critics revised this judgment. Following contemporary tastes, the restorer wanted to give more relief to the contours and replaced the delicate nuances of the original work with vigorous hues.
When the French Revolution caused the monks to flee, the refectory was turned into an orangery, to the noticeable detriment of the paintings. Recently, the Calvary was sold for the price of 40,000 francs, (others say 50,000 liras), detached from the wall, and transported to the Louvre in Paris. A second fresco, (Madonna and Child with Saints Dominic and Thomas Acquinas) once found in the chapter room of the same convent met the same fate. This time, it was a Russian of quality who bought the work for 46,00 liras. Although it suffered considerably due to a restoration undertaken in the 1840’s, this painting can be counted among the master’s best works. Like the Perugia Altarpiece, it pictures the Infant Jesus standing on the knees of Mary, a veil only covering him very lightly. Next to the Mother of God, Saint Dominic and Saint Thomas Aquinas hold open books. The simplicity of the subject brought the painter to treat each detail with particular care. Rarely did Angelico put more expression into the faces, or more accuracy in his drawing. Unfortunately, some parts of the draperies and the lower portion of the painting show damage from humidity and clumsy retouching.
The Coronation of the Virgin, painted for the convent of San Domenico da Fiesole, was taken away in 1812, and has remained in the Louvre. An Annunciation from the convent was sold in 1611 for the sum of 1,500 ducats and a copy of the work. The copy is currently found in the Franciscan church at Monte-Carlo near San Giovanni di Valdarno, while the original is thought to be in Madrid. The painting created for the main altar of San Domenico in Fiesole (San Domenico Altarpiece, The Virgin Enthroned with Eight Angels between Saints Thomas Acquinas, Barnabas, Dominic, and Peter Martyr) was modified in 1501 by Lorenzo di Credi. The figurines which ornamented the two pilasters on each side of the central panel were sold along with the predella to Nicola Tacchinardi of Rome, who in turn sold them to Valentini, the Prussian consul to Rome. The predella shows Christ rising to Heaven and holding the banner of the Resurrection surrounded by more than 250 patriarchs, prophets, and saints from the New Testament. Today, this painting is one of the jewels in the collection of the National Gallery in London (Illustration 1, 2, 3) The predella was replaced in Fiesole with a poor copy. The main panel of the altarpiece shows the Holy Virgin enthroned between the prince of the Apostles and Saint Thomas Aquinas on one side, and Saint Dominic and Saint Peter Martyr on the other. Adoring angels surround the divine Infant.
26. Ambrogio Lorenzetti, The Presentation in the Temple, 1327–1332. Tempera on wood panel, 257 × 138 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
27. Agnolo Gaddi, The Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels, Saint Benedict, Saint Peter, Saint John the Baptist, and Saint Minias. Tempera on wood panel, 222 × 290 cm. Palazzo Pitti, Florence.
The Louvre also possesses a painting from San Girolamo di Fiesole (Villa Ricasoli), which was first sold to the Marquise Campana in 1852. Many connoisseurs attribute this work to Fra Angelico, a claim contested by many. Here again, the Holy Virgin is enthroned and flanked by six saints.
After painting the altarpiece in Cortona for the Dominican friars in Perugia, Angelico surely could not resist the insistence of the Dominicans of Santa Maria Novella. It was the Florentine Fra Giovanni Massi († 1430) who, having gained Angelico’s affection through his exemplary piety and love of silence, was charged with expressing his community’s desire to own one of master Fra Giovanni Angelico’s admirable creations. Masi owned many saintly relics for which he commissioned four little shrines to be placed on the altar. The four small shrines were in the form of the period’s altarpieces, were 42–60 cm high, and 25–29 cm wide, and crowned by pointed arches (ogives). Fra Angelico decorated these reliquaries with paintings. One of them is lost, and the three others were religiously conserved at Santa Maria Novella for four centuries. During the last despoilment of Italy’s convents, they were transported to the Museo di San Marco. The first of these reliquaries, is ornamented with a Coronation of the Virgin, and its predella, an Adoration of the Christ Child, shows ten characters presented as half-figures. To the two sides of the scene, the artist painted standing angels, while six other angels dance around Mary, the Infant, and Saint Joseph.
The second reliquary is divided into two parts, and shows The Annunciation above and The Adoration of the Magi below. In the predella on the pedestal, the Madonna is surrounded by saints, the majority of whom are martyr saints whose relics are kept inside the reliquary. The third reliquary’s