Fra Angelico: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Early Italian Renaissance painter (c. 1395–1455 1395–1455)}}

|name= Blessed John of Fiesole, O.P.

'''Fra Angelico''', OP (born '''Guido di Pietro'''; {{circa|1395}}<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hi/hi_fang.htm| title = Metropolitan Museum of Art}}</ref>{{snd}}18 February 1455) was a [[Order of Preachers|Dominican]] [[friar]] and [[Italians|Italian Renaissance painter]] painter of the Early [[ItalianEarly Renaissance|Renaissance]], described by [[Giorgio Vasari]] in his ''[[Lives of the Artists]]'' as having "a rare and perfect talent".<ref name=Vasari>[[Giorgio Vasari]], ''Lives of the Artists''. Penguin Classics, 1965.</ref> He earned his reputation primarily for the series of frescoes he made for his own friary, [[San Marco, Florence|San Marco]], in [[Florence]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Norwich|first=John Julius|title=Oxford Illustrated Encyclopedia Of The Arts|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordillustrate00norw|url-access=limited|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|isbn=978-0-19-869137-2|location=USA|pages=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordillustrate00norw/page/16 16]}}</ref> then worked in Rome and other cities. All his known work is of religious subjects.

He was known to contemporaries as '''Fra Giovanni da Fiesole''' (BrotherFriar John of [[Fiesole]]) and '''Fra Giovanni Angelico''' (Angelic Brother John). In modern Italian he is called '''''Beato Angelico''''' (Blessed Angelic One);<ref>Andrea del Sarto, Raphael and Michelangelo were all called "Beato" by their contemporaries because their skills were seen as a special gift from God</ref> the common English name Fra Angelico means the "Angelic friar".

In 1982, [[Pope John Paul II]] proclaimed him [[beatification|"blessed"beatified]] him<ref name="blessed">{{cite book | last1 = Bunson | first1 = Matthew | last2 = Bunson | first2 = Margaret | title = John Paul II's Book of Saints | publisher = Our Sunday Visitor | year = 1999 | pages = 156 | isbn = 0-87973-934-7 }}</ref> in recognition of the holiness of his life, thereby making the title of "Blessed" official. [[Fiesole]] is sometimes misinterpreted as being part of his formal name, but it was merely the town where he had taken his vows as a [[Dominican friar]],{{sfn|Rossetti|1911|p=6}} and would have been used by contemporaries to distinguish him from others with the same forename, Giovanni. He is listedcommemorated inby the [[current Roman Martyrology]] on 18 February,<ref>Roman''[[Martyrologium Martyrology—theRomanum]], officialex publicationdecreto whichsacrosancti includesoecumenici allConcilii [[Saints]]Vaticani andII instauratum auctoritate Ioannis Pauli Pp. II promulgatum, editio [[Blesseds]typica] recognisedaltera, byTypis theVaticanis, [[RomanA.D. CatholicMMIV'' Church]](2004), p. 155 {{ISBN|88-209-7210-7}}</ref> asthe date of his death in 1455. There the Latin text reads ''Beatus Ioannes Faesulanus, cognomento Angelicus''—"Blessed John of Fiesole, surnamed 'the Angelic'".

[[File:ANGELICO, Fra Annunciation,Angelico 1437-46 (2236990916)Annunciation.jpg|thumb|upright= 1.25|''[[Annunciation (Fra Angelico, San Marco)|Annunciation]]'', {{Circa|1440–1445}}]]

In 1436, Fra Angelico was one of a number of the friars from Fiesole who moved to the newly built [[San Marco, Florence|convent or friary of San Marco]] in Florence. This propitious move, placing him at the heart of artistic life of the region, attracted the patronagebacking of [[Cosimo de' Medici]]. He was one of the wealthiest and most powerful members of the city's governing authority (or "Signoria"), and founder of the dynasty that was set to dominate Florentine politics for much of the Renaissance. Cosimo had a [[Cosimo de' Medici's cell|cell reserved for himself]] at the friary so that he might ''retreat from the world''.

On display near the main altar is a marble tombstone, an exceptional honour for an artist at that time. Two epitaphs were written, probably by [[Lorenzo Valla]]. The first readreads:

'''"In this place is enshrined the glory, the mirror, and the ornament of painters, John the Florentine. A religious and a true servant of God, he was a brother of the holy Order of Saint Dominic. His disciples mourn the death of such a great master, for who will find another brush like his? His homeland and his order mourn the death of a distinguished painter, who had no equal in his art."''' Inside a Renaissance style niche is the painter's relief in Dominican habit. A second epitaph reads:

[[File:Fra Angelico, tebaide- 01Thebaid.jpg|thumb|388px|right388x388px|A [[Thebaide]], showing the activities in the lives of the saints, 1420]]

Fra Angelico was working at a time when the style of painting was in a state of changeflux. This process of changetransformation had begun a hundred yearscentury previousearlier with the works of [[Giotto]] and several of his contemporaries, notably [[Giusto de' Menabuoi]], both of. whomBoth had created their major works in [[Padua, Italy|Padua]], althoughthough Giotto washad been trained in [[Florence]] by the great Gothic artist, [[Cimabue]],. andHe had painted a fresco cycle of [[Francis of Assisi|St Francis]] in the Bardi Chapel in the [[Basilica di Santa Croce]]. Giotto had many enthusiastic followers, who imitatedimitating his style in [[fresco]],. someSome of them, notably the [[Pietro Lorenzetti|Lorenzetti]], achievingachieved great success.<ref name=Hartt/>

TheIf not a monastic establishment, the [[Patronage|patronspatron]] of these artists werewas most oftenusually, monasticas establishmentspart orof wealthya familieschurch's endowingendowment, a churchfamily with wealth. BecauseTo themaximally paintingsadvertise oftenthis had(wealth) devotionalfavoured purpose,subjects thewhere clientsreligious tendeddevotion towould be conservative.most Frequentlyfocused, itan would[[Altarpiece|altarpiece]] seem,for theinstance. The wealthier the clientbenefactor, the more conservative the painting.style Therewould wasseem a verythrowback, goodcompared reasonwith fora thisfreer and more nuanced style then in vogue. TheUnderpinning paintingsthis was that werea commissioned madepainting asaid statementsomething about theits patron. Thussponsor: the more [[gold leaf]] it displayed, the more itprestige spoke to the patron's gloryaccrued. The otherOther valuableprecious commoditiesmaterials in the paint-box were [[Lapis lazuli|lapis lazuli]] and [[Vermilion|vermilion]]. Paint madePaints from these colours did notlent lendthemselve itselfpoorly to a tonal treatment. The azure blue made of powdered lapis lazuli wenthad onto be applied flat. As with gold leaf, it was left to the depth and brilliance of colour being,to likeannounce the goldpatron's leafimportance. This, ahowever, sign ofconstrained the patron'soverall abilitystyle to providethat well.of Foran theseearlier reasonsgeneration. Thus, [[altarpiece]]sthe areimpression oftenleft muchby morealtarpieces conservativelywas paintedmore conservative than that achieved by frescoes. These, whichin contrast, were oftenfrequently of almost life-sized figures. andTo reliedgain uponeffect, athey could capitalise on an up-to-date stage-set quality rather than lavishhaving displayto infall orderback toupon achievea effectlavish, but dated, display.<ref>Michael Baxandall, ''Painting and Experience in Fifteenth Century Italy'',(1974) Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|0-19-881329-5}}</ref>

When Fra Angelico and his assistants went to the [[Vatican City|Vatican]] to decorate the chapel of Pope Nicholas, the artist was again confronted with the need to please the very wealthiest of clients. In consequence, walking into the small chapel is like stepping into a jewel box. The walls are decked with the brilliance of colour and gold that one sees in the most lavish creations of the Gothic painter [[Simone Martini]] at the Lower Church of [[St Francis of Assisi]], a hundred years earlier. Yet Fra Angelico has succeeded in creating designs which continue to reveal his own preoccupation with humanity, with humility and with piety. The figures, in their lavish gilded robes, have the sweetness and gentleness for which his works are famous. According to Vasari: