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F RA ANG E L ICO

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1 90 1

TABL E O F CO NTENTS

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE LIFE O F FRA ANGELICO WOR'S OF FRA ANGELICO

SAN MARCO

THE ART O F FRA ANGELICO OU R ILLUSTRATI ONS CHIEF WOR'S B' THE ARTIST SUGGESTED CHRONOLOG' OF THE WOR'S CHIEF BOO'S ON FRA ANGELICO L IS T OF IL LU STRATIO NS

PAGE THE MADONNA AND CHILD

THE DANCE OF THE AN GELS ’ a F o Aeeaden n , l rence

RIST As A PI LGRIM San M areo Florenee CH , THE TRANSFIGURATION an arco F lore e S M , nc

E IRST C ARIST S an M arco F lo rence TH F EU H , THE ANNUNCIATION

E R CI FI X IO N S an M arco Florence TH C U , SAN LOREN'O D ISTRI BUTING ALM S Tlee R om e C HRO N OLOG I CAL TABLE

1 8 . B rt 3 7 i h of Fra Angelico . 0 1 4 7 . He so ught admission to the Order o f

a n . Dominic ns, and was se t to Cortona

1 08 . 4 He returned to Fiesole . 1 0 l 4 9 . He probably again left Fieso e and went to r Cortona o Foligno .

1 1 8 H . 4 . e was again at Fiesole 1 H Fi s l 435 . e left e o e and took up his quarters Florence in , ﬁrst at San Giorgio , and then at

San Marco .

1 44 7 . He went to Rom e to work for Pope

Eugenius IV . 1 447 . He went to Orvieto for a Short time and

then returned to Rom e .

- 1 r . 45 0 . He e visited Cortona

1 R m his 45 0 . He returned to o e and continued

work fo r Pope Nicholas V . 2 H w 1 45 . e as invited to paint the choir and was chapel at Prato, but unable to accept the v in itation . 1 m 455 . He died in Ro e and was buried in the

- - Church o f Santa Maria sopra Minerva .

VII

FRA ANGELICO

H IS L I FE

RA ANGELICO, the Dominican Friar, was 1 8 born in the year 3 7 at Vicchio, near to Florence . is H name was Guido, and he was originally f . O known as Guido da Vicchio his early life, save for three facts, we know nothing. His

o f his o f home, the date birth, and the name his father, Pietro, complete the entire history o f that we possess the early days of the artist, and from the date o f his birth to our next de tached ieso le fact, that of his postulancy at F , i f there s a gap o twenty years . It has been surmised that his early inclinations had were towards the life of an artist, and that he been intended for a religious life he would have taken the vows at an earlier age than that f o twenty . Other surmises have dwelt upon the

o f his possible name master, and have debated his into whose studio he could have found way, B 2 FRA ANGELICO and whose is the inﬂuenc e which is to be seen m n n in his works, but all such sur isi gs are vai , be although they may interesting, and we have no facts whatever to guide us until we s ee the youthful Guido presenting himself at the portals o f the Do m InIcan ho use in Fiesole in the year

1 0 4 7 . We do not know under whose inﬂuence this step was taken, but there is great probability that it was the result of the preaching of one Giovanni was Dominici , a great Dominican preacher, who himself an artist of no mean ability, and who had founded in 1 400 the convent whither Guido bent his steps . We learn now that he had a brother, Benedetto, who accompanied Guido to the convent, and that both were admitted within its walls ' and we are also told that this brother retained his n own ame in the new religious life, but that the ordinary name of Guido gave place to the

o f more religious one Giovanni, and that the youthful postulant was thenceforward known as

Fra Gio vanni .

The novitiate of the Order was not, however, in Fiesole but at Cortona, and thither were the two postulants sent at onc e . With them prob ably went another postulant destined to be H IS LIFE 3

Of the future Archbishop of Florence, Prior San

Marco, and a Saint, one Antonino, who always remained a great friend of the youthful artist .

The times were tempestuous , as there were v ri al Popes, and the Republic of Florence was extremely anxious that the terrible schism Should be brought to an end . With that View the great preacher Giovanni Dominici had been sent to Rome to delay the election of the successor

VI I . to Innocent , but he arrived too late, and X Gregory II . had been selected . It was then proposed that each Pontiff should suspend his functions, and a Council was summoned at Pisa to consider this very grave matter, but in the end the confusion grew greater, and each of the

V. Popes was deposed , and a third, Alexander , was elected instead . The city of Florence

c s at on e e poused the cause of this latest Pope, while the Dominicans of Fiesole were content

X I I . to take their rule from Gregory , and as f o ne the di ﬁculty was an acute , the friars had to ﬂy from Florence to escape harm at the hands

1 0 of the Florentines, and in 4 9 they went to i Fo l gno . Between this town and the hill town o r 1 1 8 Cortona the friars passed their time till 4 , when the schism in the Church was healed by 4 FRA ANGEL ICO

o f the Council Constance, and the friars were

able to return home to their beloved Fiesole .

1 f Here Fra Giovanni remained till 435 , full o artistic work both for his own convent and for outside patrons in the form of other religious e o r hous s, churches, great guilds, and at the same time constant in his attendance upon his r m . e eligious duties During this ti e, as has be n o ut pointed by his latest chronicler, Professor his a e Douglas, work s an artist underwent a gr at change : the last three years o f his residence at Flesole marking a vast improvement in his style and technique . It was in the summer o f 1 485 that the long ieso le a residence at F came to n end, and the

friars moved nearer the city, and then, in the

following year, they made a solemn entrance o f into Florence, and took possession their new home in San Marco . The Friars o f San Sylvestro had previously o f been in possession this church and convent, but the laxity o f their rule had caused some ’ C who scandal in the ity, and Cosimo de Medici, was at that time in full and undisputed sway in

E IV . Florence, petitioned the Pope, ugenius , to transfer the buildings to the Dominicans .

The Pope, who was deeply anxious to reform

6 FRA ANGELICO

C rangle with its loister walk, and all the buildings that were needed for the lay brothers and the f o ﬁces of the convent . Fra Angelico seems to have undertaken the decoration of the interior, and very much of it o ut o wn he carried by his unaided hand, whilst his brother, who was also a skilful artist, was set to work upon the illumination o f the service bo oks . This Monastery o f San Marco is so completely a treasure-house o f the work of Fra Angelico that it is needful to devote a separate chapter to it. E IV ugenius . had, as is well known, been o f compelled by the families the Colonna, the

V. r relations of Martin , and the O sini, to ﬂee from Rome, and had visited Florence, and whilst there had stayed within the walls of the convent . It was during that visit that be appointed one o f the friars, the brotherAntonino already named, o n to be Archbishop Of Florence . Later he left the city and settled at Bologna, but when the antipope who had been elected by the Council o f

Basle as Felix V. was dethroned through the

z E neas aid of Piccolomini, afterwards Pius I I . , Eugenius was able to return to his city and H resume his position on his throne . e then H IS LIFE 7 remembered the time which he had spent at San

Marco, and, determining to carry out some im portant decoration in the Vatican, he sent for the clever friar who had interested him in Florence, desiring him to journey to Rome with all speed

ra and decorate his chapel . F Angelico set out on his journey, but he arrived too late to see f the Ponti f. The triumph that had come to

Eugenius IV . by reason of the allegiance of the

German powers had come too late . After his long exile and at the end of his prolonged controversy with the Councils of Florence and

Ferrara, he was certainly able to return to Rome, but it was only to die and by the time the artist

' reached the Eternal city a new Po ntiﬂ sat upon the throne.

The scheme planned by his predecessor was,

w V. ho ever, carried out by Nicholas , and the small chapel in the Vatican remains to enshrine the ﬁnest and most matured of the works of Fra

Angelico .

It is probable, however, that these charming frescoes were not the ﬁrst works done by the artist in Rome . Professor Douglas considers that the earlier paintings which he did were those in a chapel of ’ e St . P ter s which lay between the Vatican and the 8 FRA ANGELICO

Cathedral, and which was destroyed a hundred years afterwards to make room for the erection f o a great staircase . Here he painted those portraits o f contem po rary persons which Vasari states afterwards f o viu became the property of his riend Paulus J s . h When they eard that he was in Rome, the ecclesiastical authorities o f Orvieto desired to have some of his work in their famous cathedral and as Fra Angelico found the heat o f Rome in the summer too great for him he entered into a contract with the Orvietans to carry o ut the decoration o f the roof Of their chapel o f San Brizio during the time when he could not t e main in Rome . H e appears to have commenced the work, and to which was to depict the Last Judgment, have continued in Orvieto till the end of Sep fo r tember, when he returned to Rome, but some unknown reason he never completed the f decoration o the chapel . An old Chronicler tells a story that one of the friar’s chief assistants was killed by a fall from the scaffolding soon after the work was com m enced , and that other accidents occurred in n s o rapid successio , that the friar was fain to ' consider that it was not intended that he should H IS LIFE 9

do this work, and, therefore, when the time m i ca e nwhich he might safely journey to Rome,

he left it and never returned . Be that as it o f may, it is clear that there is but a small part the work at Orvieto that can be given to Fra

Angelico . his Much o f the rest was done by pupil,

z o z z o li the Benoz o G , but chapel was not com l p eted till ﬁfty years had passed . Perugino was — so asked to complete it, and arranged to do , but he was unable by reason o f the work he had in

Rome to do it, and it was left for Luca Signorelli to ﬁnish and bring to perfection this most won derful chapel which had passed under the hands o f so many great masters .

Back came the old friar to Rome, and then followed the unrivalled series o f frescoes that r f V o o . adorn the study chapel Nicholas , a chapel which , after having been closed and for gotten for over one hundred years, is now one of the greatest attractions in a visit to the Vatican

Palace . Whether all the ﬁnal years of the life Of Fra Angelico were passed at Rome is not quite clear, nor is it known how long a time was ex in pended upon these frescoes the Vatican . We

1 1 hear of him at Florence in 45 , and again in 1 0 FRA ANGELICO

- ieso le 1 2 In his much loved F in 4 5 , and that ye ar it is known that he declined an invitation

that reached him from the authorities of Prato, in which he was asked to decorate the choir of d their cathe ral .

H e a resided, however, great part of the time E in the ternal City, dwelling with his order in

o f - - their convent Santa Maria sopra Minerva, and there he died in 1 45 5 at the age o f sixty

eight, and was buried in the church of the con f vent to the left o the sanctuary. The Pope himself is said to have composed the the Latin epitaph which adorns tomb, and which records the virtues, the modesty, and the talents of the artist . THE WOR'S OF F RA A N GE L I CO

HE works of the artist may be divided

into certain sections . There are his altar pieces, which belong mainly to the early part of

- his career, his small miniature like panel pictures , which belong to the central part of his life, and his frescoes, which form complete series of works in San Marco and in the Vatican, and which also adorn other detached buildings . The decoration in fresco of the great convent o f San Marco at Florence can well be considered o ne as complete work, all the rest for the pur poses o f this small treatise being grouped into this one chapter. The altarpieces are many of them notable works . At Cortona is the only one of all Fra ’ Angelico s altarpieces which remains in the place for which it was originally painted . Another at

Cortona depicts the Annunciation . The angel is a vision of beauty, and full of wondrous w s eetness, the Virgin is depicted with lowly humility bending before this glowing messenger.

I 1 1 z FRA ANGELICO

ff The composition is, however, sti , and there is not yet to be seen the pathos and deep feeling r that characterized later wo ks . Another well-known early work is the L ast nd m enl no w f g , which is in the Accademia in o Florence, and which c ntains the marvellous group o f angels Solemnly dancing in a ring o f Charm m Ih before the Christ, a scene full g e ident, sweetly painted, and with much love of

natural beauty and exquisite grace .

The chief of the earlier works are, however, d fo r the four Ma onna altarpieces, one painted

o f - Lina uo li the Guild Flax workers, called the j , n the Madonna of A nalena, the Madonna of f o . Cortona, and the Madonna Perugia

' ' The M adonna dei l znajnolz is the be st known Ft a E a picture by Angelico in urope, nd it is

rather unfortunate that it is so . o n o f There are twelve angels the frame it, re re surrounding the central panel, which are p o n sented as playing musical instruments, and these have caught the public fancy in a way that

no other works of the artist have done . They ‘ “ are pleasant in colour, graceful in form , and

certainly charming to look at, but they are quite unworthy o f being considered representa tive o f the work of an artist who was capable

H IS WOR'S 1 3

o f San l Marc o painting the frescoes at , and it is e unfair to judg Fra Angelico by these pictures . “ e e As a r cent writer has said, What great paint r before o r since has ever been judged by his picture frames ?' and these angels are nothing more than the ﬂat decoration of the frame o f the altarpiece painted in soft colours o n the gold

ground . The two Side panels of this altarpiece are

really more characteristic than is the centre, as

the St . John and St . Mark which they contain are boldly conceived and digniﬁed ﬁgures . The is Madonna in the central panel weak in feature, S and the imilar altarpiece at Perugia, which f o ne o f ur n orms o illustrations, will be fou d to have more reality and life about it than this

’ ' ' adonna ez L na nolz better known M d z j . Another well-known work is the M adonna ’ d A nnalena is , which now in the Accademia at

Florence, and in which are represented St . Mat

St . . . thew, Laurence, St Francis, St Dominic,

St . Cosmo, and St . Damian . A remarkable series of small panels is to be

found in the Accademia at Florence, which originally adorned the silver press o f the Church f o the Annunciation in that city . These panels ’ de were painted, it is said, to the order of Piero 1 4 FRA ANGELICO

Medici, who was at that time the holder of the was patronage of the church, and spending vast sums in adorning it . They represent scenes from the life of Our Lord, and are delightfully wrought . t Of the panel pic ures for the reliquaries, which are painted with the most delicate and miniature o n like detail, in exquisite colouring a gold ground, three can be seen in San Marco (see E p . and one is in ngland . The frescoes at San Marco are separately described in the next chapter . The ceiling decoration that the friar executed at Orvieto consists of a scene representing Christ as The Judge, and the ﬁgures of some prophets and saints , and then ﬁnally there are the frescoes m at Ro e . are These in two series, the upper scenes from the life of St . Stephen, and the lower from the life of San Lorenzo . In the upper tier there are

1 . . . The ordination of St Stephen

2 . . His distribution of alms

3 . His preaching .

4 . His appearance before the Council at

Jerusalem .

5 . His being dragged to martyrdom . H IS WOR'S 1 5

6 . . The stoning of the saint In the lower tier the pictures are

1 . The ordination of the saint by Pope

Sixtus II . , who is represented under the likeness

o f . the reigning Pope, Nicholas V

2 . The Pope delivering to him the treasures

of the Church, while he himself was conﬁned

under the care of two gaolers .

3 . The distribution of these treasures by San

Lorenzo amongst the poor . (See p . The 4 . saint carried before the Emperor

Decius .

5 . His martyrdom .

U pon the pilasters of the Chapel are St.

Athanasius, St . Thomas Aquinas , St . Jerome

(not St . Bonaventura as inscribed) and St.

Chrysostom .

. Leo . On the vaulting are St , St. Ambrose, St

Augustine and St . Gregory, and on the ceiling are the four Evangelists . The panels depicting San Lorenzo are the

re ﬁnest works that Fra Angelico ever did, and present the fullest achievement of his genius . S AN MA RC O

O understand the art o f Fra Angelico it IS absolutely necessary that a visit be paid

( to this convent now termed “ Museo di San

its m o f Marco, as within walls remain ost the

great fresco works done by the artist, and on them his he lavished best skill . The building is a shrine of the work o f the was l artist, and being a religious house, he ab e to give to its decoration all the fervour and

emotion that characterised his ﬁnest efforts . his is Immediately the visitor enters, eye

o n . caught by the Christ the cross, with St

is o f C Dominic, which at the end the loister, r opposite the main ent ance, a wonderfully dig niﬁed conception with a most pathetic eXpres

sion on the face o f the saint . o ne Over the doors are ﬁve exquisite lunettes, of which h as been selected amongst o ur illus trati ns 18 . te o . Over the Sacristy door St Pe r

Martyr, indicating the rule of silence peculiar to the Order by placing his ﬁnger o n his lip in

1 6

1 8 FRA ANGELICO

it is a mass of splendid trees . Nothing could o r be simpler more reﬁned . The light is that of evening, and there is a holy calm that pervades w the picture, while the faces are lit ith that heavenly sweetness which is so marked in the f work o the artist at that period . The inscription On this fresco may be trans “ lated : When thou shalt have come before the o f image the spotless Virgin , beware lest by

' negligence the Ave be silent ( Virgi nie zntaete

' enm oenerzs ante figuram praierenndo ear/e no ' ' szlealnr Ave) o f Close by is the Crucifixion, with the figure

St . Dominic kneeling at the foot of the Cross, and to the left are the cells that contain the best o f works the artist . The frescoes are on the wall, over the places where the beds of the friars would e and ra re have b en, F Angelico is said to have marked that as the window near by gave the friar o f so b e his sight the world, would he place efor him another window by which he m ight gaze ' into the unseen world, a window into Heaven . The following are the scenes that the friar himself painted

' ' N ol m e lan ere I z . Cell . g

2 E . . The ntombment re re 3 . The Annunciation, another lovely p ' n Ada m o F lo rence . [5 a , A lz n arz M o re ]

TH E TRANS F I GU RATI ON .

SAN MARCO 1 9

sentatio n of the scene that the artist loved so

well .

4 . The Cruciﬁxion . i 5 . The Madonna and St . Joseph ador ng the

Divine Child .

6 see . . The Transﬁguration ( p

buﬂetin . h re 7 . The g of Christ The ands are u presented witho t bodies, as also are the mouths S which pit upon Him, producing a very curious

' eﬂect . No doubt the words were in the mind o f to the artist that were addressed the Saviour, “ r Prophesy unto us, 0 Ch ist, who is he that ' struck thee ? f . o 8 . The Resurrection The portrait the artist is said to be in the left- hand corner o f this picture . o f 9 . The Coronation the Virgin . This is a very lovely work . The Christ, clothed in n o f dazzli g white, is seated upon a cloud also snowy whiteness, and is placing the crown upon

- w the head of the white robed Virgin . A rainbo e encircles the lower part of the group, and b low are six kneeling adoring saints, conspicuous amongst whom is to be seen St . Dominic . The others are probably St . Francis, St . Benedict,

St . Thomas Aquinas, St . Peter Martyr, and St .

Paul the Hermit . 2 0 FRA ANGELICO

1 0 . The Presentation in the Temple, another

ﬁne composition .

1 1 . The Madonna and Child with St . Francis

and St. Dominic .

1 3 . (Opposite to the stairs . ) This was the f o . cell St Antonino, who became Archbishop

c o ntaIns of Florence, and it some relics of the de lcts o f good man . The fresco p the Descent o ne Christ into Limbo, of the most impressive “ o f o f in all the frescoes . Ruskin speaks the ‘ tense ﬁxed statue-like silence o f ineﬂable adora tion upon the spirits in prison at the feet of

Christ .

3 2 and 33 . In these two cells it is believed

that Fra Angelico was assisted by a pupil, as the work does not seem to be wholly that o f the artist himself. The frescoes represent the

Sermon on the Mount and the Betrayal . The same cell also contains two o f the reli quary panels done by Fra Angelico in the early his part of c areer, those known as the Madonna della Stella and the Coronation of the Virgin . T he former is an especially lovely one, very

e . pur in colour, most reﬁned in idea and in

- execution, and exquisite in its miniature like detail , and in the beauty of the faces . f 34 . The next cell contains the third o these SAN MARCO 2 1

En . panels, the remaining one being in gland This one represents the Annunciation and the Adoration of the Magi in two separate tiny

panels one over the other. The fresco is the

Agony in the Garden , and there are two beau tiful ﬁgures introduced by a piece o f symbolism as witnesses of the dread event, Mary and

Martha, the former being the Blessed Virgin

herself. They are seated side by Side upon the

ground .

3 5 . This cell contains the Last Supper, or more properly the institution of the Sacrament

f . o the Altar (see p . 4 7 for a full description)

6 . 3 The Nailing to the Cross . This is a very

remarkable work, as the scene is not, as is the habit of Fra Angelico, represented in traditional fashion , but with quite an original treatment . Our Lord is depicted submitting to the terrible pain of the nailing when already upon the Cross, stretching out his hands quite willingly for the

suffering. The modelling of the nude ﬁgure is

most wonderful, and the attendants are drawn with the utmost Skill and reﬁnement . Professor Douglas states that the artist obtained the idea for this fresco from a legendary life of St . Mary

Magdalen , which was one of the books just at that time in use in the convent . 2 2 FRA ANGELICO

T . 3 7 . he Crucifixion This, Professor Douglas is o f States, the only representation the Cruci fi xio n o f at San Marco, with the exception the t great picture in the Chap er House, in which the the two thieves appear, but most striking figure

o f . in it is that St Dominic, who stands with arms o utstretched gazing upward in rapt adoration .

a . Ne r him are St Thomas Aquinas, the Madonna, is and St. John the Divine . This the cell that tradition assigns afterwards to Fra Bartolommeo .

f . 39 . The Adoration o the Magi This is in the double cell which was occupied by Pope see 6 Eugenius IV. ( page ) when he stayed in o f the convent 'and here the founder the house, ’ Cosimo de Medici, also lived for a time when ’ was th Sant Antonino in e convent . The POpe occupied the cell o n the Feast of E the piphany, and probably for that reason Fra Angelico selected the subject o f this fresco after f the Ponti f had left. The inﬂuence of the visit of the Orientalists from the great Council at Ferrara, whence they accompanied the Emperor Palaeologus to F101 has ence can be seen, as Professor Douglas , l pointed out, in this most satisfying and delightfu work .

2 4 . Another Cruciﬁxion adorns this cell .

SAN MARCO 2 3

The Fl ado nna and S aints which is placed upon the wall o f the south corridor should re not be o verlooked . It is a work much sembling in its composition the altarpiece that

Fra Angelico painted for the adjacent Church .

The Child is very lovely, the Madonna digniﬁed — St . and compassionate, while the eight saints

Mark, St. Cosmo, St . Damian , and St . Dominic

o n . the right, and St John, St. Thomas Aquinas,

. o n San Lorenzo, and St Peter Martyr the left, f are models o serenity and composure . c This fres o was painted, it is quite evident, with f especial reference to the founder o the house,

as St. Cosmo, St . Damian , and San Lorenzo

occupy important positions in it . The altarpiece that the friar painted for the adjacent church o f San Marco is now in the

Accademia, and is an exquisite work , full of

beauty . The panels which were below it are no w — scattered three being in Munich, two in

Florence in the same gallery as the larger picture,

one in Paris, and one in Dublin . The same saints appear in it as in the last

named work, and in the predella panels is told

the story of St. Cosmo and St . Damian in very

energetic and even dramatic fashion . THE A RT OF F RA A N GE L I C O

N examining the work of this great artist we have to takeinto adequate consideration the i two rival capabilities that distinguished h s life . The friar was a profound believer in the fact that no more honourable rOle could be assigned ’ to art than that of consecrating man s highest and noblest endowments to the service o f the ' Divine Giver of all good gifts .

With an intense love of art, he yet believed that to make it the handmaid of religion, and to use it as the means of imparting religious instruction,

1ve was to g to it its greatest dignity, and was to employ the talents that God had given him to ' their best advantage . He knew that to be a saint was more in the

thIS eyes of God than to be an artist, and with

- dictum all right minded men would agree, but he never allowed his religious fervour to degenerate into mere pietism of a sentimental kind .

He was a man of deep fervour, of overwhelm ing belief in the facts of the Gospel story, of true 2 4 H IS ART 2 5

d o f evotion , perfect and most ready obedience to the teaching of the Church but at the same

time he was a real student of art, one who worked

hard at his profession, spared no pains to make aid himself perfect, and used every that came to

his hand to make his pictures truthful, both as stories of the times and as symbols o f what he

desired them to teach . The unity between these two phases of char o ne acter is not an impossible , as some persons

have thought . There were in the same body, “ as Professor Douglas has said, two tempera ments which are usually supposed to have but m little in com on , and which indeed are not often found inhabiting the same frame— the art istic n and the saintly . In Fra A gelico they

existed, side by side, and were both of them of

ra An elico exalted importance . F g well deserved his popular title of Beato Angelico He was

a true saint, a very holy man , who consecrated

his work to the service of God , who engaged in

prayer before he painted his pictures, and who was deeply attached , as Vasari tells us , to the religion of Christ, but at the same time, and “ Ins i ratIo n h e with an equal p , was an artist to ' “ ﬁ n er- his very g tips, keenly alive to the pro gress in technical matters which was going on 2 6 FRA ANGELICO

around him , and sympathetically open to con ' temporary inﬂuences o f various kinds .

' It is the essential unity between these diﬁ ering ’ — qualities o f the artist s charact er that must be borne in mind wh en any careful study o f his is a work made, and unless their intim te connec

is ~ understo t o o f tion od, and heir p wer acting and reacting upon each other is grasped, the knowledge of the work o f Fra Angelico that is I ne gained will be an nadequate o . was The traditional story, as given by Vasari, o n o ne o f entirely the side, that the saint, and was derived from the companions and followers ra e of F Angelico . The view that som later writers have taken of Fra Angelico is too much o n the other side, as while valuing his work at its highest importance, they have intentionally o f hi overlooked the religious aspect s life, or at least have implied that it was o f small moment be side the artistic .

Both were wrong, and it is in the proper understanding of the inadequacy o f either aspect to give the full character of the man that wisdom dwells . No theological or anti-theo logical views should be allowed to prejudice the judgment that is o f fﬁ formed the work of this artist, and di cult as H IS ART 2 7 is o O his re the p sition, the knowledge f both ligio us life and his artistic development have to s be remembered by the student . For these rea ons it is important that a mind as free as possible from prejudice Should be brought to bear upon this consideration .

ERRORS ABOUT TH E ARTIST a Mrs . Jameson in her delightful books m de e many rrors in treating of this artist, which have been perpetuated by those who have followed her . She said that Fra Angelico regarded the f exhibition o the nude form as a sin . She did no t expect to ﬁnd accurate drawing o f the human o f form in the works the artist, and consequently o f as o ne she did not ﬁnd it . She spoke him who did not observe nature and paid no atten tion to the things o f daily life that were tran

so spiring around him , and as wrapt in religious contemplation as to be indifferent to all such events . She also, with other writers, has said that Fra Angelico was never vigorous o r dra matic, wanting in truth and majesty, and mono his tonous in types 'and all these statements, she and many more that and others have made, are completely inaccurate . A Similar misstatement is to the effect that 2 8 FRA ANGELICO

Fra Angelico owed nothing to classic art or classic a lore, and that he spurned all pag n tradition as o f dangerous to morals . The very reverse this is the case A more careful exam ination o f the great Cruci fi xio n o f at San Marco, the other similar scenes o f in the cells, the Child figure of Christ in the f o f arms of His Mother, and o some the figures in the various predella panels, would have con vinced the writers that Fra Angelico could not only represent the nude figure, but did it often, and with consummate accuracy and truth . DOu las o ints His forms are, as Professor g p out, generally attenuated and ascetic , but no d o f m an oubt his models were that type , and he e drew them with great directness, and modell d them with brilliant discernment . His great Crucifixion just named is the finest and most pathetic scene that the period of Italian art pro duc ed , and is presented with rare delicacy and yet with great strength . His observance o f what went on around him is proved in very many ways . There is no space in these pages to enter into consideration o f the o n w argument, founded architecture, hich Pro fesso r Douglas has so luminously presented in his book 5 but his use of Eastern costume, espe

3 0 FRA ANGELICO

only. The same class o f critics tell us that he no t t did study nature, and hat his introduction l of ﬂowers, p ants and trees, is purely the result o f a imagination, inventive c pacity,and was made with a view of increasing the artistic merit only o f the work . All o f this is the purest ﬁction o n the part of those who have studied Fra Angelico as a saint

who painted, rather than as a great artist who o s was als a great aint .

LOVE OF NATU RE The roses which are introduced in theM adonna

Pern i a of g , and which were painted during the r Cortona period, are the ﬂowe s that abound in fo r the city of Cortona , and which it was famous . They are carried in baskets such as are sold to

- - . o f this day in the market place the hill town . The ﬂowers of the ﬁeld on which the angels in

L ast ud m ent h is the j g are dancing, are those of ieso le own beloved F , and are painted just as

- Th they appear in the ﬂower decked meadows . e o plants, which are to be seen in the large p ts on s f i the wall in the frescoes in Rome, are amiliar n

o f . every way, can be recognised, and the truth

their representation can be proved . The trees

h e s which painted were real ones , the very tree H IS ART 3 : which grew close to where he was at work 'even the very buildings, in some cases, which he de ic ted a p , can be recognised, and in the Cen colo o f in San Marco, and in other the frescoes in so that convent, he accurately painted the walls o f the convent itself that to this day the very s cene which can be realised, will be found painted with absolute truth in the frescoes before o ur eyes . For his dramatic powers we have only to o f his l be look at some predel a panels, which will o f found full movement, excitement and energy.

o f o f Fra Angelico was a man intense religion, O O great sweetness f mind, f exceeding fervour. His aim was to paint the scenes of the Gospel story with all his heart and with all his mind, but he never forgot that they were to be done also with all his skill . He was intensely moved o f by them, felt the truth all their story, and wished to carry the thoughts o f those who lo oked at to his works up to a higher level, and cause them to see things spiritual 'but withal he was so thoroughly an artist that his eyes were wide open upon the world, and he was able to absorb o f a its its its colour, its scenes p geantry, life, movement and its accessories, and to use all in his pictures . Towards the close of his career he became 3 2 FRA ANGELICO

o f n more and more a master form a d ﬁgure . l In his frescoes in the Chapel of Nicho as V . we

see him at the zenith of his power. The ﬁgures

are solid and round . They have all the tactile

value that is so needful . They stand out in bold

expression, grouped with perfect arrangement, and forming wonderful panels which seem like “ windows into an actual scene . The San Lorenzo ’ is o ne giving alms such a , and the artist s ability in painting actual portraits is also shown in this it o f the same series of frescoes, as the portra

reigning Pope appears more than once in them .

SPIRITUALIT' i The quality of etherealization , of spiritual ty, upon which so many writers have laid all their

stress must equally not be overlooked, as it is a f o f very real quality o distinction . In many the “ ' the windows into Heaven , as frescoes in the cells at San Marco have well been styled, there ra is a wondrous sense o f spiritual exaltation . F

Angelico grasped, as but few artists have ever “ ' o f grasped, the quality vision . He steps back from the ordinary mundane things, and takes us f right into the world o spiritual beings . He understands that the true artist has to create a

world for those whom he teaches . HIS ART 33

LIGHT AND FORM m S He is a aster of light, and heds it around his visions with a lustrous white glow that is s very marvellou . Hi ff s s e ectsare produced in the simplest fa hion, the colours are pure and clear 'there are but few

ﬁ ures / in s g each cene, and these are very simply grouped, and there is an entire absence in these spiritual visions of any accessories that would r ff dist act attention or spoil the desired e ect .

There is hardly any symbolism, hardly any r adjuncts to the story, but just the ba est ele ments of the pictures presented with an intense and overwhelming directness . E ven in his panel pictures, as, for example, the four that were painted for a reliquary and which o f have all the detail miniature painting, there is combined with the exuberance of richness, inseparable from the trains of bright angels that d are intro uced, a simplicity about the central scene that is very convincing 'but it is in the San Marco frescoes that this power has its fullest expression .

SIGNI FICANCE

Fra Angelico had an intimate appreciation o f the spiritual signiﬁcance of the picture that he D 34 FRA ANGELICO

was painting . He desired that those who gazed S upon it hould have a similar knowledge, that they should be imbued with the reverence that o f was part his nature, and should see the heavenly meaning to the story that was so clear r to him . Heaven was to him very eal, and the o f u virtues patience, h mility, compassion, and joy that he learned from the heavenly scenes he upon which gazed, were true virtues that ex ressI n were capable of p o in daily life . The to angels were him real beings, gloriﬁed, won

dro us and creatures, but none the less real, he presented them with all the wealth of beauty

with which he endowed them , and in such c o nvm cm g manner as to bring these spiritual n r beings with all the g ace, dignity, and glory

before our view . “ Windows into Heaven were indeed opened

to the artist saint, and by them we can still look

into the realms which he saw, and have presented to us by his immortal pencil the heavenly bem gs with whom he held converse when he painted

in the quiet o f his own cell . When we come to the frescoes painted in o f no Rome at the latter part his career, we ﬁnd f o ff o f alling the devotional spirit, but with it a great increase in the artistic element . HIS ART 35

Th s e utmo t care is taken with the grouping, the composition o f each fresco received the

most careful attention the ﬁgures are rounded, o f ﬁrm, and solid ' there is more pure love o f m decoration , greater elaboration detail, ore attention to accessories 'but all is the result o f steady growth o ut o f what has preceded these ’ frescoes in the artist s life, and there are the same exquisite faces which invariably distinguish

his work .

COLOUR

In colour, Fra Angelico is noted for his love o f o f S the pure elemental tints clear, harp blue, o f o f o f an exquisite rose, a vivid green, gold, and o f pure brilliant white ' but all are so cunningly combined as to produce a harmony

that is always delightful . He loved the radiance o f glowing white, and was able, by the most

subtle shading, to intensify its brightness . He was a master o f the methods o f combining true reseo score o r fresco with what is called f , paint o n ing a dry, hard ground, and he used both methods in the same work so as to give the to fullest value his colours . A gold back ground is his favourite for the miniature-like work that marked his earlier productions, but, as 36 FRA ANC ELICO

he grew older, he relinquished this very ﬁne treat ment and drew with a larger and fuller brush in f s o f strong, powerful ashion . The problem lighting received the closest consideration at his m hands, and he was able to shed around any of i his works an unearthly brill ance of white, glow

‘ ra rx f ing light . His d pe es are often sti f and conventional, and more must not be expected of him in that respect than he was able to perform . We must no t read into his works greater excel

lencies . than they possessed, or greater skill He e was , be it rememb red, a 'uatrocento painter, a man of ripe intelligence certainly, but bound by the knowledge of his time 'but he was a great t o f u ar ist, a man profound intelligence , a devo t s religious enthusia t, a humble, earnest worker, his and withal an artist who loved work, gloried a in the skill th t had been given him, and, while Od placing it all as a tribute of faith before G , s yet trove that the gift should be his very best, s fo r o f a and hould lack nothing want c re, of s a per ever nce, or of painstaking anxiety to be n proﬁcie t .

38 FRA ANGELICO w ho is seated . He has passed over a garden covered with flowers, his great wings are glow ing with eflulgent light and his countenance is trans figured with beauty as he has but recently H i left the Courts of the Most High . s fingers are raised as if to emphasize the importance o f flo w the words that from his lips, and he bends before the lowly maiden who is the recipient o f

The is the wonderful message . Madonna seated is under the colonnade, which open, that the

“ m a its scene y be realized in all beauty, and with

' she o ﬂ r hands clasped upon her breast, e s herself f o . Her as the handmaiden the Lord face, although somewhat thin and attenuated and having small features which are rather out o f o ne o f due proportion, is great peace and as S serenity, and he bends before the messenger f ' she i o the ing, seems to shrink from the h gh honour that he comes to announce to her . The

' room is quite plain and simple there is nothing to be seen in it save the book which has fallen from the hands o f the Virgin and the seat o n

which She rests . Outside is a lovely garden full o f a ﬂowers painted with such loving care th t, as h Professor Douglas points out, t ere are careful studies in it of some specIal ﬂowers in more o ne than stage of their bloom, the pink being, [ Carto n A lzna r i p /z o to j

TH E ANN U N C IATI ON .

OU R ILLUSTRATIONS 3 9

w ‘ for exam le - p , represented in bud, half opened, and in full ﬂower . All the ﬂowers are such as the artist would

ﬁnd at Cortona, and which may be plucked to this day, the roses especially being represented, as the city was noted for its roses while it may be noted that one o f the orchids is o f a sort t i s l tha does not grow in F e o e, but occurs in vast profusion on the hills of the hill-set town o f Cortona .

Above, far away in the corner of the picture, is represented in tiny form the driving out o f

Adam and Eve by the angel from Paradise, and so the truth of the prophes y that the seed ' o f the woman shall conquer is brought into notice . The detail on the wings and raiment o f the angel is of great beauty and complexity, but the expression of the picture is centred upon the clearly cut features and exquisite beauty of the two faces, in which can be seen all the spiritual teaching of the work . In the sim ilar scene which the artist painted in San Marco he further s rm pliﬁ ed the set ting of his picture, and with improved ability was able to give still more expression to the faces and to omit much of the detail which 4° FRA ANGELICO

would have been out o f place when fresco was used 'but in this work we have the beginning of his genius and his power of depicting a Scriptural event with all the religious devotion that it de

m anded.

1 2 is T/ze D ance of tire Angels (see p . ) one scene only from his picture o f the Last judgm ent co m in which he becam e more mystical . In the plete picture he has painted the Christ seated in

the heavens within a great oval mandorla of glory, and surrounded by cherubim and seraphim . are m - s There the tru pet bearing angel of doom, e and many of the saints and apostles, and b low th are the open graves . On the one side e artist has shown a crowd of the great ones of the world, as as s to well ome religious, being sent down I hell, and near them are seven circles of the n f erno . On the other side are the blessed, a vast t throng, who are being led by angels up o Para dise, and then near by is the scene of our picture, o s in which the angels, for very j y, are repre ented as dancing on the ﬂower-decked ground in stately s mystic beauty, joying in the glory and happines o f those whose guardian Spirits they have been ’ for so long . It is the artist s way of representing the celestial the joy of being, over the crown of OU R ILLUSTRATIONS 4 1

success that has been given to those for whom and they have cared, whom they have often shielded from harm and inspired with holy as i s pirations, and in its na ve implicity it is parti cularl y charming .

The faces of the angels and saints are lovely , their halos and wings are resplendent with gems and colour 'their draperies of dazzling whiteness and the perfect joy which is causing some of them to embrace one another for very delight, and others to circle round and round in dainty lightness is specially well presented . I s t is like a vi ion into another world, a peep into heaven, and will repay the most careful atten tion and thought . ra f Still, even here, F Angelico is sti f and formal, no t but the picture reveals him as only a mystic, but also as a profound lover and student Of nature, for the plants and ﬂowers are painted with striking accuracy and with the utmost pains taking attention .

In the M adonna of Perugia (see fronti rpiece) we see more genuine understanding o f the human form . The Madonna in the Annunciation was a ff f very real person, di erent from the sti f wooden forms that had been seen earlier than the time 4 2 FRA ANCELICO

Fra I the of Angelico in talian art, but in Child

f its e in the arms o moth r, which he painted us in the picture before , can be seen a still greater mark of progres s . “ H is The Child is all but nude, and attitude as He raises His little hand to bless the people ' o f is perfect in every line . One the greatest a features about this picture, as recent writer “ indefinable just quoted, has said, is the skill with which the artist has made o f the Child the principal figure to which that o f the Mother is ' o f is distinctly subordinate . The face Christ o f that of a child, the eyes are those a child, O o f the wide pened , full wonder 'but at same time there is a commanding gesture in the o f hand, a look decision in the countenance, His and a ruling idea in His position, in which Mother is quite ready to acquiesce and in her look towards Him admiration is mingled with awe . at The angels bearing roses, in the fl Cortona f baskets, are stately figures, reverent and grace ul . They form a fitting entourage for the central

ﬁgures in this lovely altarpiece .

The San Marco frescoes next claim attention .

r a P l r s 1 6 The one of Ctz zlrt as i g im ( ee p . ) was

44 FRA ANGELICO

It is the largest work which Fra Angelico e ver painted, and was never quite completed, f as in act the red background clearly proves . was This colour not intended to remain as it is, but was the ground colour fo r the blue that was

to follow it, and which was usually, by a worker in true fresco (in which this work was mainly done) laid on upon a red ground to give it the

needful depth of colour . The artist in this picture has combined with the representation of the scene a gloriﬁcation

of the stately Order to which he belonged . The re s pictu really represents the Mona tic Orders,

and that of the Dominicans in particular, in

adoration at the Cross . n Nearest to the foot of the Cross is St. Domi ic e himself, gazing up with the deepest reverenc

iﬁ . r c . at the C u ed One Behind him is St Jerome, to whom is ascribed the foundation of the mon ’ ast c His . i life . cardinal s hat is at his feet A little further back can be seen St . Francis of ff who e s Assisi, very di erent from St . Dominic, b ar the features that mark calm devotion and medi tatio n F ancrs IS In , whereas St . r a state of ‘ ecstatic grief. Near to these three founders are two bishops, St . Augustine of the Augustinians

-s ? and St. Albert of Vercelli the Carmelita and

OUR ILLUSTRATIONS 45

close behind them is St . Benedict in black, bearing a bundle of rods in his hand . The leaders of the Reformed Benedictines o f l are close at hand . St. Bernard C airvaux, f is ounder of the Cistercians, in white, clasping a book 'St . John Gualberto, founder of the

Vallombrosans, is in gray, and is kneeling, while f . o e s St Romuald, founder the Camaldoles , tands ff leaning upon his sta , and the eyes of St . Bene i dict are directed towards these three sa nts , who founded o ff-shoots from his great original rule . At the end come two notable Dominican

s . . a aints, St Peter Martyr and St Thomas Aquin s, “ who represent as has been well said The Sanctity and 'eal ' and the Philosophy and

Learning of the Order. On the other side of the Cross there is ﬁrst of all, the wondrous and pitiful group of the

Madonna with St. John, one of the Marys, and

St . Mary Magdalen, and then near by are the saints who were representative o f the Convent r and the Medici family, to whose gene osity the monastery owed its ﬁne buildings .

There is St . John the Baptist, with the wooden an cross, as patron of Florence, d St . Mark with an open book, the patron of the monastery 'St . o f o Lawrence with the gridiron, as patron L renzo 46 FRA ANGELICO

’ n o f de Medici, the heir of the fou der the house and donor of its endowments, and ﬁnally St'

s . Co mo and St Damian, the patron saints no t ’ o f only the founder himself, Cosimo de Medici, but also of the family to which he belonged, and St . Cosmo is specially depicted turning o o n r und fully to gaze upon the cross, and to o f the congregation Dominican saints at its feet .

All around are faces, the prophets above o f bearing scrolls, and below seventeen the most s o f illustriou members the Dominican Order, f t some of them contemporaries o the ar ist .

The group is most dexterous, and the faces in this wonderful picture are painted with great feel o f ing and Skill . Each is well representative the is to e e saint whom it intended depict, whil in som o f the faces below the picture, which are, it is o f quite clear, actual portraits, the delineation character is remarkable and the modelling exe cuted with the greatest genius .

Of the frescoes which adorn the cells we have selected the one representing the Transfiguration fo r r o u illustration (see p . f “ It is a very amous one, and the magnificent proportions and statelydignity o f the transfigured o Christ are most impressive . The three ap stles OU R I LLUSTRATIONS 4 7

below are overwhelmed with surprise and awe, and would shield from them that wonderful and f o f startling e fulgence light . They are hardly able to realize the majesty o f the occasion when they see their much loved Leader wrapped in celestial

luminance, and the way in which the artist has

depicted their bewilderment is remarkable . The

Christ, a noble impressive ﬁgure stands in glori o us position against an oval of burning white o ut light, and stretches His hands to bless the

11 world . Half hidden in the mist 0 either E side are to be seen Moses and lias, and below S o f them, as pectators the scene, the Madonna and who o r St . Dominic, , either himself by o ne o f his o n friars, is introduced every occasion as a spectator o f the scene that the artist has painted . All the faces in this fresco are of great beauty o f and full expression, and the whole picture is so simple and so imposing in its perfection as to form o ne of the very greatest of that unrivalled series .

f r t E u ar 2 2 In the fresco o the Fi s clz ist (p . ) the scene is set in o ne o f the white walled room s of the convent itself in which are the same windows as e in are still in the c lls . From them can be seen 4s FRA ANGELICO the picture the red roof of the opposite Cloister be s and its wall and windows, as can still een from the ac tual window of the cell which contains We e this fresco . have h re a striking example o f that desire to utilize the scenes around him and to paint the buildings exactly as he saw o ne s them , which is of the characteristic of the artist, a characteristic which some of the earlier writers refused to allow that he even possessed . The arrangement of the picture is mainly the i traditional one, but the fr ar has introduced one o happy innovation , in making four of the ap stles leave their seats and kneel humbly on the ﬂoor waiting for the coming of the Master. The Madonna is also to be seen kneeling at the other end of the table.

Eight of the apostles are seated at the table, and Christ is in the act of communicating St .

John the Divine.

The imagery of the well, seen through the arch d to the right is very interesting, and beyon can a be seen the garden, full of ﬂowers, which alw ys h -l appealed so strongly to this appy, nature oving artist. . There is no special symbol introduced into f Fra this work to mark Judas, and in act Angelico

50 FRA ANGELICO

e no t The ey does , however, dwell long upon it, as the grand quiet ﬁgure of the saint, framed in, is as it is, by the architectural background, less important as a work of art than are the ﬁgures that stand around on which the artist has lav i h his s ed . all latest skill The blind , the halt and the lame the poor' mother with her baby the eager, hungry child, with so pathetic a look c of entreaty, and the two happier hildren behind who are engaged in a playful warfare about the m piece of money that one of the has received, are all painted with consummate ability . They stand out clear and solid, their countenances are full of expression, and their attitudes all speak of their distress, poverty, and desire for help, and yet there is nothing painful in the scene, and it is lit up by the serenity and joy which pervade all the works of this artist . The devotion of the saInt to what he c o n sidered to be the distinct teaching o f God with out consideration Of its consequences to himself, the succour that was so much needed, the con trast between boarded treasures and gifts given ’ to God s poor, and the love instinct that was the basis o f the whole story are depicted in a striking and unmistakable manner . The teaching of the picture is so clear that every observer must learn Vat z can ' o nce . A li n a rz p no co J L ,

M S AN L O R E N'O D ISTRI B U TING AL S .

OU R ILLUSTRATIONS 5 1

the lesson that the artist desired to convey, and o f o f Go d m an the painter the love to , and the corresponding necessity for love from man to his o ne neighbour, found in this picture of the ﬁttest o f his illustrations .

THE C H I E F WO R'S OF FRA A N GE L I CO

HERE are very few works by FraAngelico

in this country, and without a visit to Flor ence it is impossible to understand the artist. The Convent of San Marco is a treasury of e t his works , and ven if no oppor unity occurs to see more than that, it will be possible from an inspection of the decoration of the cells, refectory, cloister and chapter-house to gain an idea o f the o f power, sweetness, and beauty of the works the artist. BRITISH ISLES

at onal alle In the N i G ry is the predella, or lower panel o f a large altarpiece which represents “ Christ in glory

It is divided into ﬁve compartments . In the centre is the Christ, clad in a white robe and surrounded with a radiating glory, raising His n n the right hand I benediction, and holdi g Hi standard of the Resurrection in s left . 53 54 FRA ANGELICO

On either side are the crowds o f angels painted in the most exquisite manner in delightfully pure n colour, and forming a wonderful harmo y . Some o n are playing musical instruments, others are bending in lowly adoration 'others again gaze up in faith to the ﬁgure of Christ . In the next o n o n the two panels either side are, left, patriarchs, bishops , priests, monks and martyrs, o n ro w and the right, the saints . In the front o f the right panel are kneeling the chief o f the female saints, St . Agnes, St . Catharine, and o f others . Behind them are male saints, many whom bear their names on their mitres, and in ' the rear are the Old Testament prophets, ing

David, St . John the Baptist, and many others . The panels at the extreme ends contain those o f the Blessed and the Saints who were members

f D m m 1can o the o Order, represented wearing their white habits and black mantles . Every face is painted with the utmost care w and reﬁnement, and the hole work is like a page from an illuminated missal .

2 0 There are over 5 ﬁgures, and the picture is o n e of great beauty, and pervaded with the true spirit of devotion .

5 6 FRA ANGELI CO

At Rom e there is the fresco decoration co ver o f ing the walls o f the Chapel Nicholas V . in the Vatican, and these two buildings will enable the student to acquire a good knowledge o f the work Of the artist . R om e as There are also in the L t Judgment, the Ascension , and the Descent of the Holy

Ghost in the National Gallery, and a Madonna o f and Saints, and a part the predella from

Perugia, in the Vatican Gallery . Other places in Italy where there are import ant works are

ortona C , where there is a ﬁne altarpiece in a the Church of San Domenico, and an import nt lunette over the west door of the Church, and

' there are also three pictures in the Oratorio del

Gesu . Fi esole Is s , where there a fre co and a panel o f picture in the Church San Domenico . Orvieto , which has the fresco work on the 8 ceiling mentioned on p . .

Parm a - , which contains in its picture gallery a ﬁne panel altarpiece of the Madonna and f our Saints . Peru ia - g , where in the picture gallery there is a very important altarpiece ‘ in eighteen divIslons. CHIEF WOR'S 5 7

Pisa o ne c Turi n , which has pi ture, and , in the gallery of which town there are two panel pictures representing angels . Besides all these there are the great pictures In o f Florence the galleries . The Accademia at Florence contains the S Deposition, the Madonna and ix Saints, the long series o f small panels which decorated the silver press at the Church o f Santissima An nunziata, and which depict scenes in the life -ﬁve of Christ, thirty in all 'the altarpiece from o f San Marco, with two panels the predella that belongs to it, the Last Judgment from Sta . a Maria degli Angeli at Florence, and a Piet with six Saints from the Convent of San Bona l ventura a Bosco in the Mugello . In the Uﬂi z i gallery is the celebrated M adonna dei Lina uoli 1 j , painted in 4 33 , with the angels on the frame 'the Coronation o f the Virgin f o . on panel, a small panel of the Naming St

John the Baptist, and part of the predella that

a nna de na uol belongs to the M do i Li j i .

RUSSIA

St Petersbur At . g, in the Hermitage Gallery, there is a ruined fresco of Madonna and Saints. 5 8 FRA ANGELICO

SPAIN

At M adrid there is a triptych of the Auh un ciatio n r with its p edella in the Prado Gallery . These represent all the chief works of Fra Angelico which are to be found on the Con

tinent . S U GGESTI ON S A S TO THE C H RO NO LO G' OF THE

A RTI ST’S WOR'S

Fi rst eriod u to 1 p , p 433 . “ ' 1 2 Cortona Annunciation , about 4 4 . Madonna at Parma and “ Coronation in the

1 2 Louvre, about 4 5 . ' i 1 1 2 6 fﬁz 2 . Coronation at the U , about 4 5 or 4

Three panel pictures at San Marco , and one lately in the possession of Lord Methuen '

1 2 1 0 from 4 5 to 43 .

Last Judgment Accademia, Florence .

d 1 0 1 . Annunciation, Madri , 43 to 433

S econd eriod 1 to 1 6 . p , 433 43 i Lina uo li U fﬁz . Madonna dei j , in the

at . Madonna of Cortona, Cortona ’ Annalena . Madonna d , Accademia, Florence

a . M donna of Perugia, at Perugia o Madonna of Fiesol , at Fiesole, and in National

Gallery . 60 FRA ANGELICO

The Madonna, at St . Petersburg .

The Cruciﬁxion, at the Louvre .

The Cruciﬁxion at Fiesole .

T/zi rd er od 1 6 to 1 . p i , 43 44 7 wo The t Depositions, in the Accademia .

The Madonna of San Marco, in the Accademia,

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C HISWIC' PRES S 'PRI NTED B' CHARLES WH ITTI NGHA M A ND CO

TOO'S COURT, CHA NGER? LANE , LONDON .