{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_21561/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_21561","id":"gutenberg_21561","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21561","summary":null,"tags":["Angelico, fra, approximately 1400-1455","Category: Art","Category: Biographies","Category: History - European","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Turgut Dincer and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFRA ANGELICO\n\nBY\n\nJ. B. SUPINO\n\nTRANSLATED\n\nBY\n\nLEADER SCOTT.\n\nFLORENCE\n\nALINARI BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS.\n\n1902.\n\nALL RIGHTS RESERVED\n\nPrinted by Barbera--Alfani and Venturi, proprietors\nFlorence.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n[Illustration: The Annunciation. (Convent of San Marco, Florence)]\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\n\nBeato Angelico--Proem                                        Page  5\n\nI.--Fra Angelico at Cortona and Perugia (1409-1418)               29\n\nII.--Fra Angelico at Fiesole (1418-1436)                          55\n\nIII.--Fra Angelico at Florence (1436-1445)                        93\n\n          San Marco                                               95\n\n          In the Gallery of Ancient and Modern Art               131\n\nIV.--Fra Angelico at Rome and Orvieto (1445-1455)                155\n\nIndex to the Illustrations                                       179\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: Angels of the \"Last Judgement.\"]\n\n\nTradition shows us Fra Giovanni Angelico absorbed in his work, and\neither caressing with his brush one of those graceful angelic figures\nwhich have made him immortal, or reverently outlining the sweet image\nof the Virgin before which he himself would kneel in adoration. Legend\npictures him devoutly prostrate in prayer before commencing work, that\nhis soul might be purified, and fitted to understand and render the\ndivine subject; and again in oration after leaving his easel, to thank\nheaven for having given him power to make his holy visions visible to\nother eyes.\n\nBut has tradition any foundation in fact? Why not? Through his\nnumberless works we may easily divine the soul of the artist, and can\nwell understand, how the calm and serene atmosphere of the monastic\ncell, the church perfumed with incense, and the cloister vibrating\nwith psalms, would develop the mystic sentiment in such a mind.\n\nAnd can we disregard tradition in face of such humility of life, such\nbeauty of work, exquisite refinement of feeling, and sweetness of\nexpression!\n\nAmong all the masters who have attempted to imbue the human form with\nthe divine spirit, he is perhaps the only one who succeeded in\nproducing pure celestial figures, and this with such marvellous\nsimplicity of line, that they have become the glory of his art.\n\nWhether it be the Virgin enthroned amidst groups of cherubim sounding\nheavenly trumpets, or Christ blessing the just and driving away\nsinners; whether the martyrs supporting their torments with superhuman\nresignation, the apostles preaching the gospel, or angels free in the\nair and chanting celestial glories; the same spirit is in them all--at\nonce intense, devout, and utterly pure, in which the fervent believer\nand the true artist are inseparably blended.\n\nThe reason is, that Fra Giovanni put into his work the flame of an\noverpowering passion; under his touch features were beautified, and\nfigures animated with a new mystic grace. He threw himself entirely\ninto his art which thus became the spontaneous expression of his soul.\n\"It was the custom of Fra Giovanni,\" says Vasari, \"to abstain from\nretouching or improving any painting once finished. He altered\nnothing, but left all as it was done the first time, believing, as he\nsaid, that such was the will of God. It is also affirmed that he would\nnever take his pencil in hand until he had first offered a prayer. He\nis said never to have painted a crucifix without tears streaming from\nhis eyes, and in the countenances and attitudes of his figures it is\neasy to perceive proof of his sincerity, his goodness, and the depth\nof his devotion to the religion of Christ.\"[1]\n\nHow this devout mind, full of the figurative sacred writings then\ncurrent, must have overflowed with visions, ecstasies and miracles!\nAnd what tremors of awe must he have felt, in putting these visions\ninto colour! His Madonnas, their features suffused with candour and\nhumility, bend with maternal grace hitherto unwitnessed, in loving\ncontemplation of the Son, or--mothers in glory--they bow to receive\nthe homage of the Redeemer. His saints ecstatically gaze at luminous\ncelestial apparitions; his golden winged angels dance lightly beneath\nthe throne of their Lord or sound merrily the most various\ninstruments, singing: _laudate Dominum..., laudate eum in sono tubae,\nlaudate eum in psalterio et cithara, laudate eum in timpano et\nchoro..._; or else with their fair curly heads downcast they\nreverently worship the divine majesty. What a feast of light and\ncolour is in these panels, gleaming with azure and gold like a hymn to\nreligion and faith!\n\n\"We know from him how the pious imagination of the men of his time\npictured the Kingdom of Heaven, with the angels, saints, and blessed\nones, and on this account alone his pictures would have been of\nextraordinary importance in the history of religion. Not to love Fra\nAngelico would mean to lack the true sentiment of ancient art, for\nthough we recognize the pious _naivete_ of the monk, there is in the\nheavenly beauty of his figures, and the joy of youthful faith which\nanimates the artist, a charm unequalled in the whole history of\nArt!\"[2]\n\nWhether Fra Angelico ever actually had a master, it is impossible to\nascertain. There are critics who affirm that if anyone initiated him\nin art, imbuing him with his own sentiment and style, it might have\nbeen the Camaldolese monk Lorenzo Monaco; but Cavalcaselle justly\nobserves that between Angelico and Lorenzo Monaco there only exists\nthat affinity which in coetaneous artists results from community of\nthought, social conditions, and religious sentiments. Two monks like\nthe Camaldolese and the Dominican might well show the same ideas,\nwithout implying a relation of master and scholar between them.[3]\n\nBoth critics and historians, however, agree in the assertion that he\nbegan his career in art by illuminating codices and choral books.\nBaldinucci and Rosini judge that his master in painting was the\nFlorentine Gherardo Starnina, whom Lanzi designates as \"a painter of\nlife-like style.\" But Padre Marchese refuting this opinion observes\nthat \"not to mention Vasari's silence on the matter, the fact is very\ndoubtful, because Gherardo passed many years in Spain, and returning\nto his native land died in 1403, when little Guido of Mugello[4] was\nonly 16 years old, an age which scarcely admits of the first steps in\nArt.\"[5] But the date of Starnina's death is now corrected and proved\nto have been in 1408, so, taking into account the character of our\nartist's works, nothing need now be opposed to the theory that Fra\nGiovanni may have profited by the teaching of that master, while\nliving in Florence after his return from Spain; besides it is not\nproved whether that journey to Spain was ever really taken.\nHistorians, it is true, tell us that Starnina, being obliged to leave\nFlorence after the Ciompi riots (1378), took refuge in Spain, where he\nlived several years; but it is certain that in 1387 his name was\ninscribed in the Guild of Florentine painters.[6]\n\nVasari does not doubt that Fra Angelico, like other artists from\nMasaccio onwards, acquired his skill by studying the frescoes of the\nBrancacci Chapel;[7] but besides the fact that the style of those\npictures is diametrically opposed to Fra Angelico's, the latter could\nnot possibly have been in Masaccio's school, for as he was born in\n1387, he was fifteen years older than Masaccio and already a proved\nmaster, when the Carmine frescoes were being painted. Fra Angelico's\nstyle is so individual and characteristic, that it might rather be\nconsidered as springing from his own disposition, developed under the\ninfluence of his time. Studying the works left in Florence by his\ngreat predecessors, leading a retired life, and purifying every idea,\nevery inspiration in the fire of religion, Angelico was enabled, by\nmeditation, to perfect the models of the best artists of the\n\"trecento\", among whom we should opine that the influence of Orcagna\nin his frescoes in the Strozzi Chapel of S. M. Novella, was greater\neven than that of Giotto. Indeed it is evident that what Orcagna\nbegan, is carried to the highest development in Fra Angelico, who\ncombined softness and refinement with severity of form, grace of\nexpression with nobility of attitude.\n\nThe figure of the Virgin in the fresco of the Judgment in the Strozzi\nChapel, so grand and majestic in its simplicity, is again recognisable\nin the panels of Fra Angelico, imitated with his own especial\ncharacter and spiritual feeling, full of grace and humility, the soft\nlines breathing beauty and lightness. The saints who appear to be\nactually in celestial repose, have also inspired Fra Giovanni; the\nsame gentle and contemplative expression which irradiates the features\nof the elect is again visible in our painter's figures. In the\ncolouring of both, vivacity is combined with softness, and vigour of\nchiaro-scuro goes together with transparency of tint.\n\nNevertheless it is true that in certain respects, Fra Angelico might\nbe said to belong to the same school as Masolino. They are, however,\nat the antipodes from each other in sentiment and artistic\ninterpretation, for while the saintly Giovanni endeavoured to idealize\nthe human figure and render it divine, Masolino, like most of his\ncontemporaries, followed a style distinctly realistic; yet it may be\nproved that in technique, both followed the same rules, and worked on\nsimilar principles. In fact the similitude between the two painters\nnoticeable in their composition, softness of outline, lightness of\nfigures, and clear harmonious colouring, tends to confirm the great\nartistic affinity which we have indicated. Both of them used rosy\ntints in the flesh, with greenish and yellowish shadows, both recall\nthe older artists of the \"trecento\" in the perspective, which is often\nincorrect, and out of proportion. But how far superior is Fra Angelico\nwhen the work of both in its full aspect is compared!\n\nFra Angelico has, it is true, conventional forms, and there is a\ncertain sameness in his heads with their large oval countenances; the\nsmall eyes, outlined round the upper arch of the eyebrow, and with a\nblack spot for pupils, sometimes lack expression, or have a too\nmonotonous one, and the iris is often lost in the white of the cornea;\nhis mouths are always drawn small with a thickening of the lips in\nthe centre, and the corners strongly accentuated; the colour of his\nfaces is either too pink or too yellow; the folds of the robes (often\nindependent of the figure, especially in the lower part) fall\nstraight, and in the representations of the seated Virgin expand on\nthe ground, as if to form the foot of a chalice. But in his frescoes\nthese faults of conventional manner almost entirely disappear, giving\nplace to freer drawing, more life-like expression, and a character of\ngreater power.\n\nWe will not repeat with Vasari that Fra Giovanni perfected his art\nfrom the frescoes of the Brancacci Chapel; but we do not doubt that he\ntoo felt the beneficent influx of the new style, of which Masaccio was\nthe greatest champion, and that he followed it, leaving behind, up to\na certain point, the primitive giottesque forms. There is in his art,\nthe great mediaeval ideal rejuvenated and reinvigorated by the spirit\nof newer times. Being in the beginning of his career, as is generally\nbelieved, only an illuminator, he continued, with subtle delicacy and\naccurate, almost timid design, to illuminate in larger proportions on\nhis panels, those figures which are often only parts of a decorative\nwhole. But in his later works while still preserving the simplicity\nof handling, and the innate character of his style, he displays\na new tendency, and learns to give life to his figures, not only\nby the expression of purity and sweet ecstasy, but in finer\nparticularization of form and action which he reproduces in more\nmaterial style.\n\nHis clear diaphanous transparency of colouring is not used from lack\nof technical ability, but to approach more nearly to his ideal of\ncelestial and divine visions, and succeed in a species of pictorial\nreligious symbolism.\n\nIn the midst of his calm and serene compositions Fra Angelico has\nfigures in which a healthy realism is strongly accentuated; figures\ndrawn with decision, strong chiaro-scuro and robust colouring, which\nshow that he did not deliberately disdain the progress made in art by\nhis contemporaries. Indeed we should err in believing that Fra\nAngelico was unwilling to recognize the artistic developments going on\naround him, and the new tendencies followed by his eminent neighbours\nGhiberti, Brunelleschi and Donatello. It was not so; but he only\nprofited by the movement as far as he deemed possible without losing\nhis own sentiment and character; thus giving a rare example of\nself-knowledge.\n\nPerhaps he divined that if he had followed the new current too\nclosely, it would have carried him farther than he wished to go; that\nthe new manner would have removed him for ever from his ideal; in a\nword, that too intense study of the real, would have diminished or\nentirely impeded fantasy and feeling. He instinctively saw these\nperils, and therefore kept himself constant to his old style, and\nwhile perfecting himself in it, he still remained what he always had\nbeen, and what he felt he should be.\n\nThough constrained to repeat to excess the usual subjects, too\ntraditionally drawn, \"he often,\" as Burckhardt writes, \"understood how\nto avoid in the features of his saintly personages that aspect of\nabstract impersonality, which had hitherto marked them, and to animate\nthem with delicate and individual life. He succeeded in giving a new\ncharacter to the time-honoured types used in preceding artistic\nrepresentations. To prove this it is sufficient to cite the St. John\nBaptist--one of Fra Angelico's finest creations.\"\n\nHe modifies the traditional type of Christ according to his own faith\nand feeling. Deriving it from Giotto, with improvements gathered from\nOrcagna, he excels both masters, impressing on it a divine character,\nand giving to the face of the Man God a sweet gentleness which is\ntruly sublime. These qualities reach the highest grade in the\n\"Coronation of the Virgin\" at the Convent of San Marco, and in the\npicture at Pisa[8] where the Saviour is represented standing upright,\nin the act of blessing with his right hand, while in the uplifted left\nhe holds a golden cup.\n\nHe is represented full face, in all his majesty, his features of an\nexquisite sweetness and nobility,--a grand figure, which has all the\nseduction of a vision, such as our Dominican alone could conceive and\ndesign.\n\nAs he could, in a manner no one had ever done before, give to the\nfigure of the living Christ the expression of infinite goodness, ready\nfor sacrifice; so in his Crucifixions, instead of following the\nexample of his contemporaries, who depicted Christ already dead, with\nmarks of sorrow on His features, and contorted by the spasm of a\nviolent death; he represented Him living, calm and serene, conscious\nof the sacrifice He completed, and full of joy in dying for man's\nsalvation.\n\nThe type of the Virgin, too, though its characteristic construction of\nfeatures, and short and receding chin, are derived from the Sienese\nmasters, especially from Lorenzetti, in Fra Angelico responds to an\nartistic idealization chosen by him as approaching more the divinity\nof her person. The flowing robes of the Virgin show her long and\nrefined hands, but beneath that mantle he draws no feminine figure nor\ncan one even guess at it. All the power of the artist is concentrated\nin her face\n\n  umile in tanta gloria,\n (humble in such great glory)\n\non which the artist has impressed such candour, and so lively an\nexpression of ineffable grace, that one is involuntarily moved to\ndevotion.\n\nThe divine child with its golden curls, full and sunny face, wide open\nand sparkling eyes, is in the pictures at Cortona and Perugia depicted\nwith rosy fingers in the act of blessing; in the \"Madonna della\nStella\" He embraces His mother so closely that He almost hides Himself\nin her bosom; in the great azure-surrounded tabernacle of the Linen\nGuild, He is smiling; while in the fresco of the corridor at San\nMarco, He has an ingenuous wondering gaze as He holds forth His little\nhand,--an expression so natural that it shows a happy grafting of\nideal representation, on a conscientious and close study of the real.\n\nFull of character, too, are the heads of his old people, with flowing\nbeards and severe aspect, and those of his saints and martyrs, which\nwere evidently either young novices of the convent, contemporary\nbrethren, or elder companions in the faith, portrayed with sapient\nand ingenuous realism. But the figures which most brilliantly display\nhis genius, are those diaphanous angels, robed in flowing tunics,\nresplendent with gold, and of infinite variety. While admiring that\nmultitude of celestial creatures, who praise, sing and dance around\nthe radiant Madonnas, how can we doubt that they have visited his\ncell, and that he has lived with them in a fraternal and sweet\nfamiliarity?[9]\n\nEven when he has to represent scenes of passion, Fra Angelico\nmitigates the violence of action with softness of sentiment, for anger\nand disdain never entered his soul; and in their place he prefers to\nreproduce one character alone in all his figures with their gentle\nexpression. It is his own character, with its angelic goodness of\nheart, which he incarnates in the divine beauty of all these celestial\nbeings. As in name and art, so in real life he was truly \"angelic,\"\nfor he spent his whole time in the service of God, and the good of his\nneighbour and the world.\n\n\"And what more can or ought to be desired, than by thus living\nrighteously,\" says Vasari, \"to secure the kingdom of heaven, and by\nlabouring virtuously, to obtain everlasting fame in this world? And,\nof a truth, so extraordinary and sublime a gift as that possessed by\nFra Giovanni, should scarcely be conferred on any but a man of most\nholy life, since it is certain that all who take upon them to meddle\nwith sacred and ecclesiastical subjects, should be men of holy and\nspiritual minds....\n\n\"Fra Giovanni was a man of the utmost simplicity of intention, and was\nmost holy in every act of his life.... He disregarded all earthly\nadvantages; and, living in pure holiness, was as much the friend of\nthe poor in life as I believe his soul now is in heaven. He laboured\ncontinually at his paintings, but would do nothing that was\nunconnected with things holy. He might have been rich, but for riches\nhe took no care; on the contrary, he was accustomed to say, that the\nonly true riches was contentment with little. He might have commanded\nmany, but would not do so, declaring that there was less fatigue and\nless danger of error in obeying others, than in commanding others. It\nwas at his option to hold places of dignity in the brotherhood of his\nOrder, and also in the world; but he regarded them not, affirming that\nhe sought no dignity and took no care but that of escaping hell and\ndrawing near to Paradise. And, of a truth, what dignity can be\ncompared to that which should be most coveted by all churchmen, nay,\nby every man living, that, namely, which is found in God alone, and in\na life of virtuous labour?\n\n\"Fra Giovanni was kindly to all, and moderate in all his habits,\nliving temperately, and holding himself entirely apart from the snares\nof the world. He used frequently to say, that he who practised the art\nof painting had need of quiet, and should live without cares or\nanxious thoughts; adding, that he who would do the work of Christ\nshould perpetually remain with Christ. He was never seen to display\nanger among the brethren of his order; a thing which appears to me\nmost extraordinary, nay, almost incredible; if he admonished his\nfriends, it was with gentleness and a quiet smile; and to those who\nsought his works, he would reply with the utmost cordiality, that\nthey had but to obtain the assent of the prior, when he would\nassuredly not fail to do what they desired. In fine, this\nnever-sufficiently-to-be-lauded father was most humble, modest, and\nexcellent in all his words and works; in his painting he gave evidence\nof piety and devotion, as well as of ability, and the saints that he\npainted have more the air and expression of sanctity than have those\nof any other master.\"[10]\n\nFra Giovanni Angelico, whose worldly name was Guido or Guidolino\n(little Guy), was born in the year 1387; his father was named Piero\n(surname not known) of Vicchio in the Mugello;--that pleasant valley\nwhich boasts of having given birth to Giotto.\n\nVasari asserts that Guido's brother Benedetto, a miniaturist, was also\nvery clever in a larger style of painting, but the researches of\nMilanesi quite refute this opinion, and show that Benedetto did\nnothing more than copy choral books, and that he continued this kind\nof work till his death.[11]\n\n\"The most ancient chronicles of the convent of St. Mark and St.\nDominic at Fiesole,\" writes Milanesi when registering the death of Fra\nBenedetto brother of Angelico, in the year 1448, \"remark simply that\nhe was a very good writer, and that he wrote and annotated the choral\nbooks of St. Mark and some of those of St. Dominic.\" We have only the\nevidence in Vasari and the \"Annali del Convento di San Marco,\" written\nafter his Lives of the Painters to prove that he was a miniaturist.[12]\n\nIn these Annals it is added, with more historical truth, that although\nAngelico \"might have conveniently lived in the world, and besides his\nown possessions might have gained any income he chose, with the art\nfor which he was famous even in his youth, yet, for his own\nsatisfaction and peace, being by nature steady and good, and chiefly\nalso for the salvation of his soul he preferred to take the vows in\nthe order of the Preaching monks.\"[13] This happened in 1407.\n\nOn the slopes of the smiling hill of Fiesole the foundations of a new\nconvent were being laid by Giovanni Dominici, the great preacher and\nreformer, who wished in this new monastery to give a model to all the\ncloistered orders which at the close of the preceding century had\ngreatly fallen from their ancient observances. St. Antonino was among\nthe first to embrace this reform, and after two years Guidolino and\nhis brother followed his example, choosing the robes of St. Dominic.\n\nOn being received by the Dominicans they were sent to Cortona, where\nSt. Antonino and others already resided, there being as yet no\nnovitiate at the Fiesole convent. In 1408 they took the irrevocable\nvows, but it cannot be ascertained whether they still remained at\nCortona, or returned at once to their own convent at Fiesole. If the\nlatter, the two brothers must have been involved in the vicissitudes\nof the Fiesolan convent, which, refusing to acknowledge Pope Alexander\nV. (who was elected by the Council of Pisa 1409), entered into a\nfierce contest with the archbishop of Florence. The convent was\nabandoned by its inmates who fled to Foligno to avoid the rule of Fra\nTommaso da Fermo, General of the Order, who had sworn obedience to the\nnew Pope. They were received as guests at Foligno by Ugolino de'\nTrinci, lord of the city, and Federigo Frezzi, author of the\n_Quadriregio_. Here they passed five years, being treated with great\nbenevolence by their brethren, nor did they leave until driven away by\nthe plague in 1414, when they again took shelter at Cortona where they\nremained till 1418.\n\nWhen Guidolino entered the convent and took the name of Giovanni, he\nmust have been already expert in art; for the vicissitudes which\nfollowed could certainly not have facilitated the study of painting.\nIn fact his works which remain at Cortona are in so youthful a style,\nand bear the imprint of such freshness as to remove all doubt on this\ngenerally accepted assertion.\n\nWhile staying at Foligno, the Fiesolan refugees propagated that severe\nform of life and strict observance which Giovanni Dominici had taught\nin his convent at Fiesole, and brother Giovanni again began his\nartistic work, for painting was to him like prayer, i. e. his usual\nway of raising his mind and heart to God. Unfortunately few of these\nfirst works have been preserved, but from those few we are assured\nthat he studied in Florence, from which school alone he could have\nappropriated the noble manner impressed on all his works; and that\nthose who perceive an Umbrian influence in his art, are very far from\nthe truth.\n\nThere may be some elements common to both the Umbrian art and that of\nAngelico; this, however, does not depend so much on the teaching of\nthe school, as on technical affinity; insomuch as Umbrian painting in\nits lucidity, charm and accuracy of colour, is in some measure derived\nfrom the art of illumination, and most probably Fra Angelico took his\nstyle from the same source, as even in his most perfect works, he\nalways preserved a remembrance of it.\n\nIn fact, his patient diligence and study of detail render his pictures\nso many miniatures, done in larger proportions; the lucidity of tint,\nthe grace of the ornamental motives, the almost exaggerated minuteness\nof execution, are decided proofs of the artistic education of Fra\nAngelico. It is pleasant to imagine him, during his sojourn at Foligno\nand Cortona, making pilgrimages to Assisi, to draw inspiration from\nthe works of the great masters in the splendid church of San\nFrancesco. There he found his old friends, and might at a glance\nadmire together Giotto, Simone Martini, and Lorenzetto. We should say\nhe admired Simone and Lorenzetto more than Giotto, for the grace of\ntheir figures, refinement of execution, and greater richness of the\naccessories, robes and ornamentation, together with the pleasing\nbrilliance of colouring, all approached more nearly to Fra Giovanni's\nown artistic sentiment than the style of Giotto.\n\nAnd even less than the Umbrian painters or miniaturists (if indeed\nthere were any worthy to influence the artistic spirit of our artist)\ndid the landscape of verdant Umbria stir his soul, which even the\nsweet slopes of Fiesole could not touch.\n\nDoubtless from the heights of the convent at Cortona, which dominates\none of the finest views in Italy, the young monk admired the beautiful\nhorizon, and enjoyed the splendour of the verdant plain, and the blue\nmountains, \"enwrapt in mists of purple and gold\", as he had often at\nsunrise and sunset, enjoyed from his Fiesole convent the gentle fields\nand dales \"peopled with houses and olives\"; but, after all, these\nbeauties of nature so often displayed before him, were dumb to an\nartist who was wholly absorbed in visions beyond this world.\n\nThe study of the verdant country never occupied his mind; in his\npaintings, landscape is either an insignificant accessory, or if it\noccupies a large space in the picture as in the \"Deposition from the\nCross\" in the Florentine Gallery, it shows plainly that it is not the\nresult of special study, of personal impressions, or of love of the\nplace itself. In fact it does not attract or interest the observer at\nall.\n\nNor could this be otherwise; the inner life of the spirit, which he\nlived so intensely, and so vividly transfused in the figures of his\nSaints, must necessarily have abstracted his mind from his\nsurroundings, to which he therefore gave little attention. In this he\nwas faithful to the Giottesque principle of not enriching the\nbackground, except by just what was necessary to render the subject\nintelligible, and this without pretension, or new research.\n\nHis trees rose straight on their trunks, the leaves and branches\nspreading in conventional style; his rocks have the usual gradations\nwhich we find in the old school; the views of distant cities are\nabsolutely fantastic and infantile creations; only the green plain is\noften illumined, in an unusual manner, by tiny flowerets of many hues,\nwhile mystic roses crown the angels' locks, adorn overflowing baskets,\nor rise on long stalks at the foot of the Virgin's throne in\ntransparent vases.\n\nSuch are the characteristics, the spirit and the sentiment that appear\nin the works of Fra Angelico, who might be considered as the last\nrepresentative of that school of which Giotto was master; and at the\nsame time the initiator of \"Quattrocento\" art, whose powerful\ndevelopment irresistibly attracted him. He painted so many pictures\nfor the houses of Florentine citizens, that \"I was often astonished,\"\nwrites Vasari, \"how one man alone could, even in many years, do so\nmuch and so well.\" \"And we also,\" justly observes Milanesi, \"are not\nless amazed than Vasari, for although many works have been dispersed\nor are still hidden, yet a great number still remain both in Italy and\nother countries, and, what is more remarkable, the greater part are\nnot mentioned by Vasari.\"[14]\n\nWe will follow our artist in his different places of abode, thus\nestablishing the various periods of his life and artistic productions;\nfrom the Fiesole hills, where the first seedlings of his fantasy were\nsown, to green Umbria, where his early works are, works warm with\nenthusiasm, faith and youthful candour: from Florence, which he\nenriched with admirable frescoes, and innumerable pictures dazzling\nwith gold and azure, to Rome, where he left his grand pictorial legacy\nin the oratory of Pope Nicholas V.\n\n[Illustration: Angels of the \"Last Judgement.\"]\n\n\n\n\nI.\n\nFRA ANGELICO\nAT CORTONA AND PERUGIA.\n\n[1409-1418.]\n\n[Illustration: ANGEL OF THE ANNUNCIATION. (Pinacoteca, Perugia.)]\n\n\nIf, after a study of the pictorial works of Fra Angelico, any one\nshould undertake to make a precise classification of them, he\nwould--although his frescoes are easy enough to classify--find himself\nconfronted by no small difficulty in regard to the panel paintings.\n\nSo active and original was the artist, and so grand in\nhis simplicity, that he always remained just what he appeared\nfrom the beginning,--the painter of ingenuous piety, mystical\necstasy, and intense religious fervour.\n\n[Illustration: HISTORY OF ST. DOMINIC'S LIFE.]\n\nNo record is extant of his first visit to Foligno, but in the church of\nSt. Dominic at Cortona we may still admire a triptych with the Virgin\nand four Saints; an Annunciation; and two \"predelle\"; one of which is\nsaid to have belonged to the picture of St. Dominic, as the scenes\nrelate to the life of that Saint, and the other with some stories of the\nVirgin, to the Annunciation mentioned above.\n\n[Illustration: THE RESURRECTION OF CARDINAL DE' CECCANI'S NEPHEW.]\n\nTo the story of St. Dominic (which had already been treated in a\nmasterly manner by Fra Guglielmo, in the \"arca\" at Bologna, and by\nTraini in his picture at Pisa), Fra Angelico has, in some scenes,\ngiven a fuller development, but with less dramatic sentiment; exactly\nthe good and bad points which are more clearly shown in his other\nworks. The \"predella\", divided into seven parts, represents the birth\nof Saint Dominic; the dream of Pope Honorius III., to whom the Saint\nappears in act of steadying the falling church; the meeting of the\nSaint with St. Francis; the confirmation of his rule by means of the\nVirgin; the visits of St. Peter and St. Paul; the dispute with\nheretics; the resurrection of the nephew of Cardinal de' Ceccani; the\nsupper of the Saint and his brethren; and lastly his death.\n\n[Illustration: DEATH OF ST. DOMINIC.]\n\nThe scene of the resurrection of the young Napoleon, nephew of\nCardinal Stefano de' Ceccani, had been already powerfully depicted by\nTraini; in Angelico's hands it comes out restrained and cold, the acts\nof amazement in the devotees present at the miracle, who raise their\nhands in astonishment, are too conventional: and it is precisely in\nthe intermingling of these gestures of sorrow for the death, and\nwonder for the revivication, that the Pisan artist has brought out his\nbest effects. As we have before pointed out, the calm spirit of Fra\nAngelico avoided realistic representation; his figures always suggest\nlove, faith and resignation, but are never agitated; like the soul of\ntheir author, they are incapable of violent action; therefore when\nthese should be drawn, the representation falls below reality. We\nshall see instances of this in other works of his.\n\n[Illustration: THE ANNUNCIATION. (Church of Gesu, Cortona.)]\n\nOne of Angelico's most familiar subjects was the Annunciation, and the\nmost interesting of the Cortona pictures, is that of the angel's visit\nto Mary. Its motive is simple and clear, as it was transmitted from\nearly Christian art; the general lines are unchanged, but the\nexpression greatly so. Fra Angelico did not disturb the religious\nsolemnity of the apparition with useless accessories; faithful to his\nown sentiment, he has clothed Mary with humility. She sits beneath the\nportico, the book neglected on her lap, her hands crossed, and her\ndrooping head inclined towards the heavenly messenger. The\ngolden-winged angel with roseate robe also bends before the Virgin,\nthe right hand pointing to her breast and the left to the dove which\nsheds celestial rays on Mary's head. In the background Adam and Eve\nare being expelled from the terrestrial Paradise, symbol of the\nancient Christian legend which directly connects the story of original\nsin with that of the Redemption.\n\nThis mystic subject, which does not lack grace and freshness in the\nCortona painting, finds its fuller development in San Marco at\nFlorence. Here the Madonna is seated on a wooden stool, her head\nprojected forward almost in ecstasy, with hands clasped on her breast,\nand in similar attitude the angel half kneels before her. The scene\ntakes place before a little grated window in the colonnade of a\ncloister, utterly bare of ornament, but in this very simplicity lies\nall the charm and poetry of Angelico.\n\nBefore a subject so ideal, so solemn, which reveals in such intensity\nof faith and feeling how his thought spontaneously turned to the\nprayer of the Salutation which was certainly on the artist's lips as\nhe painted, or was inspired by some sweet Annunciation hymn such as\nthis, which probably has been often repeated before this entrancing\npicture:\n\n    Alzando gli occhi vidi Maria bella\n  Col libro in mano, e l' angel gli favella.\n\n    Dinnanzi a lei si stava inginocchiato\n  Quell' angel Gabriel tanto lucente,\n  Ed umilmente a lei ebbe parlato:\n  \"Vergine pura, non temer niente;\n  Messaggio son di Dio onnipotente,\n  Che t' ha eletta e vuolti per sua sposa.\"\n\n    E poi le disse: \"In cielo e ordinato,\n  Che siate madre del figliuol di Dio,\n  Pero che gli angeli il padre han pregato,\n  Che con effetto adempia el lor disio;\n  E da parte del sommo e buono Dio,\n  Questa benedizione a voi s' appella.\"\n\n    Queste parole fur tanto infiammate\n  E circundate di virtu d' amore,\n  Che ben parean da Dio fussin mandate,\n  E molto se n' allegra nel suo core:\n  \"Da poi che piace all' alto Dio Signore,\n  Io son contenta d' essere sua ancella.\"\n\n    Ella si stava dentro alla sua cella,\n  E grande meraviglia si faceva,\n  Pero che a nessun uomo ella favella,\n  E molto timorosa rispondeva.\n  L' angelo disse allora: \"Ave Maria,\n  Di grazia tu se' piena, o chiara stella.\"\n\n    Allor discese lo Spirito santo,\n  Come un razzo di sol l' ha circundata,\n  Poi dentro a lei entro quel frutto santo\n  In quella sacrestia chiusa e serrata;\n  Di poi partori inviolata\n  E si rimase vergine e donzella.\n\n    O veri amanti, venite a costei,\n  Quella che di bellezza e madonna:\n  L' aria e la terra si sostien per lei,\n  Del ciel regina e del mondo colonna,\n  Chi vuol veder la donzella gioconda\n  Vada a veder la nunziata bella.[15]\n\nThe other predella at Cortona represents various episodes in the life\nof the Virgin:--the Nativity, Marriage, Visitation, Adoration of the\nMagi, Presentation in the Temple, Death, Burial and lastly the\napparition of the Virgin to the blessed Dominican Reginald of Orleans.\nPadre Marchese believes that this last scene did not originally belong\nto the predella; but the doubt is unfounded, for nothing is more\nnatural than the artist's wish to connect the history of the Virgin\nwith his Order, of which she is the patroness.\n\n[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN. (Cortona.)]\n\n[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN. (Uffizi Gallery.)]\n\nCavalcaselle, as well as Marchese, affirms that the scene of the\nMarriage of the Virgin reproduces that of the picture in the Uffizi at\nFlorence. This may be, as far as the subject and scene go, but in the\ndisposition of the figures, the development of action, the two works\nhave nothing in common. Of course in both there must be the priest who\nunites the bridal couple, and around them the usual personages in\nvarious attitudes of complaisance, surprise, and rejoicing, but the\ngrouping of the figures in the predella at Cortona is more naturally\nconceived. The women on the right appear to come from the house where\nthey had met to assist at the ceremony; the men stand on the left. The\nbackground with its portico, and the walls, above which the trees of a\ngarden project, are shown with more truth and solidity. To give wider\nscope to the scene Fra Angelico has depicted the marriage in an open\nspace. The picture in the Uffizi, on the other hand, is so\nconventional both in architecture and landscape that it is impossible\nto establish a comparison between the two.\n\n[Illustration: THE VISITATION.]\n\nThe Visitation depicts the wife of Zacharias meeting the Virgin, and\nlovingly embracing her; a serving maid leaning against the threshold,\nhalf hidden by the door, is listening with devotion, while another\nwoman kneels on the ground in the road raising her hands to heaven.\n\nIn the Adoration of the Magi we find the usual qualities of\ncomposition and feeling. One of the Kings has already rendered homage\nto the Redeemer, and is talking to St. Joseph, who thanks him with\nearnest devotion; and while the second falls prone before the divine\nChild, and kisses His feet with profound emotion, the third prepares\nhimself to render the required homage. All around are elegant little\nfigures of pages and servants, in life-like and natural attitudes.\n\n[Illustration: ADORATION OF THE MAGI.]\n\nThe last story represents the Assumption of the Virgin,\nat which, according to ancient tradition, Christ is present\nand carries in his arms the soul of His mother in the form\nof a little child.\n\n[Illustration: ADORATION OF THE MAGI. (Uffizi Gallery.)]\n\nPadre Marchese wrote that both the Adoration and this Assumption are\nin every respect similar, or replicas of those in the Uffizi. If\nanything, the pretty little panels of the Uffizi might be replicas of\nthe Cortona ones; but in Florence the only painting with the scene of\nthe Adoration of the Magi is that in the predella of the tabernacle of\nthe Linen Weavers' Guild. Now, while the Adoration in the Cortona\npredella is naturally and simply pourtrayed, that of Florence is\nconventional and stiff, the vacuity of some figures and their actions\nis very evident--therefore this similitude also reduces itself to mere\nidentity of subject. The Assumption of the Virgin also offers very\nnotable differences. The predella at Cortona is more intense and\nsevere, more simple and hence more grand; while the little panel in\nthe Uffizi shows that the effort to embellish the scene has been too\nmuch for the artist, and the intensity of sentiment is greatly\nlessened, being injured by useless accessories. In that of Cortona, on\nthe contrary, the figures of the Apostles who hold the sheet on which\nthe Virgin reposes are full of expression and natural in action, the\nsteep and mountainous background has severe and grand lines, as if to\nemphasize the sadness of the scene. Here the artist felt and created,\nthere he merely repeated himself.\n\n[Illustration: THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN. (Cortona.)]\n\n[Illustration: THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN. (Uffizi Gallery.)]\n\nThe triptych, once on the great altar of the church of San Domenico,\nnow at a side altar on the right, has the Virgin seated in the centre\nwith the Holy Child upright on her knee, his right hand is raised in\nact of benediction, and with his left he holds a rose. Around the\nthrone are four angels, one of which carries a basket of flowers. In\nthe side panels are St. Matthew, St. John Baptist, St. John the\nEvangelist and Mary Magdalene. Above in the central compartment of the\ntriptych, is the Crucifixion and the two rounds on the sides represent\nthe Annunciation.\n\nIn the Chapel of Sant' Orsola in San Domenico at Perugia there was\nformerly a panel picture now divided into many parts and much damaged.\nThis was painted by Fra Giovanni for the Chapel of San Niccolo de'\nGuidalotti, and may now be seen in the Vannucci gallery at Perugia.\n\n[Illustration: VIRGIN AND CHILD WITH SAINTS.\n(Church of St. Domenico, Cortona.)]\n\nThe Virgin is enthroned with her Son on her knees, His right hand in\nact of benediction, His left holding a half open pomegranate. At the\nfoot of the throne four angels are standing back, the two first lift\nup a basket full of white and red roses, the others peep from behind\nthe throne of the Virgin who turns lovingly to her little Son, who is\nentirely nude, and as rosy as the angels' flowers, and those in three\nvases at the foot of the throne. On the right of the Virgin are St.\nJohn Baptist and St. Catherine; on the left St. Dominic and St.\nNicholas. On the predella, which is divided into three parts, were\nonce various scenes from the life of St. Nicholas of Bari, two of\nthese are now to be found in the Vatican Gallery. In a complex\ncomposition, they represent the birth of the Saint; his listening to\nthe preaching of a bishop to a congregation of women seated in a\nflowery field; the Saint saving from dishonour the daughters of a poor\ngentleman; and the miracle of causing a hundred measures of wheat to\nrain down and relieve the famine in the city of Nuri. On the upper\nportion the Saint appears from behind a rock, having been invoked by\nsome devotees to calm a tempest which threatened to wreck their bark.\n\n[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD. (Pinacoteca, Perugia.)]\n\nThe portion at Perugia represents the miraculous salvation of three\ninnocent youths, sons of Roman princes; and the death and funeral of\nthe Saint. In the lower part of the picture he is extended on the bier\nsurrounded by monks, women and poor people who weep his loss, while\nabove, his soul is being led to heaven by four angels. The frame of\nthe painting is now divided into twelve fragments, each one containing\na small figure of a Saint: they are St. Romuald, St. Gregory, St.\nLaurence, St. Bonaventure, St. Catherine, St. Peter Martyr, St. Mary\nMagdalene, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Peter, St. Stephen, St. Paul and\nSt. John. The last four figures have been mutilated in the lower part,\nand in these, as well as the others, the colouring is much injured.\nIf it were desired to complete the altar-piece, at present, the\ngables of the tripartite frame would be missing, but there is no doubt\nthat--as in the Cortona picture--the two small rounds in the Perugian\nPinacoteca, representing the Angel of the Annunciation and the Virgin,\non gold backgrounds, formed part. Padre Marchese places this panel\namong the youthful works of the artist, \"because it shows more than\nhis other works the manner and technique of Giotto's school.\" Padre\nTimoteo Bottonio wrote that it was painted in 1437, but the Dominican\nauthor adds that this is not likely, as Fra Giovanni Angelico was at\nthat time in Florence, where the restoration of San Marco was begun,\nand also the building of the new convent which he adorned with so many\nmarvellous frescoes.\n\n[Illustration: BIRTH, PREACHING AND MIRACLES OF ST. NICHOLAS.\n(Vatican, Rome.)]\n\n[Illustration: THE DEATH OF ST. NICHOLAS. (Pinacoteca, Perugia.)]\n\nThis would actually signify little. As the picture which is said to\nhave been painted for the church of Sant' Andrea at Brescia was\nnaturally done at Fiesole, this one for Perugia might well have been\nexecuted at Florence. But though it recalls the most characteristic\nworks of the artist and, for liveliness of colour and accurate study\nof form, may be considered one of his most remarkable works, we have\nno hesitation in ascribing it to his first artistic period. In both\nthese altar-pieces the grouping of the figures is still faithful to\nGiottesque tradition; it was only later, i. e. when Fra Angelico had\nfelt the artistic influences developing around him, that he placed the\nfigures in one picture on different levels, to make a circle round the\nMother of Christ.\n\nThe type of the Virgin herself in this Perugian picture is similar to\nthat of the Cortona panel; they both have the eyes wide apart, a\nshort, receding chin, and small mouth; characteristics which are also\nseen in the angels behind the Virgin's throne in the San Domenico\npicture at Cortona. From an architectural view the throne has here a\nmuch more antique shape than in his later designs, where Renaissance\nforms predominate. As to the picture at Perugia it has been so\nrestored and arbitrarily put together after the panel was divided,\nthat it affords no serious proof of authenticity.\n\nWe must therefore conclude that the Perugian one was painted before\n1433, for could we possibly admit (as Padre Bottonio wills it) that it\nwas done in 1437, that is only a year before the celebrated painting\nfor the church of San Marco? And seeing that when the Dominicans again\nobtained possession of their own convent and returned to Fiesole\nneither Fra Angelico nor his brother Fra Benedetto were among them, we\nmay reasonably suppose that Angelico was then at Perugia, painting the\naltar-piece for the Guidalotti Chapel; and that he only returned to\nFlorence when he had finished that work, which we may date later than\nthe panel still to be admired at Cortona.\n\nThese are the only works known to have been painted by him while he\nand his brethren had left their beloved Fiesole hills to seek peace\nand tranquillity in Umbria,--the only records of that period of\nvoluntary exile.\n\n[Illustration: VIRGIN OF THE ANNUNCIATION. (Pinacoteca, Perugia.)]\n\n\n\n\nII.\n\nFRA ANGELICO AT FIESOLE.\n\n[1418-1436.]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nWhilst Fra Angelico was putting the legends of the Virgin and St.\nDominic into colour in Umbria, Giovanni Dominici together with\nLeonardo Dati, master-general of the Order, was negotiating with the\nBishop of Fiesole and Pope Gregory XII. to again obtain possession of\nthe convent founded by Dominici. It was only in 1418 that the Fiesolan\nbishop acceded to their request, on condition that the Dominicans\nwould make him a present of some sacred vestments to the value of a\nhundred ducats. This sum, writes Marchese, was taken from the legacy\nleft to the convent by the father of St. Antonino, who died about\nthat time. A rich merchant having died in Florence in the same year,\nleaving the monks of Fiesole six thousand florins, it was besides\ndecided to enlarge the building. The legal act of free and absolute\nconcession being signed, the father-general at once sent for four of\nthe monks from Cortona, among whom, as we have said, were neither Fra\nAngelico nor Fra Benedetto. This does not imply that all the others\nwho had left in 1409, might not have returned later, and probably Fra\nAngelico among them.[16]\n\nIt was in this convent from which on the side towards the ridge of the\nFiesole hill, he looked on the olives spreading their silvery branches\nagainst the blue sky, that Fra Angelico, absorbed in work and prayer,\npassed the greater part of his life. It is impossible to determine at\nwhich of the many works that now adorn the Florentine and foreign\ngalleries, he worked during his stay in Fiesole, where he remained\ntill 1436; certainly he painted the panel pictures for his church, the\nTabernacle of the Linen Weavers, and frescoes in some parts of the\nconvent. That convent so dear to him must have awakened in his soul\nmany bitter and sweet memories--whether he thought of the days when he\nand his brother Benedetto first took their vows, or of the\nsuccessive vicissitudes when he and the brethren were forced to\nabandon it.\n\n[Illustration: CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN. (San Marco, Florence.)]\n\nVasari asserts that \"he painted an Easter candle in several small\nscenes, for Giovanni Masi, a monk of the convent of Santa Maria\nNovella; and also some reliquaries which on solemn feast days were\nplaced on the altar,\" and are preserved to this day in the convent of\nSan Marco. They represent the \"Coronation of the Virgin,\" the \"Madonna\ndella Stella\" and the \"Adoration of the Magi.\" The Coronation has been\ntoo much damaged by useless retouching to be able fully to judge of\nits merits. It is for this cause perhaps that some people have\nventured to doubt its authenticity: \"one perceives,\" writes Cartier,\n\"his religious conception, and desire to follow his model, but the\nwhole composition lacks order and space, the figures are heavy,\nattitudes embarrassed, proportions short, outlines coarse and the\nwhole painting is strained.\"[17]\n\n[Illustration: MADONNA DELLA STELLA (OF THE STAR).\n(San Marco, Florence.)]\n\nNow this is not absolutely exact. Naturally if we compare this little\nreliquary with the great \"Coronation\" at the Louvre, we find the\ncomposition more compressed, but it is not confused. True, the types\nof the Virgin and Redeemer have not that grand simplicity which with\nsincere enthusiasm we admire in his later panels of the same subject.\nBut possibly we have here the artist's first conception, an idea which\nhe successively developed and perfected till he reached the highest\ngrade of beauty, first in the picture at the Louvre, then in the truly\ncelestial one of the Florentine Gallery.\n\nIn the little painting of the Madonna della Stella (of the Star) we\nhave qualities of grace and nobility all Fra Angelico's own. The six\nadoring angels on the slope of the frame, and the two seated at the\nbase playing musical instruments, not only fully reveal his ability,\nbut might be classed with those of the Linen Weaver's Tabernacle as\namong the most beautiful and ethereal he ever painted.\n\nThe third reliquary which is divided into two parts represents the\n\"Adoration of the Magi,\" below, and the \"Annunciation\" above. The\nVirgin has a book on her lap, her arms crossed on the breast, and head\nextended towards the celestial messenger who kneels before her; but\nboth figures, though showing Fra Angelico's characteristic sentiment,\nhave exaggerated proportions; the neck is inordinately long, the\ncolouring enamelled, and so brilliant as to give the picture the\ncharacter of a fine and elegantly illuminated missal. In the\n\"Adoration\" the Virgin displays the same defects of proportion, but\namong the figures of the three Kings and the personages accompanying\nthem, are some of exceptional elegance and exquisite beauty. On the\nwhole the scene may be classed among the finest and most graceful of\nthe works which Fra Angelico has left to us.\n\n[Illustration: THE ANNUNCIATION AND THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI.\n(San Marco, Florence.)]\n\nThere is a kind of reliquary in the Vatican Gallery, which represents\nthe Virgin seated, with the Child on her left arm. Her raised right\nhand holds the rose, and at her feet kneel St. Dominic and St.\nCatherine. Cavalcaselle supposes this to have been the fourth of the\nreliquaries once in Santa Maria Novella, but it more probably belongs\nto that small painting reproduced by Prof. Helbig,[18] in the _Revue\nde l'Art Chretien_, in which Angelico has represented the death and\nassumption of the Virgin.\n\nThe under part of the picture, representing the death of the Virgin,\nrecalls, in the general grouping of figures, the same subject now in\nthe Uffizi Gallery; but in this one, four Apostles are depicted in the\nact of raising the bier, while the others surround the Christ, who\nholds in His arms the soul of His Mother in the form of a babe. In the\nupper part we see the Virgin with upraised arms, being received by\nthe Saviour who extends His hands as if in welcome. The type of the\nVirgin recalls that of the small panel representing the \"Adoration\"\nand \"Annunciation.\" The Christ is, in the foreshortening and character\nof the face, a repetition of that on the reliquary of the \"Madonna\ndella Stella.\" The figure of the Virgin is incorporeal and\ninsignificant; but the angels who in varied attitudes dance around the\nthrone playing divers instruments, are charming and graceful.\n\nIn the ancient refectory of the Fiesolan convent Fra Angelico painted\na life-size Christ Crucified, with St. Dominic kneeling below clinging\npassionately to the Cross. At the sides stand the Virgin and St. John\nthe Evangelist; there is also a figure of the saintly founder, but it\nwas either added later, or else has been badly restored and cannot be\ntaken as Fra Angelico's work. The picture has been removed from the\nwall, and is now in the Museum of the Louvre; it is damaged in several\nparts; the delicacy of colouring is lost, the background spoiled, and\nonly the figures of the Saviour, the Virgin, and the head of St. John\nremain in tolerable condition.\n\nThe other fresco in the old chapter-house (this also has been removed\nfrom the wall, and is now in the Hermitage at St. Petersburg),\nrepresents the Virgin seated, with the Child on her knee, between St.\nDominic and St. Thomas Aquinas; all these figures show signs of\nincompetent restoration, the outlines and drapery having been\nrepainted. Less spoiled perhaps by retouching, but yet in a deplorable\ncondition, is the other painting, a Crucifixion, still existing in the\nSacristy of the Convent. The Redeemer with extended arms, has His head\ndrooping straight on the breast, and the legs are stiffened and curve\nto the right. A crown of thorns encircles the head, which is\nsurrounded by a great aureole; but the head is small; and the face,\nwith its insignificant features, lacks the intense expression which\nFra Angelico usually succeeds in putting into similar subjects.\n\nHe also painted the altar-piece for the great altar in San Domenico at\nFiesole, \"which,\" writes Vasari, \"perhaps because it appeared to be\ndeteriorating, has been retouched and injured by other masters. But\nthe predella and ciborium of the Sacrament are better preserved; and\nyou may see infinite little figures which are lovely in their\ncelestial glory, and appear indeed to come from Paradise, nor can\nthose who draw near ever look at them sufficiently.\"[19]\n\nThe picture is now removed into the choir. In the centre the Virgin\nwith her Son, is seated on the throne; six angels stand around her in\nact of adoration, and two kneel in front with vases in their hands. At\nthe sides St. Thomas and St. Peter are placed on the left; St. Dominic\nand St. Peter Martyr on the right. The retouching of which Vasari\nspeaks, was done by Lorenzo di Credi in 1501, when the picture was\nreduced to its present form. We learn this from a record in the MS.\nchronicle of the Convent of Fiesole, which is quoted by Padre Marchese\nin his \"Memorie.\"[20] But the panel has suffered other and worse\nthings than this. Other figures taken from an older frame have been\nsubstituted for those in the pilasters. Some coarse copies have been\nput in the place of the three \"stories\" of the predella, and the\noriginal one was sold, together with the ciborium.[21]\n\nThe predella, now in the National Gallery of London, is divided into\nfive compartments. In the centre is Christ robed in white, His right\nhand raised in benediction, and a standard held in His left; at the\nsides are a crowd of angels--some blowing trumpets, others playing\ninstruments, others again in attitudes of profound veneration--all\nhave robes of pure and brilliant hues with azure wings lightly\nsprinkled with gold. The side scenes have multitudes of saints, either\nstanding or kneeling in adoration: on the left are patriarchs,\nbishops, monks and martyrs, each with his own emblem; on the right, a\ncrowd of kneeling feminine saints among whom we can recognise St.\nAgnes, St. Catherine and St. Helen, and behind them a line of male\nsaints, amongst them St. Cyprian, St. Clement, St. Thomas, St.\nErasmus, and others whose names are written on their mitres. Still\nhigher King David, St. John Baptist and the prophets Jeremiah,\nZaccariah and Habakkuk. The faces are painted with great delicacy and\naccuracy, and although they show some variety of lineament, the\nexpression is rather mannered. The outlines of the feminine saints are\nfull of grace and those of the other sex do not lack great dignity.\nAlthough the work is of minor proportion, it shows a noteworthy\nprogress when compared with the conceptions of Orcagna.\n\nThe greater part of the draperies are rendered with most refined\ncolouring, so delicately toned and judiciously contrasted, that no\npart of the painting appears either crude, or of exaggerated richness;\nwhile the gold used in every part of the background contributes to\ngive great harmony to the whole. In the pictures placed at the end of\nthe predella, the Dominicans are depicted in their white robes and\nblack mantles.\n\n[Illustration: PREDELLA. (National Gallery, London.)]\n\nThis delightful work, which roused the admiration of Vasari, contains\nnot less than 266 figures and may justly be considered as one of the\ngems of the collection. Executed with all the delicacy of an\nillumination, it sparkles with bright but harmonious colours, while\nthe spirit of devotion which penetrates the whole is entirely\ncharacteristic of the painter.[22]\n\nAngelico reached greater perfection in the picture of the\n\"Annunciation\" of which Vasari says: \"In a chapel of the same church\nis a picture from the same hand, representing Our Lady receiving the\nAnnunciation from the angel Gabriel, with a countenance which is seen\nin profile, so devout, so delicate, and so perfectly executed, that\nthe beholder can scarcely believe it to be by the hand of man, but\nwould rather suppose it to have been delineated in Paradise. In the\nlandscape forming the background are seen Adam and Eve, whose fall\nmade it needful that the Virgin should give birth to the\nRedeemer.\"[23]\n\nThis picture (purchased in 1611 by Duke Mario Farnese) is now in the\nMuseum at Madrid. The Virgin is seated on the right under a graceful\nportico sustained by small columns. Her head inclines a little towards\nthe Angel, in the same attitude as in the Cortona altar-piece and the\nfresco at San Marco. She holds the book on her knees, and crosses her\nhands on her breast; while the golden winged Angel, in its rose\ncoloured robe, with an arm curved in similar attitude of reverence,\nsheds light around, as in the painting at Cortona. High up in the left\ncorner the hand of the Eternal Father sends down a ray of light, in\nthe midst of which the Holy Spirit is symbolized. In the background,\nas in the Cortona picture, Adam and Eve are being expelled from\nParadise.\n\nIn the predella are some beautiful \"stories\" representing the\n\"Marriage of the Virgin,\" the \"Salutation,\" the \"Adoration of the\nMagi,\" the \"Circumcision of Christ\" and the \"Death of the Virgin.\"[24]\n\n\"But superior to all the other works of Fra Giovanni, and one in which\nhe surpassed himself, is a picture in the same church (i. e. San\nDomenico at Fiesole), near the door on the left hand of the entrance:\nin this work, he proves the high quality of his powers as well as the\nprofound intelligence he possessed of the art which he practised. The\nsubject is the Coronation of the Virgin by Jesus Christ: the principal\nfigures are surrounded by a choir of angels, among whom are vast\nnumbers of saints and holy personages, male and female. These figures\nare so numerous, so well executed, in attitudes so varied, and the\nexpressions of the heads so richly diversified, that one feels\ninfinite pleasure and delight in regarding them. Nay, one is convinced\nthat those blessed spirits can look no otherwise in heaven itself, or\nto speak under correction, could not, if they had forms, appear\notherwise; for all the saints, male and female, assembled here, have\nnot only life and expression, most delicately and truly rendered, but\nthe colouring also of the whole work would seem to have been given by\nthe hand of a saint, or of an angel like themselves. It is not without\nsufficient reason therefore, that this excellent ecclesiastic is\nalways called Frate Giovanni Angelico. The stories from the life of\nOur Lady and of St. Dominic which adorn the predella, moreover, are in\nthe same divine style; and I, for myself, can affirm with truth, that\nI never see this work but it appears something new, nor can I ever\nsatisfy myself with the sight of it, or have enough of beholding\nit.\"[25]\n\n[Illustration: MUSEUM OF THE LOUVRE--PARIS.\nTHE CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN.]\n\nThe painting is now in the Louvre at Paris, having been taken from\nFiesole during the French invasion of 1812.\n\nUnder a rich canopy with inlaid columns and brocade hangings the\nRedeemer seated on the throne, places the crown on the head of his\nMother, who kneels before him, with hands crossed on her bosom. Around\nthem angels are making the air resound with the voice of song, and the\nmusic of many instruments. Saints, male and female circle round, some\nstanding, others kneeling, their fixed eyes and ecstatic features\ndenoting their joy in such divine splendour. Among the saints are the\ngreat personages of the religious orders, together with bishops and\nemperors. On the right, among the kneeling female saints are seen St.\nAgnes tenderly pressing the lamb to her breast, St. Catherine holding\nher wheel of torture and a palm, St. Ursula clasps the arrow which\nunited her in death to her divine Spouse, St. Cecilia's pretty head is\ngarlanded with flowers, while St. Mary Magdalene turns her back\nshowing the rich locks of hair flowing over her shoulder as she holds\nthe vase of ointment in her left hand. On the opposite side are St.\nDominic with the lily and open book, St. Augustine, St. Benedict, St.\nAnthony and St. Francis. On a higher level St. Louis, with his crown\nof _fiordalise_, talks with St. Thomas; while St. Nicholas supports\nhimself with both hands on his pastoral staff.\n\n\"It is a clever composition, wonderfully balanced, and the solemnity\nof style does not at all exclude exuberance of life or infinite\nvariety of ideas.\n\n\"The bodies are almost diaphanous, the heads ethereal, the atmosphere\nand light have a touch of the supernatural. Up to this point the\nsubject is subdued, but the colours lively and pure--among which blue\nand carmine predominate--gleam with particular splendour.\"[26]\n\nThe predella contains in some small compositions the chief episodes in\nthe life of St. Dominic, excepting the central compartment where\nChrist is drawn, issuing from the sepulchre between the Virgin and St.\nJohn. The compositions are all executed with that love and delicacy\nwhich are the glory of the artist, but even these little stories, like\nthe larger panel, have been more or less injured by repeated\nrestorations.\n\n[Illustration: UFFIZI GALLERY--FLORENCE.\nTHE CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN.]\n\nA similar subject now in the Uffizi Gallery at Florence and which Fra\nAngelico painted for the church of Santa Maria Novella, is still more\naerial and celestial, a perfect masterpiece of sentiment and mystic\nexpression.\n\nHere also Fra Angelico clings to that traditional characteristic,\npeculiarly his own--the art of sacred vision, but with what new life\nhe animates it, and what poetical witchery he throws into this\ncreation of his ascetic fantasy!\n\nHis predecessors reproduced with slight varieties the model of Giotto,\nand the great Florentine painter himself has given us the scene in its\nmost simple reality. High in the central part of Giotto's \"Coronation\"\nChrist places the crown on the Virgin, who with hands crossed, bows\nher head to receive the homage of her Son. But on her face there is no\nexpression of ecstatic joy, modest, indeed \"humble in the midst of\nglory\", she droops her eyes, almost as if she dared not rest them on\nthe Saviour. Angels and saints, symmetrically disposed at the sides,\nfill the whole background of the picture, with heads either raised in\nadmiration or bowed in respect, but in attitudes so similar, that they\ngive a sense of monotony. Then come the saints, some kneeling at the\nfoot of the throne, and others in the side wings of the triptych,\nreverently bowing to the Mother of God.\n\nFra Angelico repeats the principal motive, but develops it according\nto his high ideal, his intense faith, and mystic sentiment. He gives\nto the Virgin an expression of infinite sweetness; to the angels a\ntruly celestial charm, to the saints a serene expression of\nbeatitude, and to the whole scene the azure divine character of a\nvision of Paradise.\n\nHigh in the centre the Redeemer extends his right hand to add a\nbrilliant gem to the crown of the Virgin, who sits near him, with\nhands crossed in loving reverence. A luminous golden ray from this\ngroup engraved on the panel, forms gleaming and resplendent waves in\nthe background of the picture, from which groups of angels stand out,\nplaying all sorts of music, or dancing with hand clasped in hand. Two\nare prostrated in profound admiration at the base, and shed clouds of\nincense from their thuribles, while two others draw melody from\nheavenly harps.\n\nIn the lower part of the picture are many saints, who by their charmed\nfaces and feeling of ineffable joy, show how delighted they are with\nthe vision and the heavenly music.\n\n[Illustration: ANCIENT AND MODERN GALLERY--FLORENCE.\nTHE LAST JUDGEMENT.]\n\n\"The greatest eloquence,\" writes Marchese, \"would fail to express the\nimpression which this painting produces. The heart has a language\nwhich does not always speak in words, and we can never contemplate\nthis picture without feeling in love with heaven.\"[27]\n\nAmong the works which were undoubtedly done by Fra Angelico during his\nstay at Fiesole, may be ascribed several different representations of\nthe Last Judgment. He derived the inspiration of the subject directly\nfrom Orcagna's fresco in Santa Maria Novella, only Fra Angelico has\ncreated a paradise too exclusively modelled on the monastic life. \"His\nideal,\" writes Reymond, \"is a young neophyte entirely absorbed in\nprayer--a contemplative being who has renounced earthly life,\nabdicating his qualities as a man to dream of nothing but the future\nlife. Orcagna, on the contrary, dreams of an ideal in which human life\ntriumphs in all its fulness, and one might say that the beings which\npeople his Paradise are but glorified bodies.\"[28]\n\nFra Giovanni painted Hell and Paradise with small figures for the\nCamaldolese monks of Santa Maria degli Angeli. This is the picture\nnow in the Ancient and Modern Gallery at Florence, of which Vasari\nwrites, \"he proved the rectitude of his judgment in this work, having\nmade the countenances of the blessed beautiful and full of a celestial\ngladness; but the condemned, those destined to the pains of hell, he\nhas depicted in various attitudes of sorrow, and bearing the impress\nand consciousness of their misdeeds and wretchedness on their faces:\nthe blessed are seen to enter the gate of paradise in triumphal dance,\nthe condemned are dragged away to eternal punishment in hell by the\nhands of demons.\"[29]\n\nThe representation is faithful to artistic tradition. In the highest\npart the Saviour calls the elect to Him with His right hand, while\nwith His left He motions away the reprobate: around Him are eight\nwinged cherubim, with whom kneeling angels below join to form a\ncircle. Some are adoring or praying, others hold scrolls in their\nhands. On the right sits the Virgin in white robes, with hands crossed\non her breast and head gently bent: on the left St. John Baptist with\nhands clasped in prayer. At the sides Patriarchs, Apostles and\nProphets, and at the extremities St. Dominic and St. Francis. An angel\nholds the cross at the feet of Christ, and two others flying, blow\ntheir trumpets towards the dead, who rise from the open sepulchres\nbelow.\n\nIn the base at the left, demons drag the damned ones to Hell; on the\nright the elect cast glances of love and faith on the Saviour, and in\njoyous fraternity enjoy the heavenly guerdon. The Elysian Fields of\nthe blessed are truly celestial, gleaming with gold, irrigated by\nlimpid streams, glorious with beautiful flowerets that bloom amid the\nverdure, the exuberance of nature harmonizing marvelously with the joy\nof the elect.\n\n    And in that midst their sportive pennons waved\n  Thousands of angels, in resplendence each\n  Distinct and quaint adornment. At their glee\n  And carol smiled the Lovely One of heaven\n  That joy was in the eyes of all the blest.[30]\n\nNot unworthy of the divine poet is Angelico's heavenly composition in\nwhich as in the Dantesque Paradise is shed\n\n    Light intellectual replete with love,\n  Love of true happiness, replete with joy,\n  Joy, that transcends all sweetness of delight.[31]\n\nTogether with these verses of Dante, Fra Angelico, while endeavouring\nto depict the dance of the blessed, may well have called to mind these\nverses of a sacred laud, which is said to be by Iacopone da Todi and\n(whether his or not) describes in popular language the celestial\n_carola_[32] of the saints:\n\n    Una rota si fa in cielo\n  De tutti i Santi in quel zardino,\n  La ove sta l'amor divino\n  Che s'infiamma de l'amore.\n\n    In quella rota vano i Santi\n  Et li Angioli tutti quanti;\n  A quello Sposo van davanti:\n  Tutti danzan per amore.\n\n    In quella corte e un' alegreza\n  D' un amor dismisuranza:\n  Tutti vanno ad una danza\n  Per amor del Salvatore.\n\n    Son vestiti di vergato,\n  Bianco, rosso e frammezzato;\n  Le ghirlande in mezo el capo:\n  Ben mi pareno amatori.\n\n    Tutti quanti con ghirlandi,\n  Paren giovin' de trent' anni:\n  Quella corte se rinfranchi,\n  Ogni cosa e piena d'amore.\n\n    Le ghirlande son fiorite,\n  Piu che l'oro son chiarite:\n  Ornate son di margarite,\n  Divisate di colore, ecc.[33]\n\nAbove from the heavenly Jerusalem stream rays of golden light, and two\nangels who are passing into the portal, are aerial and luminous, as\nbright and splendid spirits.\n\n[Illustration: The dance of the blessed.\n(Details from the Last Judgment)]\n\nLess original is the representation of Hell, which is copied straight\nfrom the fresco in the Pisan Camposanto. Not only the same division of\n_bolge_ (hell-pits), but even the repetition of motives in the souls\nthat fill them; the only and notable difference is the figure of\nLucifer which instead of being in the centre occupies the base of the\npicture. At the summit \"Eriton cruda, che richiamava l'ombre a' corpi\nsui,\" is precisely in the same attitude as in the Pisan Camposanto, a\nfigure holding a banner coiled around by a serpent, and near it is a\nsimoniac with his entrails torn out, the identical figure from the\nPisan Hell. The back view of the figure which a demon raises to throw\ninto the jaws of a terrible monster is also copied entire from the\nsame fresco.\n\nThe _bolge_ and the damned souls which occupy them, are, as we have\nsaid, repetitions, but with less intelligence and character than the\nPisan fresco.\n\nOn the left the slothful and lazy are punished; beneath them in two\n_bolge_ are the passionate and the gluttonous souls, and below again\nthe luxurious and avaricious ones. The poverty of conception in this\n\"Inferno\" is not even compensated by the usual good qualities of\nrefinement; one could almost believe that the artist found it so\nrepugnant to his character to depict brutality and infernal tortures,\nthat he hurried over this part to get rid of it the sooner. The\nrepresentation of the damned is cold, their struggles with the demons,\nwhich at Pisa and in other places is so full of energy, is given here\nwith exaggerated art and becomes ineffectual; in fact this part of the\npicture is void of feeling, and confirms our previous remarks on the\nartistic character of the painter.\n\nAnother \"Last Judgment\" is in the Corsini Gallery at Rome;--a\ntriptych, the side panels of which represent the \"Ascension\" and the\n\"Descent of the Holy Ghost.\"\n\nThis scene is, however, much more simply designed, but cannot be\nfairly judged now, on account of the retouching and frequent\nvarnishing which disfigure it.\n\n[Illustration: THE LAST JUDGMENT. (Rome, National Gallery.)]\n\nThe Saviour seated on the clouds, rests his left hand on a book which\nhe holds upright on his knees, while the right is raised in\nmalediction against the sinners, with an action which recalls the\nChrist in the Judgment of the Camposanto at Pisa. On the sides are\ngroups of angels, apostles and saints; and the elect are on the right,\nthe wicked on the left below them. \"In the picture of the Corsini\nGallery,\" writes Venturi, \"the representation was cramped by the\nnarrow limits of the central panel of the triptych. It is evidently a\nreduced form of preceding compositions, for several angels which\nterminate the picture above, are here seen only from the waist\ndownwards. The figures of the elect, loving, ecstatic and beautiful,\nclad in flame-coloured robes, with stars and flowers, as in similar\ncompositions by Fra Angelico, are absolutely sublime, while those of\nthe wicked are almost childish, especially the demons with faces of\ncats and jackals, with red eyes and mouths, black bodies and clawed\nfeet. How much happier he is in the clear and joyful note of colour in\nsome figures standing before a door on the right! And how much better\nwe recognise his sweet spirit in the features of the blest, with their\nclear eyes whose pupils are fixed trance-like under lightly drawn\neyebrows.\"[34]\n\n[Illustration: THE LAST JUDGMENT. (Berlin Museum.)]\n\nAnother panel with a subject analogous to these is in the Berlin\nMuseum, and is considered superior to that in the Florentine\nGallery.[35] Although the figure of the Saviour may be slightly\nwanting in character, the celestial phalanx is full of grace,\nespecially the blessed ones who cross a flower-strewn field to be led\nby angels up to paradise; they hold each others hands, and dance and\nsing delightfully and with graceful action and attitudes raise their\nheads to join in the glory of _Colui che tutto move e risplende_\n\n  Nel ciel che piu della sua luce prende.\n\n[Illustration: THE VIRGIN OF THE LINEN WEAVERS' GUILD. (Uffizi\nGallery, Florence.)]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAnother last Judgment forms one of the thirty-five small pictures\nwhich adorned the doors of the presses for the silver vessels etc., in\nthe chapel of the SS. Annunziata. It is generally believed that he\npainted this during his stay at Fiesole; but as we find it dates\nposterior to this, we shall speak of it later, and must first record\nthat in 1432 Fra Angelico painted an \"Annunciation\" for the church of\nSant' Alessandro at Brescia, said to be the one on an altar to the\nright on entering the church. So greatly is it transformed by\nrestorations, that no one in looking at it now would dream that it was\nby our artist, if indeed it ever were his work. It would appear that\nthe restorer had used other models in repainting the Angel and the\nVirgin.[36]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nOn July 11th 1433 the contract was signed between the Consuls of the\nArte dei Linaioli (Guild of Linen Weavers) and our artist, for the\ntabernacle of which they had asked Lorenzo Ghiberti to give a design.\nThe contract says: \"We engage Fra Guido, called Fra Giovanni of the\nOrder of St. Dominic of Fiesole, to paint for the said Guild, a\ntabernacle of Our Lady; to be painted within and without with colours,\ngold, azure and silver, all of the very finest that can be found, with\nall his art and diligence, and for all this and his fatigue and work,\nhe shall receive one hundred and ninety gold florins, or any less sum\nas shall appear to his conscience, and in consideration of the figures\nthat are in the design.\"\n\n[Illustration: ST MARK. ST. JOHN BAPTIST.]\n\nThis painting is now to be admired in the Uffizi Gallery where it was\nplaced in 1777; it is too universally known to need a minute\ndescription. The Virgin enthroned with the Holy Child is surrounded by\ntwelve angels, the most lovely, graceful and celestial that Fra\nAngelico ever painted. In the interior of the side panels are St. John\nand St. Mark, in the exterior St. Peter and St. Mark. The latter, as\nis well known, was the protector of the Linen Guild: \"therefore,\" says\nPadre Marchese, \"they wished that whether the tabernacle were open or\nclosed, he should be always in their sight.\"\n\nIn this work Fra Angelico shows that his style was derived from Giotto\nand Orcagna, though his figures with their large heads, are treated\nlike miniatures and become insignificant; the result is cold and void,\nprecisely by reason of this over conscientious execution.\n\nThe face of the Virgin lacks expression and sentiment, while the\nangels depicted on the slope of the frame in act of sounding trumpets,\npsalters, cymbals etc., have such a sweetness of sentiment that they\nseem literally rained down from heaven.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nIII.\n\nFRA ANGELICO AT FLORENCE.\n\n[1436-1445.]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSAN MARCO.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nThe church of San Giorgio--writes Vasari--\"had at this time been given\nto the monks of San Domenico da Fiesole, but they did not occupy it\nlonger than from about the middle of July to the end of January,\nbecause Cosimo de' Medici and Lorenzo his brother had obtained for\nthem, from Pope Eugenius, the church and convent of San Marco, which\nhad previously been occupied by Salvestrine monks, to whom San\nGiorgio was given in exchange. Moreover, they (Cosimo and Lorenzo de'\nMedici), being much devoted to religion, and zealous for the divine\nservice and worship, gave orders that the above-named convent of San\nMarco should be entirely rebuilt according to the design and model of\nMichelozzo, commanding that it should be constructed on the most\nextensive and magnificent scale, with all the conveniences that those\nmonks could possibly desire.\"[37] And in the year 1436, the said\nmonks made their entry with pomp and solemn fetes, in which the three\nbishops of Taranto, Treves and Parentino, took part, preceded by the\nmace-bearers of the Signoria who were sent to give greater\nmagnificence to the scene. Fra Cipriano, Vicar general of the new\ncongregation of the \"Osservanza,\" took possession of the convent in\nthe name of that Order.[38]\n\n\"The first part completed,\" continues the Aretian biographer, \"was\nthat above the old refectory and opposite to the ducal stables, which\nhad formerly been erected by the Duke Lorenzo de' Medici. In this\nplace twenty cells were made, the roof was put on, and the various\narticles of wood-work brought into the refectory, which was finished\nas we see it in our day.\"[39]\n\n\"The library was afterwards erected, it was vaulted above and below,\nand had sixty-four bookcases of cypress wood filled with the most\nvaluable books. The dormitory which was in the form of a square, was\nnext built, and finally the cloister was completed, with all the other\ntruly commodious apartments of that convent, which is believed to be\nthe most perfectly arranged, the most beautiful and most convenient\nbuilding of its kind that can be found in Italy, thanks to the skill\nand industry of Michelozzo, who gave it up to its occupants entirely\nfinished in the year 1452.[40] Cosimo de' Medici is said to have\nexpended 36,000 ducats on this fabric; it is added that while it was\nin course of construction, he gave the monks 366 ducats every year\nfor their support.\"[41]\n\nIn 1439, two years after the building was begun, the principal chapel\nwas finished, and the work of restoring and embellishing the church\nwas commenced. This was completed in 1441.\n\nWhile the architect was engaged in restoring the church of San Marco,\nFra Giovanni was probably commissioned to paint the altar-piece for\nthe great altar. Vasari writes of it: \"But exquisite and admirable\nabove all is the picture of the High Altar in that church; for besides\nthat the Madonna in this painting awakens devotional feeling in all\nwho regard her, by the pure simplicity of her expression; and that the\nsaints surrounding her have a similar character; the predella, in\nwhich are stories of the martyrdom of St. Cosmo, St. Damian, and\nothers, is so perfectly finished, that one cannot imagine it possible\nfor any thing to be executed with greater care, nor can figures more\ndelicate, or more judiciously arranged, be conceived.\"[42]\nUnfortunately the picture, now in the Academy of the Belle Arti, is in\nsuch bad condition that we are not able to confirm Vasari's judgment,\nfor the tints have faded, in some parts leaving the undercolouring\nexposed, in others it is corroded even down to the white of the\nplaster ground work.\n\nThe Virgin is enthroned, holding on her lap the child, whose right\nhand is uplifted to bless, while the left holds a globe. Beside the\nthrone are groups of angels, in front on the right St. Dominic, St.\nFrancis and St. Peter Martyr; on the left St. Laurence, St. Paul and\nSt. Mark; above them kneel Sts. Cosmo and Damian, protectors of the\nMedici family, placed here in homage to the liberality of the Medici\ntowards the Order.\n\n[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD WITH ANGELS AND SAINTS.\n(Ancient and Modern Gallery, Florence.)]\n\nIn the predella, now divided, were represented various stories\nrelative to the lives of Sts. Cosmo and Damian, which may be\nrecognised in two little pictures (Nos. 257-258, Catalogue of 1893) at\nthe Belle Arti, and in those now at the Gallery at Munich (Nos. 989,\n990, 991).\n\nIn the first of the two at Florence, the saints have cut off the leg\nof a sick man, and placed that of a negro in its stead. In the second\nis represented their burial together with the brethren. In those at\nMunich the scenes are:--the saints constrained by the judge Lisia to\nsacrifice to idols; the saints thrown into the sea and saved by\nangels, while the judge is liberated from two demons by their prayers;\nand lastly their crucifixion, while stones and arrows are aimed\nagainst them, but rebound on the executioners.[43]\n\nOther similar subjects are represented in six \"stories\" divided into\ntwo panels (No. 234, Catalogue of 1893) in the Belle Arti. In the\nfirst the saints are seen exercising the healing art without receiving\npayment; they cure Palladia, who in her gratitude prays St. Damian in\nthe name of God to accept a gift, her brother being wrathful not\nknowing the cause. In the second the judge Lisia obliges the saints\nand their three brethren to sacrifice to idols; in the third the\nangels save them from drowning; in the fourth they are condemned to be\nburnt alive, and sing psalms in the midst of the flames; in the fifth\nis the stoning; and lastly the decapitation.\n\nThese works, however, do not always show equal execution, therefore we\nmight judge that the artist sometimes availed himself of the hand of\nan assistant.\n\nFrom the records remaining to us, it does not appear that Fra Giovanni\nworked at any other pictures for his church, so it is probable he gave\nall his attention to adorning the convent, which on account of the\nworks he has left there, may fairly be considered one of the finest\nmonuments of Italian art.\n\nIt was not the first time that Fra Angelico had painted large mural\nfrescoes. As he had already shown at Fiesole his mastery in that more\nminute style, which was to find more complete expression in the Roman\npictures, so the convent of San Marco gave him scope to prove his\ngenius also in this freer branch of art. In the cloisters, the\ncorridors, the cells, and the rooms in which the monks met together,\nwe find specimens of his artistic work, and in these various pictures\nall his favourite personages reappear one by one in larger\nproportions, but without losing that original grace and sentiment with\nwhich his smaller works are imbued. Indeed these show that he had\nstudied from the life with independence and sincerity of purpose, and\ncould render it with greater facility and decision.\n\nA very noteworthy change in the character of Fra Angelico's art may be\nobserved in these mural paintings. He must have perceived, after\npainting the tabernacle for the Linen Weavers' Guild, that a deeper\nstudy of the real was necessary to give life to his figures,\nespecially when these should assume larger proportions.\n\nTo give intelligent expression even to dreams, visions and ideality\nof thought, a material and technical part is necessary; the mind may\nwander free in fantasy, through indefinite space, but it needs a firm\nhand to render the conception evident; and the clearer the expression\nis, the greater ability in the creation of his works does it show in\nthe artist. Thus Fra Angelico, placing his figures in ideal\nsurroundings, believed at first that refined thought was sufficient to\nmake a perfect picture, and he illuminated his little figures with\nsuperficial delicacy, surrounding them with azure and gold, and so\nidealized them that they are more like diaphanous apparitions than\nhuman beings.\n\n[Illustration: CHRIST ON THE CROSS.]\n\nBut he soon learned that by merely enlarging these little pictures, he\ncould not succeed in giving them even that individuality to which he\nwas led by natural taste and mode of life. In fact, what a difference\nlies between the figures of the Linen Weavers' Tabernacle painted in\n1433, and those of the picture in the church of San Marco done in\n1438! The first: void, weak and without expression; the second: full\nof life and character; and note that this difference strikes the eye\neven now, notwithstanding the difficulty of comparison owing to the\nwretched condition to which the panel at San Marco is reduced.\n\nIn this cloister, therefore, where the pictures assume larger\nproportions and more importance, and the figures greater character\nand individuality of form, more solidity of artistic execution,--it is\nhere we perceive that far as he still was from the world and worldly\nthings, yet with earnest study and thought he had not failed to avail\nhimself of the progressive development of art around him to improve\nhis style and give more grandeur to his design.\n\nWe do not know whether the cause which influenced his mind was, that\nin coming down to Florence from the Fiesole cloister he was brought\ninto more immediate contact with other styles of art, and artists who\nfollowed a different, even opposite method. The distance of his\nconvent from the city was not, however, so great as to have prevented\nhis visiting the immortal works which enriched Florence, or to\ndiminish the relations of friendship or acquaintance which he surely\nhad formed with his greater colleagues. In fact, Fra Angelico and\nGhiberti must have already consulted together about the Tabernacle of\nthe Linen Guild; and the works which the pious monk sent from Fiesole\nto the churches and convents of Florence could not have been unknown\nthere, any more than the works of the other artists in the city were\nto him.\n\nCertain changes independent of external causes sometimes take place\nnaturally, we might say spontaneously, in strong artistic\ntemperaments. Fra Angelico felt and understood as he continued his\nwork, that something was wanting in him before he could succeed in\ngiving reality to his thoughts and sentiment; he necessarily perfected\nhis studies, and investigated truth more conscientiously--the result\nwas the new style, a natural consequence of artistic individual\nprogress.\n\n[Illustration: ST. PETER MARTYR.]\n\nOpposite the entrance in the pretty cloister of the Florentine\nconvent we may admire the figure of the crucified Christ who turns His\neyes to St. Dominic kneeling below, and embracing the cross with both\nhands, while raising his head to meet the glance of the Saviour. In\nthe five lunettes of the doors in the cloister, Fra Angelico has\nrepresented St. Peter Martyr, St. Dominic, Christ issuing from the\nsepulchre, Christ in the dress of a pilgrim, and St. Thomas Aquinas.\nThe figure of the crucified Saviour is nobly beautiful in its simple\nand intelligent outline, firm design and life-like colouring. That of\nSt. Peter Martyr is full of character; it is a half figure holding\nwith his left hand the palm of martyrdom and a book which he rests on\nhis side; the first finger of the right hand is placed on his mouth,\nindicating the silence of the cloister. St. Dominic has the book of\nhis rules in one hand and the discipline, or rope for scourging in the\nother, as though to demonstrate that both moral and material influence\nshould govern a religious community. The \"Christ of the resurrection\"\nshows His wounds, and St. Thomas Aquinas holds his book of theology in\nboth hands.\n\n[Illustration: CHRIST ISSUING FROM THE SEPULCHRE.]\n\nIn the arch of the hospice the painter has represented two Dominicans\nwelcoming Christ, to remind the brethren that to offer hospitality to\nthe poor and the pilgrims, was the same as receiving Christ.\n\nThe Redeemer with his hat hanging behind His shoulders leans on His\npilgrim's staff; one of the brethren presses His left hand, and taking\nHim by the right arm invites Him to rest. The heads of the two\ndevotees are full of character and expression, and on their faces beam\nthe joy and love they feel for their unexpected guest. The second monk\nwho clasps the Saviour's arm with both hands as though he can scarcely\nbelieve his own eyes, is drawn with such natural feeling that nothing\ngreater can be desired or attained.\n\nEqually beautiful is the pilgrim Christ with His long beard and curls\nflowing on His shoulders; the whole scene in fact is given with great\nnobility and exquisite grace.\n\n[Illustration: CHRIST IN PILGRIM'S DRESS.]\n\nIn the chapter-house of the convent Fra Angelico repeated the scene of\nthe Crucifixion. Vasari writes of it thus: \"Fra Giovanni was so\ngreatly beloved for his admirable qualities by Cosimo de' Medici,\nthat the latter had no sooner completed the church and convent of San\nMarco, than he caused the good father to paint the whole story of the\nCrucifixion of Jesus Christ on one of the walls of the chapter-house.\nIn this work figures of all those saints who have been heads and\nfounders of religious bodies, are mourning and bewailing at the foot\nof the cross on one side; and on the other, St. Mark the Evangelist\nbeside the Mother of the Son of God, who has fainted at sight of the\ncrucified Saviour. Around the Virgin are the Maries, who are sorrowing\nwith and supporting her; they are accompanied by the saints Cosimo and\nDamian.\n\n\"Beneath this work, in a frieze above the dado the master executed a\nfigure of St. Dominic standing at the foot of a tree; on the branches\nof which are medallions, wherein are all the popes, cardinals,\nbishops, saints, and masters in theology who had belonged to Fra\nGiovanni's Order of the Preaching Friars, down to his own day.\"[44]\n\nIn this masterly work Fra Angelico pours out with full hands the most\nvivid and intense feelings of his soul, and if he does not attain to\ngrand dramatic power, he at least succeeds in depicting with rare\ningenuity the varied expressions of sorrow, despair, hope and faith\nwhich animate each person, and in giving natural and life-like\ncharacter and attitude to the various heads.\n\nThe group of the fainting Virgin may possibly seem conventional, but\nwhat sweet piety is in the feeling of the other figures! St. Dominic,\ndevoutly kneeling, inclines his head (cleverly foreshortened and\nmarvellously expressed) and extends his arms to the Redeemer; St.\nZenobi (or St. Ambrose the archbishop) standing upright, points with\nhis right to the Saviour; St. Jerome, in hermit's dress, bends forward\nand clasps his hands in prayer; St. Augustine holds his pen in one\nhand, his book and pastoral staff in the other; St. Francis brings his\nhand to his brow in an attitude of melancholy indefinable sadness. The\nSaints Benedict, Bernard and Romuald follow, then St. Thomas Aquinas\nwith a most beautiful head full of life and character (it must\ncertainly be a portrait, so life-like is the expression), next St.\nPeter Martyr with his hands on his breast; and lastly in the\nforeground an unknown monk (Padre Marchese thinks it is St. John\nGualbert) who weeps, with his left hand over his eyes.[45]\n\n[Illustration: SAN MARCO--FLORENCE THE CRUCIFIXION.]\n\nOn the left of the fresco, near the swooning Virgin, stands St. John\nBaptist pointing to the Saviour; St. Mark kneeling shows his gospel;\nSt. Laurence clasps his hands on his breast; and St. Cosmo wrings his\nhands as he contemplates the Cross; while St. Damian turns, covering\nhis eyes, and weeping the mournful loss of the Lord.\n\nIn the ornamentation of the simulated frame which surrounds the\nfresco, are hexagonal spaces containing half figures of prophets with\nlabels, containing texts referring to the passion of Christ; and below\nthem on the right, the Erythrean Sibyl. In the lower part of the\nfrieze, are ten rounds, containing portraits of the most illustrious\nmembers of the Dominican Order. In the centre St. Dominic, on the left\nPope Innocent V., Cardinal Ugone, Father Paulo the Florentine, the\nArchbishop St. Antonino (this must surely have been added later), the\nblessed ones Giordano of Saxony, Niccolo, Remigius the Florentine and\nBuoninsegna the martyr. On the right are the blessed brethren John\nDominici, Peter of the Marshes, Albertus Magnus, St. Raymond, Chiaro\nof Sesto, St. Vincent Ferreri and Bernard the martyr.\n\nRetouches and restorations are not wanting in this picture, the\ndrapery has been repainted in several parts and the background has\nbeen smudged with that reddish colour, which, in altering the tone of\nthe whole fresco, has injured the limpidity of colour and original\nrefinement of harmony.\n\nThe chronicles of the convent of San Marco record another Crucifixion\nby Fra Angelico in the refectory of the monks, \"probably,\" writes\nPadre Marchese, \"a replica of that which he had already painted in the\nFiesolan convent.\" This now no longer exists, it appears to have been\ndestroyed to make space for Sogliani's great fresco of St. Dominic at\ntable with his brethren, when they were supplied with bread by angels.\nBut in the cells and dormitories of the Florentine convent Fra\nAngelico scattered lovely proofs of his genius and sentiment, pouring\nout on them with rare talent the most exquisite grace of his brush,\nand tenderest thoughts of his soul. From the \"Annunciation\" to the\nvarious scenes from the life of Christ; from the \"Virgin among the\nsaints,\" in the corridor, to the decoration of the room which Cosimo\nhad built for himself in his favourite convent, all breathe such sweet\npoesy in the grace and simplicity of the varied scenes, that one\ncannot look at them unmoved.\n\nFacing the entrance of the upper corridor of the cloister he painted\nthe Angel bringing the glad tidings to the Virgin. We have already\nnoted in regard to this subject as created by him at Cortona, how the\nrepresentation finds its greater development here, where the artist\nsucceeds better in rendering the feeling of veneration on the part of\nthe heavenly messenger, and the submissive humility of the Virgin.\n\nThe same subject is repeated in a cell (No. 3), but in this design,\nwhich breathes the same sentiment of sweetness and piety, St. Dominic\nin reverent attitude is looking on.\n\n[Illustration: THE ANNUNCIATION.]\n\nOn the wall at the left of the entrance is a Crucifixion, with St.\nDominic on his knees, embracing the cross, the figures are about half\nlife size, the design similar to that which we have already seen in\nthe cloister, but showing less ability. Nor are these the only\nCrucifixions which our artist painted. He has reproduced the subject\nin several cells, always varying either the attitude of the Saviour,\nor the persons who adore Him, but the serene attitude of the Son of\nGod is unalterable. Without exaggerated contractions or violent action\nHe remains fixed on the cross, His head bowed in mute contemplation of\nthe figures below Him. These, on the contrary, are the prey of sorrow\nand despair, they cover their faces, or weep distractedly at His feet.\n\n[Illustration: \"NOLI ME TANGERE.\"]\n\nSome of these frescoes of the Crucifixion with St. Dominic kneeling\nbelow, may be classed as decidedly by other hands, the execution being\nweak, the drawing incorrect, and the sentiment inefficiently\nexpressed. These variants are doubtless attributable to the assistants\nhe employed in their execution.\n\nIn the fresco representing the _Noli me tangere_ Angelico gives us a\nwork full of freshness and life, idealized in Giottesque style. The\nfigure of Christ is majestic, as with a sign He withdraws Himself from\nthe kneeling Magdalene, who supplicatingly extends her arms towards\nHim.\n\n[Illustration: THE TRANSFIGURATION.]\n\nMost lovely are the composition and feeling of the figures in the\n\"Nativity,\" where the Virgin and St. Joseph with joined hands kneel in\nadoration of the Babe stretched on a heap of straw on the ground. A\nlittle above, on the right stands St. Dominic, and behind the Virgin\non the left a female saint kneels, her hands clasped in prayer. In the\nbackground beneath a humble shed are the bull and the ass, and four\nadoring angels above.\n\n[Illustration: THE RISEN CHRIST.]\n\nIn the \"Transfiguration on Mount Tabor\" the figure of the ascending\nChrist with outstretched arms and noble features is one of Fra\nAngelico's best works, but the attitudes of the Apostles are\nconventional; the kneeling figure on the left with hands upraised to\nexpress confusion and surprise at the resurrection, is too mannered,\nand by its pose and action disturbs the serene harmony of the picture.\n\n[Illustration: THE INSTITUTION OF THE HOLY SACRAMENT.]\n\n[Illustration: THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE.]\n\nIn the \"Institution of the Holy Sacrament,\" Fra Angelico, in true\nGiottesque style, represented the Apostles at the mystic feast, and\nChrist giving them the consecrated wafer, while He holds the chalice\nin His left hand. Here the figures of the disciples admirably express\nvaried feelings of devotion and joy in receiving the divine food from\nthe hand of the Master. But the fresco which surpasses all, in\nnobility of line and simple grandeur of conception, is the \"Coronation\nof the Virgin.\" Christ and the Virgin are seated in glory above the\nlight clouds, the Son places the celestial crown on the head of the\nMother who humbly bows her whole form towards Him, with hands crossed\non her bosom. Her face is irradiated by an ineffable and heavenly\nsmile, the supreme expression of happiness; the drapery of both is\nwhite and delicate, enveloping the limbs with well defined folds. The\nfigures without being ineffectual, indeed they are even forcible, yet\nappear aerial apparitions, and veritable visions of divinity. Six\nsaints in ecstasy assist at the triumph, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Paul,\nSt. Dominic, St. Francis, St. Peter Martyr and St. Benedict, three on\nthe right and three on the left, in a semicircular composition, all in\nattitudes of contemplative ecstasy.\n\n[Illustration: CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN.]\n\n[Illustration: THE PRAYER IN THE GARDEN.]\n\nThe frescoes of the Maries at the Sepulchre, may also be considered\none of our artist's masterpieces. The risen Christ emerges to half\nHis figure from the clouds which envelop Him, while the holy women\ncontemplate the empty sepulchre, and the angel seated in it points out\nthe miracle which has happened. Other scenes worthy of notice are the\n\"Presentation in the Temple,\" \"Christ in Hades,\" and the \"Buffeting of\nthe Saviour,\" and \"The Prayer in the Garden.\"\n\n[Illustration: ADORATION OF THE MAGI.]\n\n[Illustration: THE CRUCIFIXION.]\n\nIn one of the last cells, the \"Crucifixion\" is reproduced in a new\nmanner, which represents Christ having ascended the ladder and\noffering Himself to death: His Mother faints at his feet in the arms\nof Mary Magdalene. Marchese asserts that this composition was inspired\nby a legend of St. Mary Magdalene in the language of the 14th century.\n\"And I thought that Messer Gesu, ascended the cross by a ladder\nvoluntarily, offering His hands and feet. A centurion who was\nafterwards saved saw the deed, and like a wise man he said within\nhimself, oh, what a marvel is here! that this prophet appears to\nwillingly place himself on the Cross, neither murmuring nor resisting!\nAnd while he stood admiring, Messer Gesu had ascended sufficiently\nhigh, and turning on the ladder opened His kingly arms, and extended\nHis hands to those who were waiting to nail them.\"[46]\n\n[Illustration: THE VIRGIN ENTHRONED AMIDST SAINTS.]\n\nLastly in the room which Cosimo de' Medici had prepared for his own\nuse in the convent and where he often talked with the Prior Fra\nAntonino, Fra Angelico painted an \"Adoration of the Magi.\" As Pope\nEugene IV. slept in this room when he came to Florence in 1442 to\nassist at the consecration of the church, it is probable that this\nAdoration allusive to the Epiphany, at which time the consecration\ntook place, was painted at that epoch.\n\nThe fresco, rich in figures and beauty, is executed with real\nmastery. The personages of the royal cortege vary in type and\ncharacter, in expression and sentiment, showing the great pains our\nartist had taken in the painting of this important work, which now,\nunhappily restored and injured, only allows us to guess at the\nwonderful beauty with which it was once filled.\n\nWe see his own hand more completely in the fresco in the corridor\nrepresenting the Virgin enthroned, with the child seated on her knee\nand several saints at the sides. On the right are St. Paul, St. Thomas\nAquinas, St. Laurence, and St. Peter Martyr; on the left St. Mark, St.\nCosmo and St. Damian, and St. Dominic, holding an open book where it\nis written: _Caritatem habete; humilitatem servate; paupertatem\nvoluntariam possidete. Maledictionem Dei et meam imprecor possessiones\ninducenti in meo Ordine_.\n\nThis painting, one of the most perfect in the convent, is one of\nAngelico's best, and shows what a high degree of ability he had\nreached. The gentle head of the Virgin bends down to look at her Son\nwith the golden curls, whose face with sparkling eyes breathes an\ninfantile grace. The execution is accurate, the figures well designed,\nfull of character, nobility and life; the delicacy of tone, just\nbalance of composition and freshness of colouring, are mingled with\nthe most profound sentiment and intimate knowledge of truth.\n\nRio thinks this fresco was done while Fra Angelico was in Tuscany\nafter 1450; his adieu, as it were, to his brethren; a last legacy to\nthat devout household with whom he had shared joys and sorrows, and\nfrom which he was about to be separated. There is nothing to refute\nthis; but it appears to us that he who had painted the great\nCrucifixion of the chapter-house might well have done at the same time\nthis fresco. It is a compendium of all his technical qualities and\nfeeling, and demonstrates how little by little he succeeded, while\nstill preserving his own spirit, in reaching the real in art, and\ngiving it life in a manner all his own. But in comparing the pictures\nof the chapel of Pope Nicholas V. in Rome, with this fresco, we cannot\navoid noticing in those a greater freedom of composition and grouping\nof the figures, a greater majesty of design, a truth and depth of\nobservation, not recognisable in any of his earlier works, nor even in\nthe large Crucifixion, which is justly considered one of the pious\nmonk's best works.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nIN THE GALLERY\nOF ANCIENT AND MODERN ART.\n\n[Illustration: ANCIENT AND MODERN GALLERY--FLORENCE THE DESCENT FROM\nTHE CROSS.]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nThe enthusiasm aroused by Fra Angelico's pictures, caused a vivid\ndesire amongst the various religious orders of the city, to possess\nsome work of his; Dominicans, Vallombrosians, Chartreuse monks, and\nthe Camaldolese of Santa Maria degli Angeli, vied with each other, and\nall in turn obtained some of his admirable creations.\n\nAmong the panels painted by Fra Giovanni for the Florentine churches\nand convents, the one which excels all for intensity of sentiment and\nsincerity of expression is the \"Deposition from the Cross,\" once in\nthe Sacristy of Santa Trinita, and now in the Ancient and Modern\nGallery, a panel \"in which,\" writes Vasari, \"he put so much care that\nwe may class it among the best things he ever did.\"\n\nThe disciples with loving reverence let down from the Cross, which\noccupies the centre of the composition, the body of the Saviour. His\nface, drooping on the left shoulder, breathes a sorrowful calm, and\ndivine serenity which death itself could not destroy. The nude is\nintelligently rendered, in nobility of form, softness of line, and\ntransparency and morbidity of colouring. On the left stands a group of\nwomen; St. Mary Magdalene kisses the feet of Christ; the Virgin\ncontemplates Him in a trance of sadness; on the right the disciples\ndiscuss the melancholy drama among themselves, while below, a\nkneeling saint holds his right hand to his breast and extends the left\nin a sorrowful wonder. In the background is a hilly landscape with the\nHoly City on the left, and Mount Calvary which the artist \"with poetic\nand devout conceit,\" writes Marchese, \"has drawn adorned with grass\nand flowers, as though to denote that at the touch of the feet and\nprecious blood of Jesus Christ, the bare heights were reclad in rich\nand verdant beauty. Although marred by restoration--for the eye is\noffended by the inharmonious contrast of tints, the effect of\nunskilful retouching,--we may consider this painting as one of the\nmost beautiful works which Fra Angelico has left us. Grandeur and\nsimplicity are marvellously blended with freshness of colour, and\ncorrectness of design with most intense expression and pure sentiment.\"\n\nThe landscape in the background shows the usual defects of\nperspective, but the mountains shade off delicately against the\ndistant blue of the sky, the plain is illuminated with infinite\nflowerets, and a rich verdure clothes the summit of the sacred hill.\nIn the pilasters of the frame are small figures of Saints, some of the\nbest and finest that Fra Angelico ever painted, and in the gables\nabove the three arches Lorenzo Monaco has represented the \"Noli me\ntangere,\" the \"Resurrection,\" and the \"Maries at the Sepulchre.\"\n\nHere the question naturally arises: Why should Lorenzo Monaco have\nlimited his work solely to the three little scenes in the gables of\nthe frame, while Fra Angelico has given us the beautiful little\nfigures of the pilasters which show all his peculiar grace and\nrefinement? Why did an artist capable of producing those admirable\nsaints, leave to Fra Lorenzo Monaco the office (all the worse if he\nhad been, as some say, his master) of finishing the work with only\nthose three insignificant little scenes? And can we suppose that Fra\nLorenzo Monaco, already at the apex of his fame, should accept, and,\nstill more strange, be content with a secondary part in Fra Giovanni's\nwork?\n\nThe answer is more simple than it at first appears. There is no doubt\nthat the scenes in the Gothic gables are the work of the Camaldolese\nmonk, and as we cannot logically infer that they were specially\npainted by him for Fra Angelico's picture, we must suppose, and indeed\nfirmly believe them to have been added at a later time. In fact, the\nform of the foliated Gothic decoration lacks character and does not\nharmonize with the pilasters which clearly show, too, a subsequent\nadaptation of the frame. The finials of the pilasters do not match the\nstyle of the gables, in fact it is clear that the Gothic\nornamentation, taken from some painting by Lorenzo Monaco, was at a\nmore recent date adapted to Fra Angelico's altar-piece.\n\nFra Giovanni painted a panel picture of the \"Dead Christ\" for the\n\"Compagnia del Tempio\" in Florence; this is now in the Ancient and\nModern Gallery, having been placed there in 1786, after the\nsuppression of that Company.\n\n[Illustration: THE DEAD CHRIST.]\n\nRio supposes that the enthusiasm aroused by the great Deposition in\nSanta Trinita, tempted the Company to covet the possession of a\nsimilar one.[47]\n\nOnly two figures, however, are common to the two paintings: one is the\nSt. Simeon kneeling in the left corner who, in this second picture, is\nrepresented as a younger man than in the first; the other is a figure\na little behind him, which is a reproduction of that one in the large\nDeposition with a hood on his head, who is speaking to the disciple\nbelow him, as he entrust to him the body of the Saviour;--a figure\nwhich Milanesi believes to be a portrait of the architect Michelozzo.\n\nIf this be indeed Fra Angelico's friend the Florentine architect, we\nmay admit Cartier's assertion that this panel is a sequel of the\nlarger Descent from the Cross, and may have been painted at the same\ntime.[48] But these are things which we dare not affirm with any\ncertainty, as we entertain doubts regarding the greater or less\nauthenticity of writers on the subject of Michelozzo's portrait.\n\nBesides many figures of saints, the painter has introduced those of\nSt. Dominic and the Beata Villana, because the Company of the Temple\nhad ancient rights over the relics of this good woman which are\npreserved in the Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella. The other\nfigures, though expressing divers feelings of sorrow and lively\nsympathy, have nothing in common with the famous Deposition either in\ncharacter or technique and the picture does not reach the usual\nperfection.\n\nEven the type of the Christ differs remarkably in the two paintings,\nso much so that no comparison can be instituted, or resemblance found\nbetween them; moreover, the panel of the Temple Company is badly\nspoilt by restoration, and the colouring is so altered that it is\nalmost black in some parts.\n\n\"In the Chapel of the SS. Annunziata at Florence which Piero di Cosimo\nde' Medici caused to be built, Fra Angelico painted the doors of the\npresses where the silver plate is kept, with little figures executed\nwith great diligence.\"[49] They represent the life and death of Christ\nin 35 small scenes, which are now in the Ancient and Modern Gallery.\n\nPadre Marchese writes: \"I believe it was in Fiesole that he painted\nmany of those little panels, which may now be seen in the Gallery of\nthe Florentine Academy of Design, and perhaps also the doors of the\npresses for the silver vessels in the chapel of the SS. Annunziata at\nFlorence. In his first edition Vasari had enumerated them among his\nearly works, which may have seemed probable, as Fra Angelico's first\nsteps in art were in illuminating and painting small stories.\"[50]\n\nBut as it was only in 1448 that Piero de' Medici, to show his devotion\nto the Virgin of the Annunciation, obtained from the monks the\npatronage of that altar with the intention of adorning it with a\nsplendour worthy of the dignity of Her to whom it was dedicated,[51]\nwe cannot suppose that Fra Angelico painted the door of its treasure\npresses before that time.\n\nRio also dates at the epoch of the monk's sojourn in Tuscany towards\n1450, the great unfinished painting now in the Academy of the Belle\nArti, which has been regarded as one of Fra Angelico's first works. We\nknow as a fact that in 1450 he was prior of the convent at Fiesole,\nand may believe that he stayed some time in Tuscany, before returning\nto Rome to finish the chapel of Pope Nicholas V.[52] But Rio adds that\n\"besides the date of the building of the chapel, the fact that the\nportrait of Michelozzo represents him as older in this work than in\nthe Deposition,\" suggests for this cyclic composition an approximative\ndate, very far from that assigned to it previously.[53]\n\nWe must not forget, however, that several doubts arise as to the\nidentity of the person representing Michelozzo.\n\nVasari recognises him in that old Nicodemus with a hood, who lowers\nthe Christ from the cross in the Deposition, while Milanesi, asserting\nthat Nicodemus has a saint's aureole not a cowl, holds that the\nportrait of Michelozzo is to be seen in the figure with a black hood\nwho speaks with the disciple beneath him as he gives the body of the\nLord into his hands. Certainly Milanesi has good reason to doubt\nVasari's assertion, as Nicodemus has no hood: moreover Vasari himself\nin his second edition of the Lives (1568) assigns as the architect's\nlikeness that very figure with a cowl who is speaking to the disciple.\nTherefore we must admit that the Aretian Historian was mistaken either\nin his indication of the figure, or in the reproduction of it as a\nheadpiece to his Life of Michelozzo.\n\nIn any case, a similar figure to that in the \"Deposition,\" and with\nthe same head-gear, again appears a little older in the fresco of the\nconvent of San Marco representing the \"Adoration of the Magi\"; also in\nanother picture of the \"Presentation in the Temple\"; and in the little\nsquare with a \"Flight into Egypt\", on one of the doors of SS.\nAnnunziata.\n\n[Illustration: FLIGHT INTO EGYPT.]\n\nIf Michelozzo be really portrayed here, we must conclude that the\nDeposition was painted long before 1442, and the press doors about the\nsame time, or a little later; but the student must take into account\nthe curious fact that in the \"Deposition\" the disciple who talks to\nthe man with a cowl above him, has also a certain resemblance to the\nsupposed Michelozzo, and that Nicodemus reappears as St. John Baptist\non the left of the large altar-piece painted for the church of San\nMarco, as well as in the picture of the dead Christ, and also as the\nkneeling King who kisses the feet of the Babe in the fresco of the\n\"Adoration of the Magi.\"\n\nTherefore, without giving great importance to the question of the true\nportrait of Michelozzo, we find that these heads, whether of Nicodemus\nor the hooded disciple, are represented in various pictures by our\nartist, modified by age, so that from them we may establish the\nsuccession of the different works, i. e. first the \"Dead Christ\" of\nthe Company of the Temple, next the picture at San Marco (1438), then\nthe \"Deposition,\" and lastly the fresco in San Marco, and the little\n\"Annunciation.\" Thus all these works would certainly date during Fra\nAngelico's stay in Florence.\n\nBut to return to the doors of the presses in the SS. Annunziata, it is\ntrue, as Rio writes, that instead of being a series of subjects for\nfuture frescoes or altar-pieces, the \"stories\" seem a hasty resume,\noften too hasty, of works already painted in the convent of San Marco\nor other places. Some of them are noticeable for firmness of design\nand vigour of colouring, others instead are unworthy of the master and\nevidently show another hand.\n\n[Illustration: CHRIST BETRAYED BY JUDAS.]\n\n[Illustration: THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS.]\n\nTo give this great work its due appreciation we must take it as a\nwhole, as the profound genius of Fra Angelico had conceived it.\nWishing to give it the unity of a dramatic poem, he placed at the\nbeginning and at the end, like a prologue and an epilogue, two\nsymbolic figures, in the last of which the seven branched candlestick\nserves as a support to the Old and New Testaments.[54]\n\nWe may enumerate among the best scenes the \"Flight into Egypt,\" the\n\"Slaughter of the Innocents,\" the \"Betrayal of Judas,\" the \"Dead\nChrist,\" and the \"Resurrection of Lazarus,\" all composed in Giottesque\nstyle: but, when we think of the progress of Fra Angelico in art as\nshown in the frescoes in San Marco, and his best panel paintings, we\ncannot avoid noticing a certain want of vigour in these presses.\n\n[Illustration: THE SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS.]\n\n[Illustration: ENTOMBMENT OF CHRIST.]\n\nHaving become accustomed to the grander methods of fresco painting, in\nwhich his talent and ability found greater scope for expression,--even\nthough not attaining to the ease and force of some of his\ncontemporaries and followers,--Fra Angelico must have now found\nhimself at the disadvantage, natural to one who, after moving free in\nwider space, is suddenly cramped into narrower confines. This explains\nwhy we find in some of these small panels, greater conventionality in\nthe representation of scenes and action, and less ease and correctness\nof execution. We might add also, that many of them, where these\ndefects are especially evident, may be ascribed to other hands, less\nclever than his own, those of his assistants who were called in to\nexpedite the work and assist the artist.\n\n[Illustration: CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN.]\n\nRio believes that two of Angelico's paintings, one of which was once\nin the Dominican monastery of San Vincenzo d' Annalena, and the other\nin that of the Frati dell'Osservanza in Mugello, but now both at the\nBelle Arti, were executed later than the frescoes in the Vatican, to\nwhich they offer an extraordinary resemblance, not perceivable in the\nartist's earlier works.[55]\n\n[Illustration: THE SYMBOLIC WHEEL.]\n\nWe cannot, however, accept the assertion of the French critic. These\ntwo pictures, though utterly different in character and type, too\nforcibly recall his previous works. And as according to the same\nauthor the altar-piece of the monks [55] of the Mugello resembles the\nother in colouring, technique, the freer style of drapery, the type of\nthe Virgin and character of the figures, we might reasonably conclude\nthat both paintings belong to the period of his residence at Fiesole\nor Florence, i. e. previous to his departure for Rome in 1445.\n\n[Illustration: THE MADONNA AND CHILD WITH SAINTS.\n(Annalena Convent.)]\n\n[Illustration: THE MADONNA AND CHILD WITH ANGELS AND SAINTS.\n(From the Convent of the Osservanza.)]\n\nWe are even less inclined to endorse the opinion of Rio in regard to\nthe date of the painting from the Annalena Convent. The internal\norganization of the convent was only regulated by a bull of Pope\nNicholas V. after 1450, so there is probably no connection between the\ninternal establishment of the convent and the Commission for the\npicture.\n\nThe convent (it is well to remember) was founded in 1453, but the\nreligious intentions of Anna Elena Malatesta met with no slight\nresistance, and it was not till 1455, that Pope Calixtus III. conceded\nher permission to \"build in her house a public oratory in which mass\nshould be celebrated and the divine Offices performed.\" We cannot then\nadmit that the picture was specially painted for the convent named[56]\nafter that saintly lady. When one reflects that Anna Elena Malatesta,\nfoundress of the monastery, was educated in the house of Attilio di\nVieri de' Medici, and was by Cosimo Pater Patriae married to Baldaccio\nof Anghiari, it is not unlikely that the picture had been a commission\nfrom Cosimo, and that when Annalena was left a widow, and took the\nvows in 1441, it was offered by him to the convent, to which the sad\nwidow had consecrated all her care. It is the more probable, that it\nwas painted for the Medici, because the two patron saints of their\nhouse are represented in it.\n\nSS. Cosmo and Damian only appear in the pictures painted by Fra\nAngelico in Florence, probably in recognition of the benefits bestowed\nby Cosimo on the monks of San Marco; moreover, we do not think the\nwork could have been done at Fiesole after the first visit to Rome in\n1452, because the figures, weak in chiaroscuro, are still treated as\nif they were enlarged miniatures, and do not show the character of his\nlater works. On the other hand the picture of the Osservanza in\nMugello displays the whole power of the artist, and may be compared,\nas Rio says, to the panel at San Marco both in the character of the\nfigures and the larger style of treatment.\n\nVasari cites other works which have unfortunately been dispersed or\ndestroyed, among which were an altar-piece in the Certosa at Florence,\nrepresenting the \"Virgin and Child,\" with some angels below, and at\nthe sides St. Laurence, St. Zenobi, and St. Benedict; the \"Coronation\nof the Madonna,\" once in the lunette of the Acciajoli chapel: another\nwith the \"Virgin and two saints,\" painted \"con azzurri oltramarini\nbellissimi,\" (with beautiful ultramarine blues): and the pictures in\nthe dividing wall of Santa Maria Novella opposite the choir. The\n\"Annunciation,\" which according to Vasari was in the church of San\nFrancesco at San Miniato, and which Milanesi believes to be in the\nMuseum of Madrid, is instead now in the National Gallery at London. It\nis a diptych, in one panel the archangel Gabriel, with golden wings\noutspread, crossing his hands on his breast bows before the Virgin,\nwho in the other panel leans forward to listen to his blessed word.\nThe scene is in a cloister, from the arches of which a field of\nflowers is seen, and in the distant horizon the outlines of the\nApennine mountains. A great lily blossoms beside the Virgin, the two\ncapitals of the columns of the cloister have the Albizzi arms carved\non them.\n\n\"This good Father painted so many pictures for the houses of the\ncitizens of Florence, that one wonders how one man could so perfectly\nexecute even in many years all that he has done.\" So writes Vasari,\nand indeed a complete list of his paintings still existing in Italy\nand elsewhere would be too long; those we have illustrated will,\nhowever, suffice to give a good idea of his artistic genius, and the\nsentiment with which this gentle artist could represent the marvellous\nvisions of a soul in love with heaven!\n\n[Illustration: THE LAST SUPPER.]\n\n\n\n\nIV.\n\nFRA ANGELICO\nAT ROME AND ORVIETO.\n\n[1445-1455.]\n\n[Illustration: CHRIST IN JUDGMENT. (Orvieto, Cathedral.)]\n\n\nThese many and various labours--writes Vasari--\"having rendered the\nname of Fra Giovanni illustrious throughout all Italy, he was invited\nto Rome by Pope Nicholas V., who caused him to adorn the chapel of the\npalace, where the pontiff is accustomed to hear mass, with a\n\"Deposition from the Cross,\" and with certain events from the life of\nSan Lorenzo, which are admirable.\"[57]\n\nBut Vasari errs in giving to Nicholas V. the merit of having called\nFra Angelico to Rome; he is also mistaken in affirming that the artist\nwas offered the archbishopric of Florence, and on his modest refusal\nSant' Antonino was proposed to the Pope: \"and because Fra Giovanni\nappearing to the Pope to be, as he really was, a person of most holy\nlife, gentle and modest, the archbishopric of Florence having then\nbecome vacant, he judged him worthy of that preferment.\"[58]\n\nIt was instead Pope Eugene IV., who wishing to embellish the Vatican\nwith pictures, invited Fra Angelico to Rome in 1445, having admired\nhis sanctity of life, and talent in art when in Florence. That Pope\ndied the following year, but in his successor Nicholas V., Fra\nAngelico found another sincere admirer and friend, and he remained in\nRome to finish the works he had begun. He painted two chapels in the\nVatican, the one of the Sacrament for Eugene IV., the other for Pope\nNicholas V., whose name it still bears. The former was pulled down by\nPope Paul III. to improve the staircase.\n\n\"In this work,\" says Vasari, \"which was an excellent one, Fra Giovanni\nhad in his own admirable manner painted stories in fresco from the\nlife of Christ, and had introduced many portraits of eminent persons\nthen living. These portraits would most probably have been lost to us,\nhad not Paulo Jovius caused the following among them to be preserved\nfor his Museum: Pope Nicholas V., the Emperor Frederick, who had at\nthat time arrived in Italy; Fra Antonino, who afterwards became\nArchbishop of Florence; Biondo da Forli, and Ferdinand of\nArragon.\"[59]\n\nIt is probable that after having finished the chapel of the Sacrament,\nand before the new commission was given by Nicholas V., Fra\nAngelico--by means of Don Francesco di Barone of Perugia, a\nBenedictine monk and celebrated master of glass painting--entered into\nnegotiation with the Operai and Consuls of the Duomo at Orvieto, to\npaint the chapel of the Madonna di San Brizio. But before he accepted\nthe commission he gave them to understand that he could only go to\nOrvieto in the months of June, July and August, when he did not wish\nto remain in Rome.\n\n\"He demanded 200 gold ducats a year, together with all expenses of\nboard and lodging, colours and scaffolding; besides seven ducats a\nmonth for his assistant, and two for his boy. The contract was signed\non these conditions by Messer Enrico Monaldeschi, the principal\ncitizen--almost the tyrant--of Orvieto, who always took a personal\npart in the most important events of the city. Fra Angelico took with\nhim Benozzo di Lese, Giovanni di Antonio da Firenze, and Iacomo di\nPoli, with whose assistance he commenced the painting in the large\nlunettes on June 15th 1447. Pietro di Niccola of Orvieto was also\nemployed. They painted together for three months and a half, but Fra\nAngelico did not return the following year.\n\n\"As the summer of 1449 drew near, the overseers, who were left with\nonly Pietro Baroni, a proved artist, endeavoured to persuade Fra\nAngelico to go back again, and join Baroni, saying that if he failed\nthem, they would prefer to postpone the work, as they looked more to\nthe beauty than the expense, as they always had been accustomed to do.\nWhen every hope of obtaining Fra Angelico was lost, they gave Benozzo\nGozzoli a trial to continue Fra Giovanni's frescoes,\"[60] but the\neffect was not happy.\n\n[Illustration: THE PROPHETS. (Orvieto, Cathedral.)]\n\nFra Angelico painted in the roof of the chapel a \"Christ in Judgment,\"\nsurrounded by a \"glory\" of angels. Sixteen saints and prophets are\nseated on clouds with the motto: _Prophetarum laudabilis numerus_. The\nSaviour in a circle of light raises His right hand on high, while the\nleft supports a globe on His knees. On both sides are groups of angels\nin varied attitudes of adoration. The prophets stand out in pyramidal\ngroups on a background of gold, and are either reading or meditating\nwith religious calm. Rosini judges the Christ to be the work of\nBenozzo Gozzoli, because it seems inferior to the prophets, which show\na grander treatment and better execution. \"I think,\" he writes, \"that\nthe prophets alone belong to Fra Angelico; the Christ in glory, and\nthe remainder to Benozzo and the others. I am led to this not only by\ntheir different style, but the heads of the prophets, although they\nare disposed one above the other, as the space demands, show the more\ndignified style, and perfect execution of the Florentine monk. That\nperfection ought to be seen also in the Christ, which seems to me to\nbe a little inferior to them.\"[61]\n\nBut even while admitting that the features of the Saviour have in some\nparts the characteristics of Benozzo's style, we must not forget that\nhe derived from his master both his good and bad points, and from the\nlatter especially originated those peculiar defects, which are greatly\nemphasized in Benozzo's works. Hence it is natural that something of\nthe scholar's manner should appear in that face, but it is no proof\nthat he has worked at it. On the contrary it is enough to prove the\nimpossibility of ascribing this figure to him, to glance at the head\nof Christ in Benozzo's fresco in the church of St. Francis at\nMontefalco, representing the meeting of St. Francis and St. Dominic.\nHigh up on the left the Saviour raises His right hand and the Virgin\nkneels at His feet. Now all the figures are absolutely wanting in\ndignity and character, especially the downcast head of Christ, with\nits projecting forehead and receding chin, which is absolutely vulgar.\nHere Benozzo has not even distantly remembered any of his master's\nnoble representations of the Saviour. Therefore not only had he no\npart in that figure at Orvieto, but neither could he have done the\nprophets, for they are far superior to the Christ. Finally, it is not\nprobable that Fra Angelico, with the feeling which inspired his work,\nshould entrust to an assistant the execution of such an important\nfigure as the Christ.\n\nEven though the figure of the Christ is not to be compared to the\nfinest of the prophets, yet we find in the countenance the same\ncharacteristics as the other heads display. True, it looks worse than\nit really is, for a crack in the roof has damaged the mouth and beard,\nand the fresco has besides suffered in the restorer's hands.\n\nIt is a known fact, that a few months after Fra Angelico left, it was\nnecessary to repair the roof of the chapel in which he had worked, on\naccount of the rain that percolated there, to the great detriment of\nthe paintings.\n\nHowever this may be, it is certain that the heads of the prophets have\nsweetness of expression and nobility of character, and all the figures\nare remarkable for their fine form, dignified attitudes, free and\nsimple draperies, combined with bright and vivid colouring. These\nqualities are not so visible in the compartment of our Lord and the\nadoring angels, which may with more certainty be attributed to\nBenozzo.\n\nFra Angelico returned to Rome on the 28th of September in that year\n(1447) and never went back to Orvieto, but his reasons for breaking\nhis contract and leaving a work incomplete are not explained.\n\nPerhaps he perceived the difficulties of the composition and was\narrested by the terrifying dread--which his character and feeling\nwould have magnified--of painting a Last Judgment in such grand\nproportions. Or he may have had an intuition, that his work would\nnever be worthy of that famous building, especially as he was called\non to depict the punishments of hell and the various feelings of\nsorrow, passion and despair in the damned souls, sentiments so\nforeign to his own nature. Or possibly the desire to finish the\npaintings entrusted to him in Rome by the new Pontiff Nicholas V.,\ninduced him to break his contract. In the absence of more precise\nrecords it is difficult to establish the truth.\n\nCertain it is that Fra Angelico left Orvieto for Rome and that he\npainted there a \"Studio\" or Chapel for Nicholas V., for which the\npayment is entered in a register dated 1449, but \"after this year,\"\nwrites Muentz, \"we find no more traces of the illustrious Dominican, in\nthe books of the secret treasury.\"[62]\n\nOn January 10th 1452 Fra Angelico is again at Fiesole as prior of his\nconvent, and in the same year the rulers of the Commune of Prato\nemployed the good offices of Archbishop Antonino to induce Fra\nAngelico to paint the principal chapel of their church; but he\nrefused, and the commission was given to Filippo Lippi.\n\nThe fact that the name of the Dominican artist has not been found in\nthe registers of the Vatican Treasury after 1449, need not necessarily\nbe taken as a proof that he was not working in the Chapel of Nicholas\nV. at a later date. Indeed, as he went no more to Orvieto, and would\nnot undertake to paint the Choir of the Prato Cathedral, it seems\nprobable that he should have gone back to Rome to finish his work\nthere.\n\nThe chapel which preserves these precious frescoes by Angelico may be\nconsidered one of the most famous monuments of Italian art.\n\nOn three of the walls, he has represented in two lines of frescoes the\nVocation, the Apostleship, and the Martyrdom of St. Stephen and St.\nLaurence. On the first side St. Stephen receives the Communion from\nSt. Peter, and distributes alms to the poor: on the second are his\npreaching and justification before the high priest: in the third his\nlapidation. Below on the first wall is the consecration of St.\nLaurence, and his almsgiving to the poor and maimed; second, his\nimprisonment and the conversion of the jailer; and lastly his\nmartyrdom.\n\nThe design is free and firm, yet keeping true to the character of the\nartist. The execution is more accurate and equal; although less\nrealistic than that of Masaccio, yet he succeeds in giving his figures\na greater grace and softer expression, indeed, the sentiment with\nwhich he imbues his figures, was never reached by any other artist,\nand that sentiment is here more admirably expressed than in any other\nof his works.\n\n[Illustration: CHAPEL OF POPE NICHOLAS V. VATICAN--ROME. ST. LAWRENCE\nORDAINED DEACON BY POPE SIXTUS II.]\n\n[Illustration: THE PREACHING AND JUSTIFICATION OF ST. STEPHEN.\n(Vatican, Rome.)]\n\nWhether St. Stephen be kneeling in wrapt devotion to take the chalice,\nor with the love of divine charity giving money to the woman, while\nthe little child gives him its hand; whether touching his thumb he\nseems to explain some religious question, while some women seated\nthere hang on his words, exchange their impressions, or ecstatically\nclasp their hands in sign of admiration or faith; whether he speak\nbefore the Great Council, or is conducted at last torture, supporting\nit with faith and resignation;--his noble figure always inspires a\nfeeling of profound piety, of serene calm and personal devotion.\n\nAlthough the representation of buildings is still too fantastic, the\nperspective is not neglected as in some other works. In the\n\"Ordination of St. Stephen,\" the design of the interior of the church\nis in good architectural style, but the canopy above the altar is so\nlow in proportion to the figure of St. Peter, that if he were to rise\nto his full height he could not stand at the altar; in another the\nopen space in which St. Stephen is preaching has a fortress on the\nright, and a palace of very doubtful character in the background. The\ndetails of ornamentation, however, are very carefully designed, the\nmotives of the decoration being refined and elegant. The pilasters\nwith their pretty candelabra and capitals rich with sculpture, combine\nso harmoniously with the purer architectural forms, as to produce a\nmost pleasing effect and show the result of his studies among the\nnumberless remains of ancient Rome.\n\n[Illustration: CHAPEL OF POPE NICHOLAS V.--VATICAN--ROME.\nPOPE SIXTUS II CONSIGNS THE TREASURES OF THE CHURCH TO ST. LAURENCE.]\n\nThe St. Laurence series is not less beautiful. It is marvellous that\nFra Angelico could express motives so analogous to the former set of\nfrescoes without repeating himself. Sixtus II., drawn with the\nlineaments of Nicholas V., consecrates to the diaconal office St.\nLaurence, who reverently kneeling extends both hands to receive the\nsacramental cup. Around them are some fine figures of ecclesiastics,\nwho, robed in magnificent vestments, assist at the ceremony, together\nwith deacons and acolytes, who hold the book and censer. There is, it\nis true, a great sameness in the heads, which suggests that most of\nthem were studied from the same model.\n\nIn another fresco, the Pope consigns the treasures of the church to\nthe saint, while a monk turns brusquely round at the noise made at the\ndoor by two soldiers who come to conduct St. Laurence to martyrdom.\nBut where Fra Angelico has best succeeded in fully rendering his\nsentiment, is in the painting which represents the distribution of\nalms. Angelico evidently delights in the thought of the inner\nsatisfaction of the saint, and the happiness of the recipients; and\nthe sincere and serene joy transfused in the countenances of the\ndifferent figures is expressed with unusual ability and extraordinary\ntruth to nature.\n\nHe has enlivened the severity of the scene by the episode of two\nchildren, who are laughingly struggling over a piece of money\nreceived. Infantile grace and content breathe in their features,\nthough slightly disturbed by the doubt which of them will remain\npossessor of the precious gift.\n\nThe two last frescoes are very attractive and equally admirable. One\nrepresents the condemnation of St. Laurence, the other his martyrdom.\nThe study of classic art is still more manifest in these than in the\nothers, for not only the architecture, but even the niches which\ncontain statues are imitated from the antique.\n\nIn the \"Condemnation\" the Emperor Decius wears a cuirass with a toga\nover it fastened on the right shoulder, as in the ancient imperial\nbusts. His sceptre is terminated by a little idol, and above his\nthrone is the Roman eagle with outspread wings, in a garland of bay\nleaves: in the other fresco the statues appear to be reproductions of\nancient Roman monuments. But unfortunately this last picture has been\nso injured and restored that we cannot fully appreciate its value.\n\n[Illustration: CHAPEL OF POPE NICHOLAS V.--VATICAN--ROME.\nST. LAURENCE GIVE THE CHURCH MONEY TO THE POOR.]\n\n[Illustration: ST. BONAVENTURE.]\n\nThe execution of these pictures is really remarkable. Fra Angelico, as\nwe have said, without losing his fundamental qualities, has acquired\nand here reveals new qualities; the four Evangelists among the clouds\non a background of blue, dotted with golden stars, are noble and full\nof character; the figures of the saints on the simulated pilasters,\nand at the corners of each side of the chapel, might be classed among\nFra Angelico's best. Who does not remember above the rest the fine and\nnoble figure of St. Bonaventure, with his flowing white beard,\nthoughtful eyes, and an aspect of goodness and seriousness combined\nthat is quite enchanting? What other figure, however beautiful, can\nshow such just proportions, solid form, and majestic design, such a\nstrong character and expression as this? The saint's thoughtful gaze\nis turned to the left, his mouth lightly indicating a smile, or rather\nthe sweet expression of innate goodness, the marvellously drawn hands\nsupport an open book which rests on his side. Here Fra Angelico\nreveals his skill in all its fulness; and when we reflect on his\nadvanced age, we can only remain in admiring surprise before the\nfreshness of his creative power, and the force of his execution.\n\nWe have documental evidence that Benozzo Gozzoli assisted his master\nin these frescoes, and doubtless we may attribute to him the fine\ndecorations, where roses bud amidst flowers and foliage of every kind,\nand garlands are resting on pretty little children's heads, or are\nfestooned on medallions bearing the tiara, and crossed keys of\nNicholas V.; but we cannot give him the merit of having beautified the\nscenes of the \"Preaching of St. Stephen,\" or \"St. Laurence\ndistributing alms.\"[63]\n\n[Illustration: CHAPEL OF POPE NICHOLAS V. VATICAN--ROME.\nST. LAURENCE CONDEMNED TO MARTYRDOM.]\n\nWe admit the probability that Benozzo may have executed some of the\nfigures, but there is a difference between this and supposing that he\nhad any conspicuous part in the compositions, especially in the St.\nLaurence series, which we cannot believe. If the whole scene were\nindeed by Benozzo, would not the difference of hand between master and\nscholar be more strikingly evident? And the more so, as the scholar\nhad not yet reached mastery of technique, and his early frescoes show\na certain crudeness, want of harmony and incorrectness of design,\nwhich far remove them from the proved technical ability of his master.\nNor can we believe that he timidly followed the lines traced on the\nwalls by Fra Angelico, for even in that case something peculiar to\nhimself must have been clearly perceptible in them. Now this, to speak\nfrankly, is not evident.\n\nNone of the women assisting at the preaching of St. Stephen recall the\ncharacteristic type of those which Benozzo painted in the frescoes at\nMontefalco. The saint's listeners have regular features, and remind\none of the various female figures in the San Marco frescoes\n(\"Resurrection of Christ\" and \"Prayer on the Mount of Olives\").\nBenozzo's handling is less solid, his outlines are hard and sharp,\ncolouring crude and chiaroscuro weak; in the stories of St. Laurence\nwe find instead, and in a very high degree, the solidity and\ncorrectness which we have admired in Fra Angelico's Florentine\npaintings.\n\nIt suffices to recall the \"Adoration of the Magi,\" in San Marco, one\nof his last works before leaving for Rome, and the beautiful prophets\nat Orvieto; in both these pictures we meet with the same types and\nfigures as in the Roman frescoes, especially in those representing\n\"St. Peter ordaining St. Stephen,\" \"St. Laurence distributing alms,\"\nand \"St. Stephen before the high priest.\" Without then following up\ndoubtful suppositions, it does not seem admissible that Fra Angelico,\nold as he was, should have ceded to his pupil either the direction,\nor the greater part of works of such importance, which it was greatly\nto his interest to finish with the utmost care and perfection.\n\nCavalcaselle remarks that the severity of the Orvietans who would not\nlet Benozzo finish the work which Fra Angelico had left incomplete, is\ninexplicable; but we must remember that though Benozzo imitated his\nmaster's style, the inferiority of his talent was always apparent in\nthe common types, false anatomy, and mistaken proportions of his\nfigures. \"He does not equal the master who guided him in his first\nyears, but he follows his style as much as he can, with less\ntalent.\"[64]\n\nIt was not therefore Benozzo's work which enlarged the master's style,\nbut in the Vatican frescoes the master clearly [64] shows the effort\nhe has himself made to render the action of his figures more grand,\nhis painting more solid, figures more characteristic and the episodes\nwith which his admirable compositions are enriched more fundamentally\ntruthful.\n\nThese paintings prove that he had reached his greatest artistic\ndevelopment; although always retaining his innate character he\nconcedes to the new requirements of art as much of his temperament\nand sentiment, as he can conscientiously yield. Thus his works display\na continuous improvement, each new stage in the long road of his\nartistic career, represents a fresh conquest, a new and remarkable\nprogress. His pupils and collaborators limited themselves to aiding\nhim, and rendering his work lighter in parts of secondary importance,\nbut he needed no other help to be, and always remain, worthy of the\nhigh company in which he finds himself in the Vatican.\n\nIn the Sixtine Chapel, near the quiet creations of the artists of the\nRenaissance, the power and awful force of Michelangelo stand out; in\nthe \"Stanze\" Raphael has left an everlasting wealth of artistic\ntreasures; and in the Chapel of Nicholas V. Fra Angelico with\ningenuous expression and the purest and most sincere religious\nfeeling, painted his master-piece.\n\nBut notwithstanding the great difference between the former giants of\nart, and our saintly artist, he is quite worthy of their glorious\ncompany.\n\nThe sweet gentleness of his character was all that hindered him from a\nmore exact and deep study of reality, but it was precisely by means of\nthis character that he succeeded, as no one else could do, in\nexpressing the elevated ideas of his serene and calm soul, profound\ninspiration and naive freshness of faith.\n\nIn 1455 after a life entirely dedicated to art, Fra Giovanni, at the\nage of 68 years, died in Rome, having well earned the grateful\nveneration of posterity. The austere virtues of his soul gained him\nthe title of _Beato_ (blessed) and for the lovely lines traced by his\nbrush, he was called _Angelico_. A marble monument was erected over\nhis tomb in the church of the Minerva, with his effigy and the\nfollowing inscription, said to have been dictated by Pope Nicholas V.\nhimself:\n\n  HIC JACET VEN. PICTOR\n  FR. JO. DE FLOR. ORD. P.\n           M\n        C C C C\n           L\n           V\n  Non mihi sit laudi, quod eram velut alter Apelles,\n     Sed quod lucra tuis omnia, Christe, dabam;\n  Altera nam terris opera extant, altera coelo;\n     Urbs me Joannem Flos tulit Etruriae.\n\n\"Give me not praise for being almost a second Apelles, but because I\ngave to thy poor, O Christ, all my earnings. Thus part of my work\nremains on earth and part in heaven. My home was in that city, which\nis the Flower of Etruria.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[FOOTNOTES]\n\n\n[1] Vasari, Sansoni's edition, II, p. 520.\n\n[2] Buckhardt und Boue, _Cicerone_.\n\n[3] _Storia della Pittura_, II, p. 360.\n\n[4] Guido was Fra Angelico's baptismal name in the world.\n\n[5] Marchese, _Memorie dei piu insigni pittori, scultori e architetti\ndomenicani_, I, p. 267. Bologna, Romagnoli 1878.\n\n[6] Cavalcaselle, _Storia della Pittura_, II, p. 234.\n\n[7] Vasari, _Vita di Masaccio_, II, p. 299.\n\n[8] Museo civico. Sala 6, n. 7.\n\n[9] Cartier, _Vie de Fra Angelico_. Paris, 1857, p. 356.\n\n[10] Vasari, II, p. 518.\n\n[11] Vasari, II, p. 528, note i. The translations from Vasari are\nfrom Bohn's edition.\n\n[12] Ibid., II, p. 528.\n\n[13] Vasari, II, p. 505.\n\n[14] Vasari, vol. II, p. 512.\n\n[15] Translation:\n\n    I raise my eyes, sweet Mary I behold,\n  With book in hand; an angel form is near.\n\n    It is the shining angel Gabriel\n  Who kneels before her in humility,\n  And saith: \"Fear not, pure Virgin, I from heaven\n  A messenger from God omnipotent\n  Come down to bring glad tidings unto thee,\n  For he hath chosen thee for his blest spouse.\"\n\n    He saith again: \"In heaven it is decreed\n  Thou shalt be mother of the Son of God,\n  Therefore the Father me, his angel, sends\n  To swift fulfil his sacred will and law.\n  And down from him the highest Lord to bring\n  This benediction unto which thou'rt called.\"\n\n    The angel's heaven-sent words were so inflamed\n  With sacred love's own virtue did they burn\n  They truly seemed to fall from God above.\n  With holy joy her beating heart was full:\n  \"Behold,\" she said, \"the handmaid of the Lord,\n  Be it to me according to his word.\"\n\n    But as she sat within her arched cell\n  She wondered greatly how this thing should be:\n  \"For I know not, nor speak with any man,\"\n  To Gabriel she timidly responds.\n  Then quoth he: \"Mary Hail! thou favoured art,\n  And full of grace, the Lord is with thee now.\"\n\n    And then came down the spirit of the Lord,\n  A ray of golden light shone round about,\n  It pierced her breast, that fruitful heaven-sent ray,\n  And from her womb, whose virgin purity\n  Was still inviolate, was born the Christ\n  While she a mother, was pure Virgin still.\n\n    Oh! lovers true, come hither unto her:\n  Madonna she of grace and beauty fair,\n  The earth and air but live for her sweet sake,\n  The queen of heaven, and pillar of the world:\n  He who would see the lovely damosel\n  One this Annunciation he should gaze.\n\nFrom an anonymous \"Laud\" reprinted by Galletti, n. CCLXVIII, p. 121.\n\n[16] Op. cit., I, p. 293.\n\n[17] _Vie de Fra Angelico_, p. 243.\n\n[18] Year 1894, p. 370.\n\n[19] Vol. II, p. 510.\n\n[20] Vol. I, p. 297.\n\n[21] Vasari, II, p. 510, note 1.\n\n[22] _Pictures in the National Gallery_, with descriptive text written\nby C. L. Eastlake. No. I, p. 10.\n\n[23] Vasari, II, p. 510.\n\n[24] This valuable painting was ceded by the monks of the \"Scalzi\" to\nthe Museum of Madrid in 1861 at the suggestion of Senor Don Federigo\nde Madrazo.--_Catalogue of the Museum of Prado_, Don Pedro de Madrazo\n1889, p. 19.\n\n[25] Vasari, II, p. 510 and 511.\n\n[26] Muentz, _Histoire de l'art pendant la Renaissance--Les\nPrimitifs_--p. 653 and 658.\n\n[27] Op. cit., I, p. 308.\n\n[28] _La Sculpture Florentine_, Alinari, 1897, p. 152.\n\n[29] Vasari, II, p. 515.\n\n[30] _Par._, Canto XXXI (Carey's translation).\n\n[31] _Par._, Canto XXX (Carey's translation).\n\n[32] The _carola_ was a kind of sacred dance, in which the dancers\nholding hands move in a circle, singing as they go. It was supposed to\nbe the dance of Paradise.--(_Translator's note_.)\n\n[33] Translation:\n\n    In Paradise that garden lies\n  Where love divine eternal shines,\n  And holy Saints _carolas_ weave,\n  Their souls inflamed with sacred love.\n\n    The Saints in that bright joyous ring,\n  With Angels fair of all degrees,\n  Before the Bridegroom graceful move\n  And weave the dance of sacred love.\n\n    Those heavenly courts are full of grace,\n  With love immeasurable filled,\n  All in the dance angelic move\n  Inspired by their sweet Saviour's love.\n\n    Their robes of linen pure are made,\n  White, roseate, and of mingled hues;\n  Fair garlands on their heads they wear,\n  Fit crowns to crown them priests of love.\n\n    No head is there ungarlanded,\n  And youthful beams each joyous face;\n  In that bright court refreshed they move\n  Where everything o'erflows with love.\n\n    The garlands made of blossoms fair,\n  Shine brighter than the purest gold,\n  The pearly daisies glisten there\n  Emblazoning the heavenly love.\n\n[34] Venturi, _Le Gallerie Italiane_. _La Galleria Nazionale di Roma_,\nvol. II, p. 89.\n\n[35] See _Gazette de Beaux Arts_, 1888. W. Bode, _La Renaissance au\nMusee de Berlin_; IV. _Les Peintres Florentins du XVme siecle_, p.\n473.\n\n[36] Cavalcaselle, _Storia della Pittura_, II, p. 369, note 2.\nVenturi thinks that the picture approaches more to the art of Gentile\nda Fabriano. See Vasari, _Gentile da Fabriano e Pisanello_. Firenze,\nSansoni, 1897, p. x.\n\n[37] Vasari, II, _Vita di Michelozzo_, p. 440.\n\n[38] Richa, _Le Chiese Fiorentine_, VII, p. 117.\n\n[39] Vol. II, p. 440. In October 1438 the monks demanded a subsidy to\nrebuild the dormitory which had been destroyed by fire. Gaye, I, p.\n553.\n\n[40] Vol. II, p. 441. Some chroniclers attribute the design of the\nconvent to Brunelleschi, and the direction and execution of the work\nto Michelozzi. The building was probably completed in 1443.\n\n[41] Vasari, II, p. 441.\n\n[42] Vol. II, p. 508.\n\n[43] _Katalog der Gemaelde-Sammlung der kgl. aelteren Pinakothek in\nMuenchen._ Mit einer historischen Einleitung von Dr. Franz von Reber.\n\n[44] Vol. II, p. 507.\n\n[45] See Vasari, II, p. 508, and Marchese, op. cit., I, p. 326 and\nfollowing.\n\n[46] Marchese, _San Marco illustrato_, p. 40.\n\n[47] Rio, op. cit., II. p. 314.\n\n[48] Cartier, _Vie de Fra Angelico_, p. 231.\n\n[49] Vasari, II, p. 511.\n\n[50] Marchese, op. cit., I, p. 295.\n\n[51] _Il Santuario della SS. Annunziata di Firenze_, Guida storica\nillustrativa, compilata da un religioso dei servi di Maria. Firenze,\nRicci, 1876, p. 87.\n\n[52] Vasari, II, p. 531, note 2.\n\n[53] Rio, _De l'art chretien_, p. 368. \"Michelozzo parait avoir, dans\nce tableau, de quarante-cinq a cinquante ans. Or, on suppose qu'il\netait ne vers 1396, ce qui placerait l'execution de ce tableau\ntres-peu de temps avant le depart de l'artiste pour Rome, en 1445,\" p.\n312, note i.\n\n[54] Rio, op. cit., II, p. 318 et seq.\n\n[55] Rio, op. cit, II, p. 315.\n\n[56] Richa, _Le Chiese Fiorentine_, X, pp. 137-138.\n\n[57] Vasari, II, p. 516.\n\n[58] Vasari, II, p. 517.\n\n[59] Vasari, II, p. 517.\n\n[60] Luigi Fumi, _Il duomo d' Orvieto e i suoi restauri_. Roma,\nTipografia Cooperativa, p. 370.\n\n[61] _Storia della Pittura Italiana_, III, p. 83.\n\n[62] Muentz, _Les Arts a la cour des Papes_. Premiere partie, p. 92.\n\n[63] Perate, _Les Papes et les Arts_. Paris, Didot, 1895, p. 72.\nMuentz, _Histoire de l'Art pendant la Renaissance_, I, p. 664, and M.\nFaucon, _L'OEuvre de Fra Angelico a Rome in the Newspaper L'Art_,\n1883, XXXV, pp. 141-147 and 167-175.\n\n[64] Crowe and Cavalcaselle, _A new history of painting in Italy_.\nLondon, Murray, 1864, II, p. 500.\n\n\n\n\nINDEX TO THE ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n\nThe Annunciation (Convent of San Marco, Florence)       Frontispiece\n\nAngels of the \"Last Judgment\"                          Page 5 and 28\n\nHistory of St. Dominic's Life                                     32\n\nThe Resurrection of Cardinal De' Ceccani's Nephew                 33\n\nDeath of St. Dominic                                              34\n\nThe Annunciation (Church of Gesu, Cortona)                        35\n\nThe Marriage of the Virgin (Cortona)                              41\n\nThe Marriage of the Virgin (Uffizi Gallery, Florence)             41\n\nThe Visitation                                                    42\n\nAdoration of the Magi                                             43\n\nAdoration of the Magi (Uffizi Gallery, Florence)                  44\n\nThe Death of the Virgin (Cortona)                                 45\n\nThe Death of the Virgin (Uffizi Gallery, Florence)                45\n\nVirgin and Child with Saints (Church of San Domenico, Cortona)    47\n\nMadonna and Child (Pinacoteca, Perugia)                           49\n\nBirth, Preaching and Miracles of St. Nicholas (Vatican, Rome)     51\n\nThe Death of St. Nicholas (Pinacoteca, Perugia)                   52\n\nVirgin of the Annunciation (Pinacoteca, Perugia)                  54\n\nView of the Convent of San Domenico near Fiesole                  57\n\nCoronation of the Virgin (San Marco, Florence)                    59\n\nMadonna della Stella (of the Star) (San Marco, Florence)          61\n\nThe Annunciation and the Adoration of the Magi\n  (San Marco, Florence)                                           63\n\nPredella (National Gallery, London)                               69\n\nThe Coronation of the Virgin (Museum of the\n  Louvre, Paris)                                     To face page 72\n\nThe Coronation of the Virgin (Uffizi\n  Gallery, Florence)                                 To face page 75\n\nThe Last Judgment (Ancient and Modern\n  Gallery, Florence)                                 To face page 77\n\nThe Dance of the Blessed (Details from\n  the Last Judgment)                                 To face page 81\n\nThe Last Judgment (Rome, National Gallery)                        84\n\nThe Last Judgment (Berlin Museum)                                 85\n\nThe Virgin of the Linen Weavers' Guild (Uffizi Gallery, Florence) 87\n\nAngels with musical instruments from the Tabernacle\n  of the Linen Weavers' Guild                              88 and 89\n\nSt. Mark                                                          90\n\nSt. John Baptist                                                  90\n\nThe Cloister of San Marco                                         97\n\nMadonna and Child with Angels and Saints (Ancient and Modern\nGallery, Florence)                                               101\n\nChrist on the Cross                                              105\n\nSt. Peter martyr                                                 108\n\nChrist issuing from the sepulchre                                109\n\nChrist in pilgrim's dress                                        111\n\nThe Crucifixion (San Marco, Florence)               To face page 112\n\nThe Annunciation                                                 116\n\n\"Noli me tangere\"                                                117\n\nThe Transfiguration                                              118\n\nThe Risen Christ                                                 119\n\nThe Institution of the Holy Sacrament                            120\n\nThe Presentation in the Temple                                   121\n\nCoronation of the Virgin                                         122\n\nThe Prayer in the Garden                                         123\n\nAdoration of the Magi                                            124\n\nThe Crucifixion                                                  125\n\nThe Virgin enthroned amidst Saints                               126\n\nSt. Dominic, from the fresco of \"Christ at the Pretorium\"        129\n\nThe Descent from the Cross\n(Ancient and Modern Gallery)                        To face page 133\n\nView of Florence                                                 133\n\nThe dead Christ                                                  137\n\nFlight into Egypt                                                142\n\nChrist betrayed by Judas                                         144\n\nThe Resurrection of Lazarus                                      144\n\nThe Slaughter of the Innocents                                   145\n\nEntombment of Christ                                             145\n\nCoronation of the Virgin                                         146\n\nThe symbolic Wheel                                               147\n\nThe Madonna and Child with Saints (Annalena Convent)             148\n\nThe Madonna and Child with Angels and Saints (From the Convent\n  of the Osservanza)                                             149\n\nThe Last Supper                                                  153\n\nChrist in Judgment (Orvieto, Cathedral)                          157\n\nThe Prophets (Orvieto, Cathedral)                                161\n\nThe Preaching and Justification of St. Stephen (Vatican, Rome)   167\n\nSt. Laurence ordained deacon (Vatican, Rome)        To face page 167\n\nSixtus II. consigns the church treasures to St. Laurence\n  (Vatican, Rome)                                   To face page 169\n\nThe distribution of alms (Vatican, Rome)            To face page 171\n\nSt. Bonaventure (Vatican, Rome)                                  171\n\nJudgment of St. Laurence (Vatican, Rome)            To face page 173\n\n[Illustration]","title":"Fra Angelico","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":25885}