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Video: What did the artist-monk write, who never picked up a brush without prior prayer
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Italy of the XIII-XV centuries is an incredible wealth of artistic techniques. Painters could either resort to extreme conventions, saturating it with mysticism and expression, or they turned to the language of realism. The poetry of medieval mysticism is perfectly reflected by Fra Angelico, a monk and artist, a maestro of light and a wise talented creator of beauty. What is important to know today about the work of the greatest artist of the 15th century?
About the master
Fra Angelico is an Italian painter, one of the greatest masters of the 15th century, whose work embodies the serene religious spirit of the Renaissance and reflects classical influences. As an artist, Fra Angelico went through the school of miniaturists. Therefore, it is not surprising that his works resemble book illustrations that tell about events from sacred texts.
All of the artist's works are devoted to religious themes. These are mainly altar images for the churches of Florence and its environs. Previously, altar images and frescoes were described by the master as an excellent, but already anachronistic expression of medieval religiosity. But today, art critics perceive the religious painting of this Dominican monk differently and assess it as quite modern for that era. He also performed wall paintings: two of the most significant works - cycles of frescoes in the Monastery of San Marco and in the chapel of Nikolin in the Vatican Palace.
The Niccolina Chapel is the only surviving cycle of four frescoes by Fra Angelico during his half-century of papal service in Rome (from 1445 to 1449). In these works, Angelico depicts scenes from the lives of Saints Lawrence and Stephen, two archdeacons who have been widely venerated in Rome since the early Middle Ages. The vault is painted blue, decorated with stars, and the figures of the four evangelists are depicted at the corners.
Prayer before work
The artist and biographer Giorgio Vasari wrote that Angelico "was an artist who never took up a brush without a preliminary prayer" and we see the reflection of this ritual in the master's frescoes. They are filled with harmony, tranquility, light, full of happiness - everything that a person feels during prayer. According to Vasari, Angelico studied with the greatest painter and miniaturist of the Gothic tradition, Lorenzo Monaco, whose influence can be seen in the sheer, painstaking subtlety of execution and brightness that seems to inspire the figures in Angelico's works.
These qualities are especially evident in the two small altars, Madonna of the Star and Annunciation.
What does Angelico mean?
"Angelico" is not a name, but a nickname that the master received for his virtuous life. He was not only an artist, but a monk who spent most of his time in monasteries, for which he created his greatest works: frescoes and icons. Fra Angelico was not rich, wealth was alien to him. He said that true wealth is contentment with little. Vasari called him "saint and excellent," and shortly after his death he was named "angelico" ("angelic") because of his moral merit. This subsequently became the name by which he is best known today. Many also add beato, which means blessed. Thus, the artist's name translates as “blessed angel”.
Significant works
Angelico knew and closely followed the new artistic trends of his time, especially the representation of space through perspective. For example, in such works as The Last Judgment (1440–45) and The Coronation of the Virgin (c. 1430–32).
In them, human figures stepping backward themselves create a sense of space. The earliest work by Angelico, which can be dated with confidence, is a triptych of enormous size, which he wrote for the guild of linen merchants - "The Linayol Tabernacle" (July 11, 1433).
Also in the 1430s, Angelico wrote one of the most inspired works of the Florentine Renaissance - "Annunciation" - an altar that far surpasses all of Angelico's work on this topic. It depicts the Garden of Eden, from which the Angel drove Adam and Eve. Predela is skillfully divided into plots with the Virgin Mary, depicted in a naturalistic way. Angelico always followed reality closely, even when he used the technique of miniaturism. From time to time, he resorted to medieval techniques, such as a gold background (all the more, the customers of that time loved the luxurious background).
On the walls of the Convent of San Marco in Florence, there are murals that mark the high point in Angelico's career. There is a large Crucifix in the main hall. In addition to the three crucified figures against the sky, Angelico depicted groups of saints, rhythmically arranged, with a chorus of martyrs, founders of religious orders, hermits and defenders of the Dominican order (whose family tree is depicted under this striking scene), as well as two Medici saints. Thus, in the entirety of this work, Fra Angelico developed a concept that was not created in his earlier altars.
Fra Angelico was one of the first to turn to a new type of altarpiece - the Holy Interview. This is the "Altar of Annalena". Previously, all the shapes were usually separated from each other, but in the new style there is no separation at all. All the characters are placed in a single space, as if the saints gathered around the Madonna and Child for conversation (interview) and prayer.
Heritage
Fra Angelico's greatest students are Benozzo Gozzoli and the famous miniaturist Zanobi Strozzi. Fra Angelico's murals in San Marco and the Nicolino Chapel demonstrated that the painter's skill and personal interpretation were sufficient to create magnificent works of art without the use of expensive blue and gold attributes. In his works there is a wonderful spirituality, and a feeling of happiness, and magical light, and unsurpassed technical skill. In the use of impeccable fresco technique, clear bright pastel colors, arrangement of figures and skillful expression of movements, Fra Angelico proved to be one of the greatest masters of the 15th century.
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