Fra Angelico
(1387 - 1455) |
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Secular Narratives, Altarpieces Art Work
| Name: |
Fra Angelico |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Vicchio di Mugello, Italy |
| Nationality: |
Italian |
| Birth: |
1387 |
| Death: |
1455 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Secular Narratives, Altarpieces |
| Medium: |
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| Method: |
Painting and Fresco |
| Style: |
Early Renaissance painter of miniatures; illuminated manuscripts, frescoes, and altarpieces, realistic fine detail; sense of dramatic narrative |
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painter
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Biography
| Fra Angelico painted as an act of devotion and is reputed to have said, "To paint the things of Christ, one must live with Christ." He wept when he painted the Crucifixion, and he often knelt while painting. His piety and religiosity is evident in all his work, which records a life spent in the throes of a deepening Christian vocation. As a member of the Dominican friars, also known as the Order of Preachers, Fra Angelico followed St. Dominic's injunction to teach Christ's message using whatever talents he possessed. He was born Guido di Pietro in Tuscany at the turn of the fifteenth century. As a young man, he trained as a book illustrator, and by 1417 he had acquired a reputation as a skillful artist. He entered the friary of San Domenico in Fiesole in circa 1420 and took the name Fra Giovanni. His early work consisted mainly of book illuminations executed in the prevailing International Gothic style. Several surviving manuscripts also demonstrate his artistry as a miniaturist. As his reputation grew, Fra Angelico was commissioned to paint altarpieces and other large works. In a chapel at Fiesole, he painted one of many versions of The Annunciation (c.1426), with lifelike, expressive figures set confidently under receding arches. The influence of Masaccio is evident in his use of architectural settings and perspective that were radical developments at the time. Another Annunciation, painted as part of The Cortona Attarpiece (1432-1434), enhances and refines the architectural perspective.lt is set above six small predella pictures of the life of the Virgin that make full use of Fra Angelico's miniaturist skills and include an innovative use of landscape and composition that influenced later Renaissance painters such as Leonardo da Vinci. In 1436 the Dominicans took over the church and friary of San Marco in Florence; Cosimo de Medici funded the renovations. Fra Angelico painted his most famous works, a series of frescoes that were intended as contemplative aids for the friars. The scale and large number of works necessitated the artist taking on pupils, who may have included his protege Benozzo Gozzoli. In 1443 the pope summoned Fra Angelico to Rome to paint for the Vatican. He later returned to Resole and became prior of the friary in 1450, However, he continued to paint, completing one of his most stunning frescoes. Madonna delle Ombre (1450), at that time. Fra Angelico was a prolific and talented artist who created devotional objects in pursuit of the Dominican mission to preach the gospel. Little wonder that the Victorian writer and art critic John Ruskin called him "not an artist properly socalled but an inspired saint." |
Samples of Work
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