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FRA ANGELICO
BY
J. B. SUPINO
TRANSLATED
BY
LEADER SCOTT.
FLORENCE
ALINARI BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS.
1902.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Printed by Barbéra--Alfani and Venturi, proprietors
Florence.
* * * * *
[Illustration: The Annunciation. (Convent of San Marco, Florence)]
INDEX.
Beato Angelico--Proem Page 5
I.--Fra Angelico at Cortona and Perugia (1409-1418) 29
II.--Fra Angelico at Fiesole (1418-1436) 55
III.--Fra Angelico at Florence (1436-1445) 93
San Marco 95
In the Gallery of Ancient and Modern Art 131
IV.--Fra Angelico at Rome and Orvieto (1445-1455) 155
Index to the Illustrations 179
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Angels of the "Last Judgement."]
Tradition shows us Fra Giovanni Angelico absorbed in his work, and
either caressing with his brush one of those graceful angelic figures
which have made him immortal, or reverently outlining the sweet image
of the Virgin before which he himself would kneel in adoration. Legend
pictures him devoutly prostrate in prayer before commencing work, that
his soul might be purified, and fitted to understand and render the
divine subject; and again in oration after leaving his easel, to thank
heaven for having given him power to make his holy visions visible to
other eyes.
But has tradition any foundation in fact? Why not? Through his
numberless works we may easily divine the soul of the artist, and can
well understand, how the calm and serene atmosphere of the monastic
cell, the church perfumed with incense, and the cloister vibrating
with psalms, would develop the mystic sentiment in such a mind.
And can we disregard tradition in face of such humility of life, such
beauty of work, exquisite refinement of feeling, and sweetness of
expression!
Among all the masters who have attempted to imbue the human form with
the divine spirit, he is perhaps the only one who succeeded in
producing pure celestial figures, and this with such marvellous
simplicity of line, that they have become the glory of his art.
Whether it be the Virgin enthroned amidst groups of cherubim sounding
heavenly trumpets, or Christ blessing the just and driving away
sinners; whether the martyrs supporting their torments with superhuman
resignation, the apostles preaching the gospel, or angels free in the
air and chanting celestial glories; the same spirit is in them all--at
once intense, devout, and utterly pure, in which the fervent believer
and the true artist are inseparably blended.
The reason is, that Fra Giovanni put into his work the flame of an
overpowering passion; under his touch features were beautified, and
figures animated with a new mystic grace. He threw himself entirely
into his art which thus became the spontaneous expression of his soul.
"It was the custom of Fra Giovanni," says Vasari, "to abstain from
retouching or improving any painting once finished. He altered
nothing, but left all as it was done the first time, believing, as he
said, that such was the will of God. It is also affirmed that he would
never take his pencil in hand until he had first offered a prayer. He
is said never to have painted a crucifix without tears streaming from
his eyes, and in the countenances and attitudes of his figures it is
easy to perceive proof of his sincerity, his goodness, and the depth
of his devotion to the religion of Christ."[1]
How this devout mind, full of the figurative sacred writings then
current, must have overflowed with visions, ecstasies and miracles!
And what tremors of awe must he have felt, in putting these visions
into colour! His Madonnas, their features suffused with candour and
humility, bend with maternal grace hitherto unwitnessed, in loving
contemplation of the Son, or--mothers in glory--they bow to receive
the homage of the Redeemer. His saints ecstatically gaze at luminous
celestial apparitions; his golden winged angels dance lightly beneath
the throne of their Lord or sound merrily the most various
instruments, singing: _laudate Dominum..., laudate eum in sono tubæ,
laudate eum in psalterio et cithara, laudate eum in timpano et
choro..._; or else with their fair curly heads downcast they
reverently worship the divine majesty. What a feast of light and
colour is in these panels, gleaming with azure and gold like a hymn to
religion and faith!
"We know from him how the pious imagination of the men of his time
pictured the Kingdom of Heaven, with the angels, saints, and blessed
ones, and on this account alone his pictures would have been of
extraordinary importance in the history of religion. Not to love Fra
Angelico would mean to lack the true sentiment of ancient art, for
though we recognize the pious _naïveté_ of the monk, there is in the
heavenly beauty of his figures, and the joy of youthful faith which
animates the artist, a charm unequalled in the whole history of
Art!"[2]
Whether Fra Angelico ever actually had a master, it is impossible to
ascertain. There are critics who affirm that if anyone initiated him
in art, imbuing him with his own sentiment and style, it might have
been the Camaldolese monk Lorenzo Monaco; but Cavalcaselle justly
observes that between Angelico and Lorenzo Monaco there only exists
that affinity which in coetaneous artists results from community of
thought, social conditions, and religious sentiments. Two monks like
the Camaldolese and the Dominican might well show the same ideas,
without implying a relation of master and scholar between them.[3]
Both critics and historians, however, agree in the assertion that he
began his career in art by illuminating codices and choral books.
Baldinucci and Rosini judge that his master in painting was the
Florentine Gherardo Starnina, whom Lanzi designates as "a painter of
life-like style." But Padre Marchese refuting this opinion observes
that "not to mention Vasari's silence on the matter, the fact is very
doubtful, because Gherardo passed many years in Spain, and returning
to his native land died in 1403, when little Guido of Mugello[4] was
only 16 years old, an age which scarcely admits of the first steps in
Art."[5] But the date of Starnina's death is now corrected and proved
to have been in 1408, so, taking into account the character of our
artist's works, nothing need now be opposed to the theory that Fra
Giovanni may have profited by the teaching of that master, while
living in Florence after his return from Spain; besides it is not
proved whether that journey to Spain was ever really taken.
Historians, it is true, tell us that Starnina, being obliged to leave
Florence after the Ciompi riots (1378), took refuge in Spain, where he
lived several years; but it is certain that in 1387 his name was
inscribed in the Guild of Florentine painters.[6]
Vasari does not doubt that Fra Angelico, like other artists from
Masaccio onwards, acquired his skill by studying the frescoes of the
Brancacci Chapel;[7] but besides the fact that the style of those
pictures is diametrically opposed to Fra Angelico's, the latter could
not possibly have been in Masaccio's school, for as he was born in
1387, he was fifteen years older than Masaccio and already a proved
master, when the Carmine frescoes were being painted. Fra Angelico's
style is so individual and characteristic, that it might rather be
considered as springing from his own disposition, developed under the
influence of his time. Studying the works left in Florence by his
great predecessors, leading a retired life, and purifying every idea,
every inspiration in the fire of religion, Angelico was enabled, by
meditation, to perfect the models of the best artists of the
"trecento", among whom we should opine that the influence of Orcagna
in his frescoes in the Strozzi Chapel of S. M. Novella, was greater
even than that of Giotto. Indeed it is evident that what Orcagna
began, is carried to the highest development in Fra Angelico, who
combined softness and refinement with severity of form, grace of
expression with nobility of attitude.
The figure of the Virgin in the fresco of the Judgment in the Strozzi
Chapel, so grand and majestic in its simplicity, is again recognisable
in the panels of Fra Angelico, imitated with his own especial
character and spiritual feeling, full of grace and humility, the soft
lines breathing beauty and lightness. The saints who appear to be
actually in celestial repose, have also inspired Fra Giovanni; the
same gentle and contemplative expression which irradiates the features
of the elect is again visible in our painter's figures. In the
colouring of both, vivacity is combined with softness, and vigour of
chiaro-scuro goes together with transparency of tint.
Nevertheless it is true that in certain respects, Fra Angelico might
be said to belong to the same school as Masolino. They are, however,
at the antipodes from each other in sentiment and artistic
interpretation, for while the saintly Giovanni endeavoured to idealize
the human figure and render it divine, Masolino, like most of his
contemporaries, followed a style distinctly realistic; yet it may be
proved that in technique, both followed the same rules, and worked on
similar principles. In fact the similitude between the two painters
noticeable in their composition, softness of outline, lightness of
figures, and clear harmonious colouring, tends to confirm the great
artistic affinity which we have indicated. Both of them used rosy
tints in the flesh, with greenish and yellowish shadows, both recall
the older artists of the "trecento" in the perspective, which is often
incorrect, and out of proportion. But how far superior is Fra Angelico
when the work of both in its full aspect is compared!
Fra Angelico has, it is true, conventional forms, and there is a
certain sameness in his heads with their large oval countenances; the
small eyes, outlined round the upper arch of the eyebrow, and with a
black spot for pupils, sometimes lack expression, or have a too
monotonous one, and the iris is often lost in the white of the cornea;
his mouths are always drawn small with a thickening of the lips in
the centre, and the corners strongly accentuated; the colour of his
faces is either too pink or too yellow; the folds of the robes (often
independent of the figure, especially in the lower part) fall
straight, and in the representations of the seated Virgin expand on
the ground, as if to form the foot of a chalice. But in his frescoes
these faults of conventional manner almost entirely disappear, giving
place to freer drawing, more life-like expression, and a character of
greater power.
We will not repeat with Vasari that Fra Giovanni perfected his art
from the frescoes of the Brancacci Chapel; but we do not doubt that he
too felt the beneficent influx of the new style, of which Masaccio was
the greatest champion, and that he followed it, leaving behind, up to
a certain point, the primitive giottesque forms. There is in his art,
the great mediæval ideal rejuvenated and reinvigorated by the spirit
of newer times. Being in the beginning of his career, as is generally
believed, only an illuminator, he continued, with subtle delicacy and
accurate, almost timid design, to illuminate in larger proportions on
his panels, those figures which are often only parts of a decorative
whole. But in his later works while still preserving the simplicity
of handling, and the innate character of his style, he displays
a new tendency, and learns to give life to his figures, not only
by the expression of purity and sweet ecstasy, but in finer
particularization of form and action which he reproduces in more
material style.
His clear diaphanous transparency of colouring is not used from lack
of technical ability, but to approach more nearly to his ideal of
celestial and divine visions, and succeed in a species of pictorial
religious symbolism.
In the midst of his calm and serene compositions Fra Angelico has
figures in which a healthy realism is strongly accentuated; figures
drawn with decision, strong chiaro-scuro and robust colouring, which
show that he did not deliberately disdain the progress made in art by
his contemporaries. Indeed we should err in believing that Fra
Angelico was unwilling to recognize the artistic developments going on
around him, and the new tendencies followed by his eminent neighbours
Ghiberti, Brunelleschi and Donatello. It was not so; but he only
profited by the movement as far as he deemed possible without losing
his own sentiment and character; thus giving a rare example of
self-knowledge.
Perhaps he divined that if he had followed the new current too
closely, it would have carried him farther than he wished to go; that
the new manner would have removed him for ever from his ideal; in a
word, that too intense study of the real, would have diminished or
entirely impeded fantasy and feeling. He instinctively saw these
perils, and therefore kept himself constant to his old style, and
while perfecting himself in it, he still remained what he always had
been, and what he felt he should be.
Though constrained to repeat to excess the usual subjects, too
traditionally drawn, "he often," as Burckhardt writes, "understood how
to avoid in the features of his saintly personages that aspect of
abstract impersonality, which had hitherto marked them, and to animate
them with delicate and individual life. He succeeded in giving a new
character to the time-honoured types used in preceding artistic
representations. To prove this it is sufficient to cite the St. John
Baptist--one of Fra Angelico's finest creations."
He modifies the traditional type of Christ according to his own faith
and feeling. Deriving it from Giotto, with improvements gathered from
Orcagna, he excels both masters, impressing on it a divine character,
and giving to the face of the Man God a sweet gentleness which is
truly sublime. These qualities reach the highest grade in the
"Coronation of the Virgin" at the Convent of San Marco, and in the
picture at Pisa[8] where the Saviour is represented standing upright,
in the act of blessing with his right hand, while in the uplifted left
he holds a golden cup.
He is represented full face, in all his majesty, his features of an
exquisite sweetness and nobility,--a grand figure, which has all the
seduction of a vision, such as our Dominican alone could conceive and
design.
As he could, in a manner no one had ever done before, give to the
figure of the living Christ the expression of infinite goodness, ready
for sacrifice; so in his Crucifixions, instead of following the
example of his contemporaries, who depicted Christ already dead, with
marks of sorrow on His features, and contorted by the spasm of a
violent death; he represented Him living, calm and serene, conscious
of the sacrifice He completed, and full of joy in dying for man's
salvation.
The type of the Virgin, too, though its characteristic construction of
features, and short and receding chin, are derived from the Sienese
masters, especially from Lorenzetti, in Fra Angelico responds to an
artistic idealization chosen by him as approaching more the divinity
of her person. The flowing robes of the Virgin show her long and
refined hands, but beneath that mantle he draws no feminine figure nor
can one even guess at it. All the power of the artist is concentrated
in her face
umile in tanta gloria,
(humble in such great glory)
on which the artist has impressed such candour, and so lively an
expression of ineffable grace, that one is involuntarily moved to
devotion.
The divine child with its golden curls, full and sunny face, wide open
and sparkling eyes, is in the pictures at Cortona and Perugia depicted
with rosy fingers in the act of blessing; in the "Madonna della
Stella" He embraces His mother so closely that He almost hides Himself
in her bosom; in the great azure-surrounded tabernacle of the Linen
Guild, He is smiling; while in the fresco of the corridor at San
Marco, He has an ingenuous wondering gaze as He holds forth His little
hand,--an expression so natural that it shows a happy grafting of
ideal representation, on a conscientious and close study of the real.
Full of character, too, are the heads of his old people, with flowing
beards and severe aspect, and those of his saints and martyrs, which
were evidently either young novices of the convent, contemporary
brethren, or elder companions in the faith, portrayed with sapient
and ingenuous realism. But the figures which most brilliantly display
his genius, are those diaphanous angels, robed in flowing tunics,
resplendent with gold, and of infinite variety. While admiring that
multitude of celestial creatures, who praise, sing and dance around
the radiant Madonnas, how can we doubt that they have visited his
cell, and that he has lived with them in a fraternal and sweet
familiarity?[9]
Even when he has to represent scenes of passion, Fra Angelico
mitigates the violence of action with softness of sentiment, for anger
and disdain never entered his soul; and in their place he prefers to
reproduce one character alone in all his figures with their gentle
expression. It is his own character, with its angelic goodness of
heart, which he incarnates in the divine beauty of all these celestial
beings. As in name and art, so in real life he was truly "angelic,"
for he spent his whole time in the service of God, and the good of his
neighbour and the world.
"And what more can or ought to be desired, than by thus living
righteously," says Vasari, "to secure the kingdom of heaven, and by
labouring virtuously, to obtain everlasting fame in this world? And,
of a truth, so extraordinary and sublime a gift as that possessed by
Fra Giovanni, should scarcely be conferred on any but a man of most
holy life, since it is certain that all who take upon them to meddle
with sacred and ecclesiastical subjects, should be men of holy and
spiritual minds....
"Fra Giovanni was a man of the utmost simplicity of intention, and was
most holy in every act of his life.... He disregarded all earthly
advantages; and, living in pure holiness, was as much the friend of
the poor in life as I believe his soul now is in heaven. He laboured
continually at his paintings, but would do nothing that was
unconnected with things holy. He might have been rich, but for riches
he took no care; on the contrary, he was accustomed to say, that the
only true riches was contentment with little. He might have commanded
many, but would not do so, declaring that there was less fatigue and
less danger of error in obeying others, than in commanding others. It
was at his option to hold places of dignity in the brotherhood of his
Order, and also in the world; but he regarded them not, affirming that
he sought no dignity and took no care but that of escaping hell and
drawing near to Paradise. And, of a truth, what dignity can be
compared to that which should be most coveted by all churchmen, nay,
by every man living, that, namely, which is found in God alone, and in
a life of virtuous labour?
"Fra Giovanni was kindly to all, and moderate in all his habits,
living temperately, and holding himself entirely apart from the snares
of the world. He used frequently to say, that he who practised the art
of painting had need of quiet, and should live without cares or
anxious thoughts; adding, that he who would do the work of Christ
should perpetually remain with Christ. He was never seen to display
anger among the brethren of his order; a thing which appears to me
most extraordinary, nay, almost incredible; if he admonished his
friends, it was with gentleness and a quiet smile; and to those who
sought his works, he would reply with the utmost cordiality, that
they had but to obtain the assent of the prior, when he would
assuredly not fail to do what they desired. In fine, this
never-sufficiently-to-be-lauded father was most humble, modest, and
excellent in all his words and works; in his painting he gave evidence
of piety and devotion, as well as of ability, and the saints that he
painted have more the air and expression of sanctity than have those
of any other master."[10]
Fra Giovanni Angelico, whose worldly name was Guido or Guidolino
(little Guy), was born in the year 1387; his father was named Piero
(surname not known) of Vicchio in the Mugello;--that pleasant valley
which boasts of having given birth to Giotto.
Vasari asserts that Guido's brother Benedetto, a miniaturist, was also
very clever in a larger style of painting, but the researches of
Milanesi quite refute this opinion, and show that Benedetto did
nothing more than copy choral books, and that he continued this kind
of work till his death.[11]
"The most ancient chronicles of the convent of St. Mark and St.
Dominic at Fiesole," writes Milanesi when registering the death of Fra
Benedetto brother of Angelico, in the year 1448, "remark simply that
he was a very good writer, and that he wrote and annotated the choral
books of St. Mark and some of those of St. Dominic." We have only the
evidence in Vasari and the "Annali del Convento di San Marco," written
after his Lives of the Painters to prove that he was a miniaturist.[12]
In these Annals it is added, with more historical truth, that although
Angelico "might have conveniently lived in the world, and besides his
own possessions might have gained any income he chose, with the art
for which he was famous even in his youth, yet, for his own
satisfaction and peace, being by nature steady and good, and chiefly
also for the salvation of his soul he preferred to take the vows in
the order of the Preaching monks."[13] This happened in 1407.
On the slopes of the smiling hill of Fiesole the foundations of a new
convent were being laid by Giovanni Dominici, the great preacher and
reformer, who wished in this new monastery to give a model to all the
cloistered orders which at the close of the preceding century had
greatly fallen from their ancient observances. St. Antonino was among
the first to embrace this reform, and after two years Guidolino and
his brother followed his example, choosing the robes of St. Dominic.
On being received by the Dominicans they were sent to Cortona, where
St. Antonino and others already resided, there being as yet no
novitiate at the Fiesole convent. In 1408 they took the irrevocable
vows, but it cannot be ascertained whether they still remained at
Cortona, or returned at once to their own convent at Fiesole. If the
latter, the two brothers must have been involved in the vicissitudes
of the Fiesolan convent, which, refusing to acknowledge Pope Alexander
V. (who was elected by the Council of Pisa 1409), entered into a
fierce contest with the archbishop of Florence. The convent was
abandoned by its inmates who fled to Foligno to avoid the rule of Fra
Tommaso da Fermo, General of the Order, who had sworn obedience to the
new Pope. They were received as guests at Foligno by Ugolino de'
Trinci, lord of the city, and Federigo Frezzi, author of the
_Quadriregio_. Here they passed five years, being treated with great
benevolence by their brethren, nor did they leave until driven away by
the plague in 1414, when they again took shelter at Cortona where they
remained till 1418.
When Guidolino entered the convent and took the name of Giovanni, he
must have been already expert in art; for the vicissitudes which
followed could certainly not have facilitated the study of painting.
In fact his works which remain at Cortona are in so youthful a style,
and bear the imprint of such freshness as to remove all doubt on this
generally accepted assertion.
While staying at Foligno, the Fiesolan refugees propagated that severe
form of life and strict observance which Giovanni Dominici had taught
in his convent at Fiesole, and brother Giovanni again began his
artistic work, for painting was to him like prayer, i. e. his usual
way of raising his mind and heart to God. Unfortunately few of these
first works have been preserved, but from those few we are assured
that he studied in Florence, from which school alone he could have
appropriated the noble manner impressed on all his works; and that
those who perceive an Umbrian influence in his art, are very far from
the truth.
There may be some elements common to both the Umbrian art and that of
Angelico; this, however, does not depend so much on the teaching of
the school, as on technical affinity; insomuch as Umbrian painting in
its lucidity, charm and accuracy of colour, is in some measure derived
from the art of illumination, and most probably Fra Angelico took his
style from the same source, as even in his most perfect works, he
always preserved a remembrance of it.
In fact, his patient diligence and study of detail render his pictures
so many miniatures, done in larger proportions; the lucidity of tint,
the grace of the ornamental motives, the almost exaggerated minuteness
of execution, are decided proofs of the artistic education of Fra
Angelico. It is pleasant to imagine him, during his sojourn at Foligno
and Cortona, making pilgrimages to Assisi, to draw inspiration from
the works of the great masters in the splendid church of San
Francesco. There he found his old friends, and might at a glance
admire together Giotto, Simone Martini, and Lorenzetto. We should say
he admired Simone and Lorenzetto more than Giotto, for the grace of
their figures, refinement of execution, and greater richness of the
accessories, robes and ornamentation, together with the pleasing
brilliance of colouring, all approached more nearly to Fra Giovanni's
own artistic sentiment than the style of Giotto.
And even less than the Umbrian painters or miniaturists (if indeed
there were any worthy to influence the artistic spirit of our artist)
did the landscape of verdant Umbria stir his soul, which even the
sweet slopes of Fiesole could not touch.
Doubtless from the heights of the convent at Cortona, which dominates
one of the finest views in Italy, the young monk admired the beautiful
horizon, and enjoyed the splendour of the verdant plain, and the blue
mountains, "enwrapt in mists of purple and gold", as he had often at
sunrise and sunset, enjoyed from his Fiesole convent the gentle fields
and dales "peopled with houses and olives"; but, after all, these
beauties of nature so often displayed before him, were dumb to an
artist who was wholly absorbed in visions beyond this world.
The study of the verdant country never occupied his mind; in his
paintings, landscape is either an insignificant accessory, or if it
occupies a large space in the picture as in the "Deposition from the
Cross" in the Florentine Gallery, it shows plainly that it is not the
result of special study, of personal impressions, or of love of the
place itself. In fact it does not attract or interest the observer at
all.
Nor could this be otherwise; the inner life of the spirit, which he
lived so intensely, and so vividly transfused in the figures of his
Saints, must necessarily have abstracted his mind from his
surroundings, to which he therefore gave little attention. In this he
was faithful to the Giottesque principle of not enriching the
background, except by just what was necessary to render the subject
intelligible, and this without pretension, or new research.
His trees rose straight on their trunks, the leaves and branches
spreading in conventional style; his rocks have the usual gradations
which we find in the old school; the views of distant cities are
absolutely fantastic and infantile creations; only the green plain is
often illumined, in an unusual manner, by tiny flowerets of many hues,
while mystic roses crown the angels' locks, adorn overflowing baskets,
or rise on long stalks at the foot of the Virgin's throne in
transparent vases.
Such are the characteristics, the spirit and the sentiment that appear
in the works of Fra Angelico, who might be considered as the last
representative of that school of which Giotto was master; and at the
same time the initiator of "Quattrocento" art, whose powerful
development irresistibly attracted him. He painted so many pictures
for the houses of Florentine citizens, that "I was often astonished,"
writes Vasari, "how one man alone could, even in many years, do so
much and so well." "And we also," justly observes Milanesi, "are not
less amazed than Vasari, for although many works have been dispersed
or are still hidden, yet a great number still remain both in Italy and
other countries, and, what is more remarkable, the greater part are
not mentioned by Vasari."[14]
We will follow our artist in his different places of abode, thus
establishing the various periods of his life and artistic productions;
from the Fiesole hills, where the first seedlings of his fantasy were
sown, to green Umbria, where his early works are, works warm with
enthusiasm, faith and youthful candour: from Florence, which he
enriched with admirable frescoes, and innumerable pictures dazzling
with gold and azure, to Rome, where he left his grand pictorial legacy
in the oratory of Pope Nicholas V.
[Illustration: Angels of the "Last Judgement."]
I.
FRA ANGELICO
AT CORTONA AND PERUGIA.
[1409-1418.]
[Illustration: ANGEL OF THE ANNUNCIATION. (Pinacoteca, Perugia.)]
If, after a study of the pictorial works of Fra Angelico, any one
should undertake to make a precise classification of them, he
would--although his frescoes are easy enough to classify--find himself
confronted by no small difficulty in regard to the panel paintings.
So active and original was the artist, and so grand in
his simplicity, that he always remained just what he appeared
from the beginning,--the painter of ingenuous piety, mystical
ecstasy, and intense religious fervour.
[Illustration: HISTORY OF ST. DOMINIC'S LIFE.]
No record is extant of his first visit to Foligno, but in the church of
St. Dominic at Cortona we may still admire a triptych with the Virgin
and four Saints; an Annunciation; and two "predelle"; one of which is
said to have belonged to the picture of St. Dominic, as the scenes
relate to the life of that Saint, and the other with some stories of the
Virgin, to the Annunciation mentioned above.
[Illustration: THE RESURRECTION OF CARDINAL DE' CECCANI'S NEPHEW.]
To the story of St. Dominic (which had already been treated in a
masterly manner by Fra Guglielmo, in the "arca" at Bologna, and by
Traini in his picture at Pisa), Fra Angelico has, in some scenes,
given a fuller development, but with less dramatic sentiment; exactly
the good and bad points which are more clearly shown in his other
works. The "predella", divided into seven parts, represents the birth
of Saint Dominic; the dream of Pope Honorius III., to whom the Saint
appears in act of steadying the falling church; the meeting of the
Saint with St. Francis; the confirmation of his rule by means of the
Virgin; the visits of St. Peter and St. Paul; the dispute with
heretics; the resurrection of the nephew of Cardinal de' Ceccani; the
supper of the Saint and his brethren; and lastly his death.
[Illustration: DEATH OF ST. DOMINIC.]
The scene of the resurrection of the young Napoleon, nephew of
Cardinal Stefano de' Ceccani, had been already powerfully depicted by
Traini; in Angelico's hands it comes out restrained and cold, the acts
of amazement in the devotees present at the miracle, who raise their
hands in astonishment, are too conventional: and it is precisely in
the intermingling of these gestures of sorrow for the death, and
wonder for the revivication, that the Pisan artist has brought out his
best effects. As we have before pointed out, the calm spirit of Fra
Angelico avoided realistic representation; his figures always suggest
love, faith and resignation, but are never agitated; like the soul of
their author, they are incapable of violent action; therefore when
these should be drawn, the representation falls below reality. We
shall see instances of this in other works of his.
[Illustration: THE ANNUNCIATION. (Church of Gesù, Cortona.)]
One of Angelico's most familiar subjects was the Annunciation, and the
most interesting of the Cortona pictures, is that of the angel's visit
to Mary. Its motive is simple and clear, as it was transmitted from
early Christian art; the general lines are unchanged, but the
expression greatly so. Fra Angelico did not disturb the religious
solemnity of the apparition with useless accessories; faithful to his
own sentiment, he has clothed Mary with humility. She sits beneath the
portico, the book neglected on her lap, her hands crossed, and her
drooping head inclined towards the heavenly messenger. The
golden-winged angel with roseate robe also bends before the Virgin,
the right hand pointing to her breast and the left to the dove which
sheds celestial rays on Mary's head. In the background Adam and Eve
are being expelled from the terrestrial Paradise, symbol of the
ancient Christian legend which directly connects the story of original
sin with that of the Redemption.
This mystic subject, which does not lack grace and freshness in the
Cortona painting, finds its fuller development in San Marco at
Florence. Here the Madonna is seated on a wooden stool, her head
projected forward almost in ecstasy, with hands clasped on her breast,
and in similar attitude the angel half kneels before her. The scene
takes place before a little grated window in the colonnade of a
cloister, utterly bare of ornament, but in this very simplicity lies
all the charm and poetry of Angelico.
Before a subject so ideal, so solemn, which reveals in such intensity
of faith and feeling how his thought spontaneously turned to the
prayer of the Salutation which was certainly on the artist's lips as
he painted, or was inspired by some sweet Annunciation hymn such as
this, which probably has been often repeated before this entrancing
picture:
Alzando gli occhi vidi Maria bella
Col libro in mano, e l' angel gli favella.
Dinnanzi a lei si stava inginocchiato
Quell' angel Gabriel tanto lucente,
Ed umilmente a lei ebbe parlato:
"Vergine pura, non temer niente;
Messaggio son di Dio onnipotente,
Che t' ha eletta e vuolti per sua sposa."
E poi le disse: "In cielo è ordinato,
Che siate madre del figliuol di Dio,
Però che gli angeli il padre han pregato,
Che con effetto adempia el lor disio;
E da parte del sommo e buono Dio,
Questa benedizione a voi s' appella."
Queste parole fur tanto infiammate
E circundate di virtù d' amore,
Che ben parean da Dio fussin mandate,
E molto se n' allegra nel suo core:
"Da poi che piace all' alto Dio Signore,
Io son contenta d' essere sua ancella."
Ella si stava dentro alla sua cella,
E grande meraviglia si faceva,
Però che a nessun uomo ella favella,
E molto timorosa rispondeva.
L' angelo disse allora: "Ave Maria,
Di grazia tu se' piena, o chiara stella."
Allor discese lo Spirito santo,
Come un razzo di sol l' ha circundata,
Poi dentro a lei entrò quel frutto santo
In quella sacrestia chiusa e serrata;
Di poi partori inviolata
E si rimase vergine e donzella.
O veri amanti, venite a costei,
Quella che di bellezza è madonna:
L' aria e la terra si sostien per lei,
Del ciel regina e del mondo colonna,
Chi vuol veder la donzella gioconda
Vada a veder la nunziata bella.[15]
The other predella at Cortona represents various episodes in the life
of the Virgin:--the Nativity, Marriage, Visitation, Adoration of the
Magi, Presentation in the Temple, Death, Burial and lastly the
apparition of the Virgin to the blessed Dominican Reginald of Orleans.
Padre Marchese believes that this last scene did not originally belong
to the predella; but the doubt is unfounded, for nothing is more
natural than the artist's wish to connect the history of the Virgin
with his Order, of which she is the patroness.
[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN. (Cortona.)]
[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN. (Uffizi Gallery.)]
Cavalcaselle, as well as Marchese, affirms that the scene of the
Marriage of the Virgin reproduces that of the picture in the Uffizi at
Florence. This may be, as far as the subject and scene go, but in the
disposition of the figures, the development of action, the two works
have nothing in common. Of course in both there must be the priest who
unites the bridal couple, and around them the usual personages in
various attitudes of complaisance, surprise, and rejoicing, but the
grouping of the figures in the predella at Cortona is more naturally
conceived. The women on the right appear to come from the house where
they had met to assist at the ceremony; the men stand on the left. The
background with its portico, and the walls, above which the trees of a
garden project, are shown with more truth and solidity. To give wider
scope to the scene Fra Angelico has depicted the marriage in an open
space. The picture in the Uffizi, on the other hand, is so
conventional both in architecture and landscape that it is impossible
to establish a comparison between the two.
[Illustration: THE VISITATION.]
The Visitation depicts the wife of Zacharias meeting the Virgin, and
lovingly embracing her; a serving maid leaning against the threshold,
half hidden by the door, is listening with devotion, while another
woman kneels on the ground in the road raising her hands to heaven.
In the Adoration of the Magi we find the usual qualities of
composition and feeling. One of the Kings has already rendered homage
to the Redeemer, and is talking to St. Joseph, who thanks him with
earnest devotion; and while the second falls prone before the divine
Child, and kisses His feet with profound emotion, the third prepares
himself to render the required homage. All around are elegant little
figures of pages and servants, in life-like and natural attitudes.
[Illustration: ADORATION OF THE MAGI.]
The last story represents the Assumption of the Virgin,
at which, according to ancient tradition, Christ is present
and carries in his arms the soul of His mother in the form
of a little child.
[Illustration: ADORATION OF THE MAGI. (Uffizi Gallery.)]
Padre Marchese wrote that both the Adoration and this Assumption are
in every respect similar, or replicas of those in the Uffizi. If
anything, the pretty little panels of the Uffizi might be replicas of
the Cortona ones; but in Florence the only painting with the scene of
the Adoration of the Magi is that in the predella of the tabernacle of
the Linen Weavers' Guild. Now, while the Adoration in the Cortona
predella is naturally and simply pourtrayed, that of Florence is
conventional and stiff, the vacuity of some figures and their actions
is very evident--therefore this similitude also reduces itself to mere
identity of subject. The Assumption of the Virgin also offers very
notable differences. The predella at Cortona is more intense and
severe, more simple and hence more grand; while the little panel in
the Uffizi shows that the effort to embellish the scene has been too
much for the artist, and the intensity of sentiment is greatly
lessened, being injured by useless accessories. In that of Cortona, on
the contrary, the figures of the Apostles who hold the sheet on which
the Virgin reposes are full of expression and natural in action, the
steep and mountainous background has severe and grand lines, as if to
emphasize the sadness of the scene. Here the artist felt and created,
there he merely repeated himself.
[Illustration: THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN. (Cortona.)]
[Illustration: THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN. (Uffizi Gallery.)]
The triptych, once on the great altar of the church of San Domenico,
now at a side altar on the right, has the Virgin seated in the centre
with the Holy Child upright on her knee, his right hand is raised in
act of benediction, and with his left he holds a rose. Around the
throne are four angels, one of which carries a basket of flowers. In
the side panels are St. Matthew, St. John Baptist, St. John the
Evangelist and Mary Magdalene. Above in the central compartment of the
triptych, is the Crucifixion and the two rounds on the sides represent
the Annunciation.
In the Chapel of Sant' Orsola in San Domenico at Perugia there was
formerly a panel picture now divided into many parts and much damaged.
This was painted by Fra Giovanni for the Chapel of San Niccolò de'
Guidalotti, and may now be seen in the Vannucci gallery at Perugia.
[Illustration: VIRGIN AND CHILD WITH SAINTS.
(Church of St. Domenico, Cortona.)]
The Virgin is enthroned with her Son on her knees, His right hand in
act of benediction, His left holding a half open pomegranate. At the
foot of the throne four angels are standing back, the two first lift
up a basket full of white and red roses, the others peep from behind
the throne of the Virgin who turns lovingly to her little Son, who is
entirely nude, and as rosy as the angels' flowers, and those in three
vases at the foot of the throne. On the right of the Virgin are St.
John Baptist and St. Catherine; on the left St. Dominic and St.
Nicholas. On the predella, which is divided into three parts, were
once various scenes from the life of St. Nicholas of Bari, two of
these are now to be found in the Vatican Gallery. In a complex
composition, they represent the birth of the Saint; his listening to
the preaching of a bishop to a congregation of women seated in a
flowery field; the Saint saving from dishonour the daughters of a poor
gentleman; and the miracle of causing a hundred measures of wheat to
rain down and relieve the famine in the city of Nuri. On the upper
portion the Saint appears from behind a rock, having been invoked by
some devotees to calm a tempest which threatened to wreck their bark.
[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD. (Pinacoteca, Perugia.)]
The portion at Perugia represents the miraculous salvation of three
innocent youths, sons of Roman princes; and the death and funeral of
the Saint. In the lower part of the picture he is extended on the bier
surrounded by monks, women and poor people who weep his loss, while
above, his soul is being led to heaven by four angels. The frame of
the painting is now divided into twelve fragments, each one containing
a small figure of a Saint: they are St. Romuald, St. Gregory, St.
Laurence, St. Bonaventure, St. Catherine, St. Peter Martyr, St. Mary
Magdalene, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Peter, St. Stephen, St. Paul and
St. John. The last four figures have been mutilated in the lower part,
and in these, as well as the others, the colouring is much injured.
If it were desired to complete the altar-piece, at present, the
gables of the tripartite frame would be missing, but there is no doubt
that--as in the Cortona picture--the two small rounds in the Perugian
Pinacoteca, representing the Angel of the Annunciation and the Virgin,
on gold backgrounds, formed part. Padre Marchese places this panel
among the youthful works of the artist, "because it shows more than
his other works the manner and technique of Giotto's school." Padre
Timoteo Bottonio wrote that it was painted in 1437, but the Dominican
author adds that this is not likely, as Fra Giovanni Angelico was at
that time in Florence, where the restoration of San Marco was begun,
and also the building of the new convent which he adorned with so many
marvellous frescoes.
[Illustration: BIRTH, PREACHING AND MIRACLES OF ST. NICHOLAS.
(Vatican, Rome.)]
[Illustration: THE DEATH OF ST. NICHOLAS. (Pinacoteca, Perugia.)]
This would actually signify little. As the picture which is said to
have been painted for the church of Sant' Andrea at Brescia was
naturally done at Fiesole, this one for Perugia might well have been
executed at Florence. But though it recalls the most characteristic
works of the artist and, for liveliness of colour and accurate study
of form, may be considered one of his most remarkable works, we have
no hesitation in ascribing it to his first artistic period. In both
these altar-pieces the grouping of the figures is still faithful to
Giottesque tradition; it was only later, i. e. when Fra Angelico had
felt the artistic influences developing around him, that he placed the
figures in one picture on different levels, to make a circle round the
Mother of Christ.
The type of the Virgin herself in this Perugian picture is similar to
that of the Cortona panel; they both have the eyes wide apart, a
short, receding chin, and small mouth; characteristics which are also
seen in the angels behind the Virgin's throne in the San Domenico
picture at Cortona. From an architectural view the throne has here a
much more antique shape than in his later designs, where Renaissance
forms predominate. As to the picture at Perugia it has been so
restored and arbitrarily put together after the panel was divided,
that it affords no serious proof of authenticity.
We must therefore conclude that the Perugian one was painted before
1433, for could we possibly admit (as Padre Bottonio wills it) that it
was done in 1437, that is only a year before the celebrated painting
for the church of San Marco? And seeing that when the Dominicans again
obtained possession of their own convent and returned to Fiesole
neither Fra Angelico nor his brother Fra Benedetto were among them, we
may reasonably suppose that Angelico was then at Perugia, painting the
altar-piece for the Guidalotti Chapel; and that he only returned to
Florence when he had finished that work, which we may date later than
the panel still to be admired at Cortona.
These are the only works known to have been painted by him while he
and his brethren had left their beloved Fiesole hills to seek peace
and tranquillity in Umbria,--the only records of that period of
voluntary exile.
[Illustration: VIRGIN OF THE ANNUNCIATION. (Pinacoteca, Perugia.)]
II.
FRA ANGELICO AT FIESOLE.
[1418-1436.]
[Illustration]
Whilst Fra Angelico was putting the legends of the Virgin and St.
Dominic into colour in Umbria, Giovanni Dominici together with
Leonardo Dati, master-general of the Order, was negotiating with the
Bishop of Fiesole and Pope Gregory XII. to again obtain possession of
the convent founded by Dominici. It was only in 1418 that the Fiesolan
bishop acceded to their request, on condition that the Dominicans
would make him a present of some sacred vestments to the value of a
hundred ducats. This sum, writes Marchese, was taken from the legacy
left to the convent by the father of St. Antonino, who died about
that time. A rich merchant having died in Florence in the same year,
leaving the monks of Fiesole six thousand florins, it was besides
decided to enlarge the building. The legal act of free and absolute
concession being signed, the father-general at once sent for four of
the monks from Cortona, among whom, as we have said, were neither Fra
Angelico nor Fra Benedetto. This does not imply that all the others
who had left in 1409, might not have returned later, and probably Fra
Angelico among them.[16]
It was in this convent from which on the side towards the ridge of the
Fiesole hill, he looked on the olives spreading their silvery branches
against the blue sky, that Fra Angelico, absorbed in work and prayer,
passed the greater part of his life. It is impossible to determine at
which of the many works that now adorn the Florentine and foreign
galleries, he worked during his stay in Fiesole, where he remained
till 1436; certainly he painted the panel pictures for his church, the
Tabernacle of the Linen Weavers, and frescoes in some parts of the
convent. That convent so dear to him must have awakened in his soul
many bitter and sweet memories--whether he thought of the days when he
and his brother Benedetto first took their vows, or of the
successive vicissitudes when he and the brethren were forced to
abandon it.
[Illustration: CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN. (San Marco, Florence.)]