scenes, for Giovanni Masi, a monk of the convent of Santa Maria
Novella; and also some reliquaries which on solemn feast days were
placed on the altar," and are preserved to this day in the convent of
San Marco. They represent the "Coronation of the Virgin," the "Madonna
della Stella" and the "Adoration of the Magi." The Coronation has been
too much damaged by useless retouching to be able fully to judge of
its merits. It is for this cause perhaps that some people have
ventured to doubt its authenticity: "one perceives," writes Cartier,
"his religious conception, and desire to follow his model, but the
whole composition lacks order and space, the figures are heavy,
attitudes embarrassed, proportions short, outlines coarse and the
whole painting is strained."[17]
[Illustration: MADONNA DELLA STELLA (OF THE STAR).
(San Marco, Florence.)]
Now this is not absolutely exact. Naturally if we compare this little
reliquary with the great "Coronation" at the Louvre, we find the
composition more compressed, but it is not confused. True, the types
of the Virgin and Redeemer have not that grand simplicity which with
sincere enthusiasm we admire in his later panels of the same subject.
But possibly we have here the artist's first conception, an idea which
he successively developed and perfected till he reached the highest
grade of beauty, first in the picture at the Louvre, then in the truly
celestial one of the Florentine Gallery.
In the little painting of the Madonna della Stella (of the Star) we
have qualities of grace and nobility all Fra Angelico's own. The six
adoring angels on the slope of the frame, and the two seated at the
base playing musical instruments, not only fully reveal his ability,
but might be classed with those of the Linen Weaver's Tabernacle as
among the most beautiful and ethereal he ever painted.
The third reliquary which is divided into two parts represents the
"Adoration of the Magi," below, and the "Annunciation" above. The
Virgin has a book on her lap, her arms crossed on the breast, and head
extended towards the celestial messenger who kneels before her; but
both figures, though showing Fra Angelico's characteristic sentiment,
have exaggerated proportions; the neck is inordinately long, the
colouring enamelled, and so brilliant as to give the picture the
character of a fine and elegantly illuminated missal. In the
"Adoration" the Virgin displays the same defects of proportion, but
among the figures of the three Kings and the personages accompanying
them, are some of exceptional elegance and exquisite beauty. On the
whole the scene may be classed among the finest and most graceful of
the works which Fra Angelico has left to us.
[Illustration: THE ANNUNCIATION AND THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI.
(San Marco, Florence.)]
There is a kind of reliquary in the Vatican Gallery, which represents
the Virgin seated, with the Child on her left arm. Her raised right
hand holds the rose, and at her feet kneel St. Dominic and St.
Catherine. Cavalcaselle supposes this to have been the fourth of the
reliquaries once in Santa Maria Novella, but it more probably belongs
to that small painting reproduced by Prof. Helbig,[18] in the _Revue
de l'Art Chrétien_, in which Angelico has represented the death and
assumption of the Virgin.
The under part of the picture, representing the death of the Virgin,
recalls, in the general grouping of figures, the same subject now in
the Uffizi Gallery; but in this one, four Apostles are depicted in the
act of raising the bier, while the others surround the Christ, who
holds in His arms the soul of His Mother in the form of a babe. In the
upper part we see the Virgin with upraised arms, being received by
the Saviour who extends His hands as if in welcome. The type of the
Virgin recalls that of the small panel representing the "Adoration"
and "Annunciation." The Christ is, in the foreshortening and character
of the face, a repetition of that on the reliquary of the "Madonna
della Stella." The figure of the Virgin is incorporeal and
insignificant; but the angels who in varied attitudes dance around the
throne playing divers instruments, are charming and graceful.
In the ancient refectory of the Fiesolan convent Fra Angelico painted
a life-size Christ Crucified, with St. Dominic kneeling below clinging
passionately to the Cross. At the sides stand the Virgin and St. John
the Evangelist; there is also a figure of the saintly founder, but it
was either added later, or else has been badly restored and cannot be
taken as Fra Angelico's work. The picture has been removed from the
wall, and is now in the Museum of the Louvre; it is damaged in several
parts; the delicacy of colouring is lost, the background spoiled, and
only the figures of the Saviour, the Virgin, and the head of St. John
remain in tolerable condition.
The other fresco in the old chapter-house (this also has been removed
from the wall, and is now in the Hermitage at St. Petersburg),
represents the Virgin seated, with the Child on her knee, between St.
Dominic and St. Thomas Aquinas; all these figures show signs of
incompetent restoration, the outlines and drapery having been
repainted. Less spoiled perhaps by retouching, but yet in a deplorable
condition, is the other painting, a Crucifixion, still existing in the
Sacristy of the Convent. The Redeemer with extended arms, has His head
drooping straight on the breast, and the legs are stiffened and curve
to the right. A crown of thorns encircles the head, which is
surrounded by a great aureole; but the head is small; and the face,
with its insignificant features, lacks the intense expression which
Fra Angelico usually succeeds in putting into similar subjects.
He also painted the altar-piece for the great altar in San Domenico at
Fiesole, "which," writes Vasari, "perhaps because it appeared to be
deteriorating, has been retouched and injured by other masters. But
the predella and ciborium of the Sacrament are better preserved; and
you may see infinite little figures which are lovely in their
celestial glory, and appear indeed to come from Paradise, nor can
those who draw near ever look at them sufficiently."[19]
The picture is now removed into the choir. In the centre the Virgin
with her Son, is seated on the throne; six angels stand around her in
act of adoration, and two kneel in front with vases in their hands. At
the sides St. Thomas and St. Peter are placed on the left; St. Dominic
and St. Peter Martyr on the right. The retouching of which Vasari
speaks, was done by Lorenzo di Credi in 1501, when the picture was
reduced to its present form. We learn this from a record in the MS.
chronicle of the Convent of Fiesole, which is quoted by Padre Marchese
in his "Memorie."[20] But the panel has suffered other and worse
things than this. Other figures taken from an older frame have been
substituted for those in the pilasters. Some coarse copies have been
put in the place of the three "stories" of the predella, and the
original one was sold, together with the ciborium.[21]
The predella, now in the National Gallery of London, is divided into
five compartments. In the centre is Christ robed in white, His right
hand raised in benediction, and a standard held in His left; at the
sides are a crowd of angels--some blowing trumpets, others playing
instruments, others again in attitudes of profound veneration--all
have robes of pure and brilliant hues with azure wings lightly
sprinkled with gold. The side scenes have multitudes of saints, either
standing or kneeling in adoration: on the left are patriarchs,
bishops, monks and martyrs, each with his own emblem; on the right, a
crowd of kneeling feminine saints among whom we can recognise St.
Agnes, St. Catherine and St. Helen, and behind them a line of male
saints, amongst them St. Cyprian, St. Clement, St. Thomas, St.
Erasmus, and others whose names are written on their mitres. Still
higher King David, St. John Baptist and the prophets Jeremiah,
Zaccariah and Habakkuk. The faces are painted with great delicacy and
accuracy, and although they show some variety of lineament, the
expression is rather mannered. The outlines of the feminine saints are
full of grace and those of the other sex do not lack great dignity.
Although the work is of minor proportion, it shows a noteworthy
progress when compared with the conceptions of Orcagna.
The greater part of the draperies are rendered with most refined
colouring, so delicately toned and judiciously contrasted, that no
part of the painting appears either crude, or of exaggerated richness;
while the gold used in every part of the background contributes to
give great harmony to the whole. In the pictures placed at the end of
the predella, the Dominicans are depicted in their white robes and
black mantles.
[Illustration: PREDELLA. (National Gallery, London.)]
This delightful work, which roused the admiration of Vasari, contains
not less than 266 figures and may justly be considered as one of the
gems of the collection. Executed with all the delicacy of an
illumination, it sparkles with bright but harmonious colours, while
the spirit of devotion which penetrates the whole is entirely
characteristic of the painter.[22]
Angelico reached greater perfection in the picture of the
"Annunciation" of which Vasari says: "In a chapel of the same church
is a picture from the same hand, representing Our Lady receiving the
Annunciation from the angel Gabriel, with a countenance which is seen
in profile, so devout, so delicate, and so perfectly executed, that
the beholder can scarcely believe it to be by the hand of man, but
would rather suppose it to have been delineated in Paradise. In the
landscape forming the background are seen Adam and Eve, whose fall
made it needful that the Virgin should give birth to the
Redeemer."[23]
This picture (purchased in 1611 by Duke Mario Farnese) is now in the
Museum at Madrid. The Virgin is seated on the right under a graceful
portico sustained by small columns. Her head inclines a little towards
the Angel, in the same attitude as in the Cortona altar-piece and the
fresco at San Marco. She holds the book on her knees, and crosses her
hands on her breast; while the golden winged Angel, in its rose
coloured robe, with an arm curved in similar attitude of reverence,
sheds light around, as in the painting at Cortona. High up in the left
corner the hand of the Eternal Father sends down a ray of light, in
the midst of which the Holy Spirit is symbolized. In the background,
as in the Cortona picture, Adam and Eve are being expelled from
Paradise.
In the predella are some beautiful "stories" representing the
"Marriage of the Virgin," the "Salutation," the "Adoration of the
Magi," the "Circumcision of Christ" and the "Death of the Virgin."[24]
"But superior to all the other works of Fra Giovanni, and one in which
he surpassed himself, is a picture in the same church (i. e. San
Domenico at Fiesole), near the door on the left hand of the entrance:
in this work, he proves the high quality of his powers as well as the
profound intelligence he possessed of the art which he practised. The
subject is the Coronation of the Virgin by Jesus Christ: the principal
figures are surrounded by a choir of angels, among whom are vast
numbers of saints and holy personages, male and female. These figures
are so numerous, so well executed, in attitudes so varied, and the
expressions of the heads so richly diversified, that one feels
infinite pleasure and delight in regarding them. Nay, one is convinced
that those blessed spirits can look no otherwise in heaven itself, or
to speak under correction, could not, if they had forms, appear
otherwise; for all the saints, male and female, assembled here, have
not only life and expression, most delicately and truly rendered, but
the colouring also of the whole work would seem to have been given by
the hand of a saint, or of an angel like themselves. It is not without
sufficient reason therefore, that this excellent ecclesiastic is
always called Frate Giovanni Angelico. The stories from the life of
Our Lady and of St. Dominic which adorn the predella, moreover, are in
the same divine style; and I, for myself, can affirm with truth, that
I never see this work but it appears something new, nor can I ever
satisfy myself with the sight of it, or have enough of beholding
it."[25]
[Illustration: MUSEUM OF THE LOUVRE--PARIS.
THE CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN.]
The painting is now in the Louvre at Paris, having been taken from
Fiesole during the French invasion of 1812.
Under a rich canopy with inlaid columns and brocade hangings the
Redeemer seated on the throne, places the crown on the head of his
Mother, who kneels before him, with hands crossed on her bosom. Around
them angels are making the air resound with the voice of song, and the
music of many instruments. Saints, male and female circle round, some
standing, others kneeling, their fixed eyes and ecstatic features
denoting their joy in such divine splendour. Among the saints are the
great personages of the religious orders, together with bishops and
emperors. On the right, among the kneeling female saints are seen St.
Agnes tenderly pressing the lamb to her breast, St. Catherine holding
her wheel of torture and a palm, St. Ursula clasps the arrow which
united her in death to her divine Spouse, St. Cecilia's pretty head is
garlanded with flowers, while St. Mary Magdalene turns her back
showing the rich locks of hair flowing over her shoulder as she holds
the vase of ointment in her left hand. On the opposite side are St.
Dominic with the lily and open book, St. Augustine, St. Benedict, St.
Anthony and St. Francis. On a higher level St. Louis, with his crown
of _fiordalise_, talks with St. Thomas; while St. Nicholas supports
himself with both hands on his pastoral staff.
"It is a clever composition, wonderfully balanced, and the solemnity
of style does not at all exclude exuberance of life or infinite
variety of ideas.
"The bodies are almost diaphanous, the heads ethereal, the atmosphere
and light have a touch of the supernatural. Up to this point the
subject is subdued, but the colours lively and pure--among which blue
and carmine predominate--gleam with particular splendour."[26]
The predella contains in some small compositions the chief episodes in
the life of St. Dominic, excepting the central compartment where
Christ is drawn, issuing from the sepulchre between the Virgin and St.
John. The compositions are all executed with that love and delicacy
which are the glory of the artist, but even these little stories, like
the larger panel, have been more or less injured by repeated
restorations.
[Illustration: UFFIZI GALLERY--FLORENCE.
THE CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN.]
A similar subject now in the Uffizi Gallery at Florence and which Fra
Angelico painted for the church of Santa Maria Novella, is still more
aerial and celestial, a perfect masterpiece of sentiment and mystic
expression.
Here also Fra Angelico clings to that traditional characteristic,
peculiarly his own--the art of sacred vision, but with what new life
he animates it, and what poetical witchery he throws into this
creation of his ascetic fantasy!
His predecessors reproduced with slight varieties the model of Giotto,
and the great Florentine painter himself has given us the scene in its
most simple reality. High in the central part of Giotto's "Coronation"
Christ places the crown on the Virgin, who with hands crossed, bows
her head to receive the homage of her Son. But on her face there is no
expression of ecstatic joy, modest, indeed "humble in the midst of
glory", she droops her eyes, almost as if she dared not rest them on
the Saviour. Angels and saints, symmetrically disposed at the sides,
fill the whole background of the picture, with heads either raised in
admiration or bowed in respect, but in attitudes so similar, that they
give a sense of monotony. Then come the saints, some kneeling at the
foot of the throne, and others in the side wings of the triptych,
reverently bowing to the Mother of God.
Fra Angelico repeats the principal motive, but develops it according
to his high ideal, his intense faith, and mystic sentiment. He gives
to the Virgin an expression of infinite sweetness; to the angels a
truly celestial charm, to the saints a serene expression of
beatitude, and to the whole scene the azure divine character of a
vision of Paradise.
High in the centre the Redeemer extends his right hand to add a
brilliant gem to the crown of the Virgin, who sits near him, with
hands crossed in loving reverence. A luminous golden ray from this
group engraved on the panel, forms gleaming and resplendent waves in
the background of the picture, from which groups of angels stand out,
playing all sorts of music, or dancing with hand clasped in hand. Two
are prostrated in profound admiration at the base, and shed clouds of
incense from their thuribles, while two others draw melody from
heavenly harps.
In the lower part of the picture are many saints, who by their charmed
faces and feeling of ineffable joy, show how delighted they are with
the vision and the heavenly music.
[Illustration: ANCIENT AND MODERN GALLERY--FLORENCE.
THE LAST JUDGEMENT.]
"The greatest eloquence," writes Marchese, "would fail to express the
impression which this painting produces. The heart has a language
which does not always speak in words, and we can never contemplate
this picture without feeling in love with heaven."[27]
Among the works which were undoubtedly done by Fra Angelico during his
stay at Fiesole, may be ascribed several different representations of
the Last Judgment. He derived the inspiration of the subject directly
from Orcagna's fresco in Santa Maria Novella, only Fra Angelico has
created a paradise too exclusively modelled on the monastic life. "His
ideal," writes Reymond, "is a young neophyte entirely absorbed in
prayer--a contemplative being who has renounced earthly life,
abdicating his qualities as a man to dream of nothing but the future
life. Orcagna, on the contrary, dreams of an ideal in which human life
triumphs in all its fulness, and one might say that the beings which
people his Paradise are but glorified bodies."[28]
Fra Giovanni painted Hell and Paradise with small figures for the
Camaldolese monks of Santa Maria degli Angeli. This is the picture
now in the Ancient and Modern Gallery at Florence, of which Vasari
writes, "he proved the rectitude of his judgment in this work, having
made the countenances of the blessed beautiful and full of a celestial
gladness; but the condemned, those destined to the pains of hell, he
has depicted in various attitudes of sorrow, and bearing the impress
and consciousness of their misdeeds and wretchedness on their faces:
the blessed are seen to enter the gate of paradise in triumphal dance,
the condemned are dragged away to eternal punishment in hell by the
hands of demons."[29]
The representation is faithful to artistic tradition. In the highest
part the Saviour calls the elect to Him with His right hand, while
with His left He motions away the reprobate: around Him are eight
winged cherubim, with whom kneeling angels below join to form a
circle. Some are adoring or praying, others hold scrolls in their
hands. On the right sits the Virgin in white robes, with hands crossed
on her breast and head gently bent: on the left St. John Baptist with
hands clasped in prayer. At the sides Patriarchs, Apostles and
Prophets, and at the extremities St. Dominic and St. Francis. An angel
holds the cross at the feet of Christ, and two others flying, blow
their trumpets towards the dead, who rise from the open sepulchres
below.
In the base at the left, demons drag the damned ones to Hell; on the
right the elect cast glances of love and faith on the Saviour, and in
joyous fraternity enjoy the heavenly guerdon. The Elysian Fields of
the blessed are truly celestial, gleaming with gold, irrigated by
limpid streams, glorious with beautiful flowerets that bloom amid the
verdure, the exuberance of nature harmonizing marvelously with the joy
of the elect.
And in that midst their sportive pennons waved
Thousands of angels, in resplendence each
Distinct and quaint adornment. At their glee
And carol smiled the Lovely One of heaven
That joy was in the eyes of all the blest.[30]
Not unworthy of the divine poet is Angelico's heavenly composition in
which as in the Dantesque Paradise is shed
Light intellectual replete with love,
Love of true happiness, replete with joy,
Joy, that transcends all sweetness of delight.[31]
Together with these verses of Dante, Fra Angelico, while endeavouring
to depict the dance of the blessed, may well have called to mind these
verses of a sacred laud, which is said to be by Iacopone da Todi and
(whether his or not) describes in popular language the celestial
_caròla_[32] of the saints:
Una rota si fa in cielo
De tutti i Santi in quel zardino,
Là ove sta l'amor divino
Che s'infiamma de l'amore.
In quella rota vano i Santi
Et li Angioli tutti quanti;
A quello Sposo van davanti:
Tutti danzan per amore.
In quella corte è un' alegreza
D' un amor dismisuranza:
Tutti vanno ad una danza
Per amor del Salvatore.
Son vestiti di vergato,
Bianco, rosso e frammezzato;
Le ghirlande in mezo el capo:
Ben mi pareno amatori.
Tutti quanti con ghirlandi,
Paren giovin' de trent' anni:
Quella corte se rinfranchi,
Ogni cosa è piena d'amore.
Le ghirlande son fiorite,
Più che l'oro son chiarite:
Ornate son di margarite,
Divisate di colore, ecc.[33]
Above from the heavenly Jerusalem stream rays of golden light, and two
angels who are passing into the portal, are aerial and luminous, as
bright and splendid spirits.
[Illustration: The dance of the blessed.
(Details from the Last Judgment)]
Less original is the representation of Hell, which is copied straight
from the fresco in the Pisan Camposanto. Not only the same division of
_bolge_ (hell-pits), but even the repetition of motives in the souls
that fill them; the only and notable difference is the figure of
Lucifer which instead of being in the centre occupies the base of the
picture. At the summit "Eriton cruda, che richiamava l'ombre a' corpi
sui," is precisely in the same attitude as in the Pisan Camposanto, a
figure holding a banner coiled around by a serpent, and near it is a
simoniac with his entrails torn out, the identical figure from the
Pisan Hell. The back view of the figure which a demon raises to throw
into the jaws of a terrible monster is also copied entire from the
same fresco.
The _bolge_ and the damned souls which occupy them, are, as we have
said, repetitions, but with less intelligence and character than the
Pisan fresco.
On the left the slothful and lazy are punished; beneath them in two
_bolge_ are the passionate and the gluttonous souls, and below again
the luxurious and avaricious ones. The poverty of conception in this
"Inferno" is not even compensated by the usual good qualities of
refinement; one could almost believe that the artist found it so
repugnant to his character to depict brutality and infernal tortures,
that he hurried over this part to get rid of it the sooner. The
representation of the damned is cold, their struggles with the demons,
which at Pisa and in other places is so full of energy, is given here
with exaggerated art and becomes ineffectual; in fact this part of the
picture is void of feeling, and confirms our previous remarks on the
artistic character of the painter.
Another "Last Judgment" is in the Corsini Gallery at Rome;--a
triptych, the side panels of which represent the "Ascension" and the
"Descent of the Holy Ghost."
This scene is, however, much more simply designed, but cannot be
fairly judged now, on account of the retouching and frequent
varnishing which disfigure it.
[Illustration: THE LAST JUDGMENT. (Rome, National Gallery.)]