Fra Angelico
Secluded within cloister walls, a painter and a monk, and brother of the order of the Dominicans, Angelico devoted his life to religious paintings. Little is known of his early life except that he was born at Vicchio, in the broad fertile valley of the Mugello, not far from Florence, that his name was Guido de Pietro, and that he passed his youth in Florence, probably in some bottegha, for at twenty he was recognised as a painter. In 1418 he entered in a Dominican convent in Fiesole with his brother. They were welcomed by the monks and, after a year’s novitiate, admitted to the brotherhood, Guido taking the name by which he was known for the rest of his life, Fra Giovanni da Fiesole; for the title of Angelico, the “Angel,” or Il Beato, “The Blessed,” was conferred on him after his death. Henceforth he became an example of two personalities in one man: he was all in all a painter, but also a devout monk; his subjects were always religious ones and represented in a deeply religious spirit, yet his devotion as a monk was no greater than his absorption as an artist. Consequently, though his life was secluded within the walls of the monastery, he kept in touch with the art movements of his time and continually developed as a painter. His early work shows that he had learned of the illuminators who inherited the Byzantine traditions, and had been affected by the simple religious feeling of Giotto’s work. Also influenced by Lorenzo Monaco and the Sienese School, he painted under the patronage of Cosimo de Medici. Then he began to learn of that brilliant band of sculptors and architects who were enriching Florence by their genius. Ghiberti was executing his pictures in bronze upon the doors of the Baptistery; Donatello, his famous statue of St. George and the dancing children around the organ-gallery in the Cathedral; and Luca della Robbia was at work upon his frieze of children, singing, dancing and playing upon instruments. Moreover, Masaccio had revealed the dignity of form in painting. Through these artists the beauty of the human form and of its life and movement was being manifested to the Florentines and to the other cities. Angelico caught the enthusiasm and gave increasing reality of life and movement to his figures.
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Fra Angelico’s Early Training and his Work in Cortona and Perugia
1. Annunciatory Angel, 1450–1455. Tempera and gold on wood panel, 33 × 27 cm. The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit.
2. The Annunciation (depicted in an historied initial “R”, detail from a missel), c. 1423. Biblioteca del convento di San Marco, Florence.
At the beginning of the fifteenth century, the Dominican convent of Fiesole had a lively intellectual atmosphere. The convent was founded in 1406 by the Blessed Giovanni di Dominici Bacchini, (who later became the Archbishop of Ragusa and, in 1419, a cardinal,) in order to reestablish the former discipline and strictness of the Dominican order in the spirit of Saint Dominic. Members of the observant monasteries were expected to consecrate themselves to the saving of souls not only through study, science, and preaching, but also through applied artistic labour. Exiled from Venice, Giovanni arrived in Città di Castello near Arezzo in 1399. From there he was summoned to preach in the cathedral of Florence for Lent. San Lapo Mazzei wrote to a friend after hearing one of Giovanni’s sermons, and summarized his impressions in the following terms, “I was at Santa Liparata (the cathedral) where a Dominican friar was supposed to preach, and where he did indeed preach. I assure you that I have never heard a sermon like it, nor been so moved by so much eloquence… Everyone cried or seemed to be struck dumb and in a stupor listening to the pure Truth… He spoke of the Incarnation of God in a manner that ripped the soul from one’s body, compelling everyone present to chase after him.”[1]
Day by day, the morals of the populace purified, and the Dominici’s influence grew. In 1405, the Bishop of Fiesole gave him the land needed to build a convent and a church, and their construction was begun immediately. In 1406, religious zeal entered the establishment in the form of thirteen monks. Soon, many of the most fervent novices came to the convent in hopes of entering the Order. In 1405, the sixteen-year-old Antoninus, who would later become the bishop of Florence, († 1459), presented himself to Dominici. When asked about the nature of his studies, Antoninus showed a marked preference for canon law. Dominici responded that in the Dominican Order, novices were only admitted to this sort of study if they had already learned the Decretum Gratiani by heart. “Go then my son,” said Dominici, “And learn them. Once you know it, you can ask for admission in complete confidence.”[2]
The young Antoninus left and returned. Once Antoninus was admitted to the Order, the Father Superior sent him to Cortona, where the Blessed Lorenzo di Ripafratta had directed the novitiates of the Observant Dominicans since 1409. In 1408, two brothers knocked on the door of Fiesole’s convent, also requesting admission. The elder of the two, Guido (Guidolino), was twenty-one years old. The younger was only eighteen. Their father, Pietro, lived in village near the fortified castle of Vicchio, situated between Dicomano and Borgo San Lorenzo in the Tuscan region of Mugello, not far from where Giotto was born. Undoubtedly, these young men were also asked about their previous education, and were only admitted into the house of the Observant Dominicans once they had proven their aptitude. It so happened that the older brother had real talent as a painter, and that the younger brother was a calligrapher. At that time, Dominici was no longer in Fiesole, for in 1406, the Republic of Florence had entrusted him with a mission to Rome. Once Dominici arrived in the Eternal City, Pope Gregory XII became very attached to him. On May 12, 1409, he made Dominici a cardinal. Dominici’s successor in Fiesole gave a warm welcome to the two hopeful Dominicans; he gave them habits and named the elder Fra Giovanni (Petri del Mugello) and the younger Fra Benedetto (Petri del Mugello). He then sent them to Cortona, where as novices they were to live a life of penitence and prayer for one year. In order to understand the novitiate and the spirit that would later drive Fra Giovanni (Angelico), this passage by Dominici seems particularly apt: “I do not consider to be a good novice he who always walks with lowered eyes, who recites a long series of Psalms, who never makes mistakes when singing in the choir, who is silent and lives in peace with his brothers; nor he who loves his cell and chastises his body with discipline, who often fasts and carefully avoids contact with the outside world, giving himself over to the habits of ascetic life, and viewed by the beginners as saintliness itself. All of this is not enough. I consider a good novice to be he who perfectly, and with all of his strength, carries out the legitimate will of his superiors.” Rösler adds, “The complete renunciation of the world and oneself, the fulfillment of all of the rule’s prescriptions, the active and fervent love of God and one’s neighbor with one’s eyes always fixed on the model left by Jesus, the active desire for union with Christ; these are the foundations of a perfect life in the footsteps of Saint Dominic.”
