Fra Giovanni da Fiesole, known posthumously as Fra Angelico, was an Italian Dominican friar and painter active during the early Florentine Renaissance.
Paintings by Fra Angelico
Annunciation (Fra Angelico, San Marco) (1500)
The Annunciation (c. 1440–1445) is an Early Renaissance fresco by Fra Angelico in the Convent of San Marco in Florence, Italy. When Cosimo de' Medici rebuilt the convent, he commissioned Fra Angelico to decorate the walls with intricate frescos. This included the altarpiece, the inside of the friars' cells, the friars' cloister, the chapter house, and inside the corridors; around fifty pieces in total. All of the paintings were done by Angelico himself or under his direct supervision. Out of all of the frescos at the convent, the Annunciation is the most well known in the art world.
The Annunciation is not Fra Angelico's first painting on that theme nor his only one in the convent. His works are scattered across the world in well-known museums and galleries including the Prado. He is credited as the inventor of this type of composition, where Gabriel visits Mary in an outdoor setting. A typical Gothic Annunciation painting contained the archangel Gabriel visiting the Virgin Mary indoors and with Mary enthroned. The figures would appear flat, static, and unrealistic. This painting in particular is supposed to have "achieved heights of singular elegance." The way it handles space and lighting is revolutionary because it is a transition out of the Gothic period and into the Renaissance. Previous versions had no spatial awareness. The figures seemed to float in the air, and lines did not end in a vanishing point. This caused them to be lopsided and disproportional.
San Marco Altarpiece (1500)
The San Marco Altarpiece (also known as Madonna and Saints) is a painting by the Italian early Renaissance painter Fra Angelico, housed in the San Marco Museum of Florence, Italy. It was commissioned by Cosimo de' Medici the Elder, and was completed sometime between 1438 and 1443.
In addition to the main panel depicting the enthroned Virgin and Child surrounded by Angels and Saints, there were nine predella panels accompanying it, narrating the legend of the patron saints, Saints Cosmas and Damian. Only the main panel actually remains to be seen in the Convent of San Marco, Florence, Italy, today, along with two side panels depicting saints which were purchased back for the museum as recently as 2007.
Adoration of the Magi (Fra Angelico and Filippo Lippi) (1430)
The Adoration of the Magi is a tondo, or circular painting, of the Adoration of the Magi assumed to be that recorded in 1492 in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence as by Fra Angelico. It dates from the mid-15th century and is now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Most art historians think that Filippo Lippi painted more of the original work, and that it was added to some years after by other artists, as well as including work by assistants in the workshops of both the original masters. It has been known as the Washington Tondo and Cook Tondo after Herbert Cook, and this latter name in particular continues to be used over 50 years after the painting left the Cook collection.
The tondo is painted in tempera on a wood panel, and the painted surface has a diameter of 137.3 cm (54 1/16 in.). The National Gallery of Art dates it to "c. 1440/1460".
Annunciation (Fra Angelico, Madrid) (1420)
The Prado Annunciation is an altarpiece painted by the Italian Renaissance painter Giovanni da Fiesole, known as Fra Angelico, in the 1420s. It is one of his best-known works. Originally destined for the convent of the observant Dominicans of Fiesole, the painting is currently in the collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid. It is one of three altarpieces by Fra Angelico representing the Annunciation; the other two being the Cortona Annunciation and the Annunciation of San Giovanni Valdarno. The sequence in which the three works were painted is not certain, but the general art historical consensus places the Prado version first.
The work was painted for a side altar in the Convent of San Domenico, Fiesole, where Fra Angelico was a friar. For the same church he also contributed the main altarpiece, showing the Virgin and Child Enthroned with Dominican saints (c. 1425) and the Coronation of the Virgin, now in the Louvre (c. 1424–1435) .
Deposition of Christ (Fra Angelico) (1500)
The Deposition of Christ also known as the Santa Trinita Altarpiece is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Fra Angelico, executed between 1432 and 1434. It is preserved in the National Museum of San Marco, Florence.
Giorgio Vasari described it as appearing to have been "painted by a saint or an angel".
Fiesole Altarpiece (1520)
The Fiesole Altarpiece is a painting by the Italian early Renaissance master Fra Angelico, executed around 1424–1425. It is housed in the Convent of San Domenico, Fiesole, central Italy. The background was repainted by Lorenzo di Credi in 1501.
The altarpiece is among the earliest known works by Fra Angelico. It was originally commissioned for the high altar in the convent's church, but was later moved to a side altar where it is currently visible.
Annunciation of Cortona (1430)
The Annunciation of Cortona is a panel-painting altarpiece or retable by the Italian Renaissance painter Fra Angelico: once housed in the Church of Gesù of Cortona, it is now held at the Museo Diocesano in Cortona.
The Annunciation of Cortona was painted by Fra Angelico in 1433–1434, in tempera on panel, 175 cm x 180 cm.
Coronation of the Virgin (Fra Angelico, Uffizi) (1434)
The Coronation of the Virgin is a painting of the Coronation of the Virgin by the Italian early Renaissance painter Fra Angelico, executed around 1432. It is now in the Uffizi Gallery of Florence. The artist executed another Coronation of the Virgin (c. 1434–1435), now in the Louvre in Paris.
The work is mentioned as by Fra Angelico in a manuscript of the Biblioteca Nazionale di Firenze. Giorgio Vasari writes that it was located in the church of Sant'Egidio at Florence. Two panels of the predella which once was part of the work are known; they portray the Marriage and the Funeral of the Virgin, and are currently exhibited in the museum of San Marco, Florence.
Coronation of the Virgin (Fra Angelico, Louvre) (1500)
The Coronation of the Virgin is a painting by the Italian early Renaissance painter Fra Angelico, executed around 1434–1435 in Fiesole (Florence). It is now in the Musée du Louvre of Paris, France. The artist executed another Coronation of the Virgin (c. 1432), now in the Uffizi in Florence.
The work is thought to have originally been painted around 1434 (a few years after the similar painting in the Uffizi) for the convent of San Domenico of Fiesole, near Florence, where Fra Angelico was a Dominican friar and for which he painted also the Fiesole Altarpiece (1424–1425) and the Annunciation now at the Museo del Prado. Some art historians, such as John Pope-Hennessy, date it instead to Angelico's visit to Rome (1450).
Madonna of Humility (Fra Angelico) (1433)
The Madonna of Humility is a tempera-on-wood painting by Fra Angelico, executed in 1433–1435, which belongs to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid and is conserved on loan at the National Art Museum of Catalonia.
The Virgin seated on a cushion placed directly on the ground with the child standing on her lap, holds a vase in her left hand which contains roses and a lily, symbols of motherhood and purity. The Child, who is also holding a lily, rests his forehead on his mother's cheek. They are set under a cloth of honour made of gold and black embroidered brocade held by three angels, while two more angels are seated on the ground playing an organ and a lute.
The Last Judgment (Fra Angelico, Florence) (1431)
The Last Judgment (tempera on panel) is a painting by the Renaissance artist Fra Angelico. It was commissioned by the Camaldolese Order for the newly elected abbot, the humanist scholar Ambrogio Traversari. It is variously dated to c. 1425, 1425–1430 and 1431. It was originally sited in the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli and now is in the museum of San Marco, Florence. It is not to be confused with another Fra Angelico Last Judgement in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.
Like most of Fra Angelico's work, the iconography is standard for the contemporary treatments of the Last Judgement. Among the most common subjects of painting in churches, it is found more often on walls. In the top centre of the picture, Christ sits in judgement on a white throne surrounded by angels, Mary, John, and the saints. Christ is shown as judge of the living and dead, his left hand pointing down to Hell, his right up to Heaven. On Christ's right hand is paradise, with angels leading the saved through a beautiful garden into a shining city. In the middle are the broken tombs of the risen dead, come out of their graves to be finally judged. On Christ's left demons drive the damned into Hell, where the wicked are tormented. At the very bottom Satan chews on three of the damned, and grasps two others.
Madonna and Child with St Dominic and St Thomas Aquinas (1430)
Madonna and Child is a c. 1435 fresco fragment by the Italian Renaissance master Fra Angelico in the sacra conversazione style. It was originally painted in the dormitory of the Convent of San Domenico, Fiesole. It was removed from the wall after the convent's suppression during the Napoleonic occupation of Italy and is now in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.
The two male saints were both Dominicans. A similar fresco from c. 1438 of the Madonna and Child with St Dominic and St Peter Martyr by the same artist survives above the doorway of the church of San Domenico in Cortona, whilst the same artist's Crucifixion with Mourners and St Dominic (Louvre) originated at San Domenico in Fiesole.