FRA ANGELICO. THE SAN MARCO FRESCOES

FRA ANGELICO (CA. 1390/95-1455)

This is a record of all the Fra Angelico frescoes, which can be found in the convent of San Marco in Florence. They were painted in the 1430s and 1440s centring on the themes of Christ's sacrifice. Conceived and executed simply as aids to meditation and prayer, they have taken their place among the most exhilarating masterpieces of Western art.

An introductory history of the building and the paintings is followed by a fully illustrated survey of every picture, most with details shown in actual size. The book aims to reveal the artist's tenderness and strength, his freshness of colour and his subtlety of line.

The return of Cosimo de' Medici to Florence in 1434 enabled the Dominicans, of whom he had long been a patron, to secure for themselves the ruined convent of San Marco. Its rebuilding began in 1437, and its decoration very soon after. The San Marco frescoes were intended not as means of instruction, still less as decoration, but as aids to contemplation and meditation. The brother who inhabited each cell was to have constantly before his eyes a vivid yet chaste reminder of one of the events in the life of Christ.

Executed between 1438 and 1443, the works for San Marco comprised the most extensive surviving programme of decoration for a religious community. It included the high altarpiece, nearly fifty monumental frescoes for the cloister, Chapter House and dormitory cells, as well as illuminated choir books for the celebration of Mass. These paintings translated the brilliant spiritual, intellectual and visual culture of the Dominican Order for diverse constituencies, from its patrons and parishioners to the community of friars, novices, and lay brothers who lived within its walls.