Talented Friar became patron of Catholic artists
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| A detail from a Luca Signorelli fresco in Orvieto cathedral, thought to represent Fra Angelico |
Fra Angelico is regarded as one of the greatest painters of
the 15th century, whose works reflected his serene religious attitude.
He painted many altarpieces and frescoes for the Church and
Priory of San Marco in Florence where he lived for about nine years.
In 1982, more than 500 years after his death, Fra Angelico
was beatified by Pope John Paul II in recognition of the holiness of his life.
In 1984, Pope John Paul II declared him ‘patron of Catholic artists’.
The artist was born Guido di Pietro at Rupecanina near
Fiesole, just outside Florence, towards the end of the 14th century.
The earliest recorded document concerning him dates from
1417 when he joined a religious confraternity at the Carmine Church and it
reveals that he was already a painter.
The first record of him as a Friar is dated 1423 and shows
him to have been a member of the Dominican order.
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| The San Marco altarpiece in Florence is one of Fra Angelico's most famous works |
Between 1418 and 1436 he lived at the convent of Fiesole
where he painted frescoes and an altarpiece. A predella - platform - of the altarpiece is
now in the National Gallery in London.
In 1439, while living at the convent of San Marco in
Florence, he completed one of his most famous works, the San Marco altarpiece,
which was unusual for its time as it showed the saints grouped in a natural way
as if they were able to talk to each other. Paintings such as this became known
as Sacred Conversations and were later executed by many other artists, including
Bellini, Perugino and Raphael.
In 1445 Fra Angelico was summoned to Rome to paint the
frescoes of the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament at St Peter’s. He moved to Orvieto
in 1447 to paint works for the Cathedral and then went back to Rome to design
frescoes for Pope Nicholas V, which were probably later painted by his assistants.
Fra Angelico returned to live in his old convent in Fiesole
in 1449, but must have eventually gone back to Rome to do more work for the
Vatican. He died in a Dominican Convent there in 1455 and was buried in the
Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva.
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| Piazza Giotto is the central square of Vicchio |
Rupecanina, where Fra Angelico was born, is a hamlet of
Vicchio, a town about 25 km (16 miles) north east of Florence. Many other
Italian painters came from the area, including Giotto, who was believed to have
been born in Colle di Vespignano, another hamlet of Vicchio, in about 1270.
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| The Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome |
Fra Angelico’s tomb, which was the work of Isaia da Pisa, is
in the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome because the artist died in
the adjoining convent. He had painted a fresco in the cloister there, which has
not survived. The important Dominican
Church is in Piazza Minerva, close to the Pantheon, and was built directly over
an ancient temple. The church was consecrated in 1370 and the façade was
designed by Carlo Maderno.