^University of California Department of University Exteinision ^^S^. o^"" - V '«^'/, ■■ ■'•■^' . .-Vf /■■- ■■ ■ 'NV' ^.-ms.^ " Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/fraangelicoOOangerich MASTERS IN ART ;jpra ^n^^ltto FLORENTINE SCHOOL "^■■y. 'o> HASTEBS IN AHT PIRATE I fHOTOQRAPH BY BRAUN, CLEMENT ft CIt [45] FHA ANGELICO THE COKONATIOX OF THE VIHGIN LOUVHE, PABI8 «J * „«< "' 5* MASTERS IN AHT PLATE III PHOTOGRAPHS BY ALINARI [49] FHA ANGEUCO ANGEI.S FROM THE FRAME OF THE ' M»DONN* DEI LINAJUOLl' UFFIZI GALLEHY, FLOHEJfCE MASTEBS IN ART PLATE IV PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDCRSON [51] FHA ANGEL ICO THE MADOXNA OF PEBUGIA PEKUGIA GAI/LEHT 5 l: e O H o Pf .5 P4 o 9. o ^ fnimm If MASTKBS IK AHT PLATK VIIX PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDERSON [ 59 ] FHA ANGELilCO THE FLIGHT INTO EGTPT ACAIJEMT, FliOKENCE MASTEHS IN AHT PLATE IX PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDERSON [61] J'HA ANGELICO ST. LAUHENCE HECEIVING THE THEASUHES OF THE GHUBCH CHAPEIi OE NICHOLAS V., VATICAN, HOME % Om MASTERS IX AKT PLATE X PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDERSON [63j FHA ANGELICO ST. LAURENCE GIVING ALMS CHAPEL OF NICHOLAS V., VATICAN, HOME u^ TOMB OF VRA ANGELICO CHURCH OF SANTA MABIA SOPHA MINKHVA, HOME No authentic portrait of Fra Angelico is known to exist. The traditional likeness, in a fresco by Signorelli at Orvieto, is no longer considered to represent him, and the head commonly designated as his in Fra Bartolommeo's 'Last Judgment,' painted more than forty years after his death, is but an imaginary likeness. Probably the nearest approach to a true portrait of him that remains is the effigy on his tomb, sculptured soon after his death by order of Pope Nicholas v. This likeness may have been copied from a death-mask or drawn from the sculptor's memory, but in spite of the deplorable condition to which time has reduced it, the countenance bears witness that a strongly individualized portrait was attempted. [64] MASTERS IN ART (0iol)anni Da fimit CalUU BORN 1387: DIED 1455 FLORENTINE SCHOOL FRA ANGELICO ^ (pronounced An jel'e ko) was born in the year 1387 at Vicchio, in the broad and fertile valley of the Mugello, Italy, not far from Florence. His father, Pietro, gave the child the name of Guido, and throughout his boyhood he was known as Guido da Vicchio from his birth- place, or Guido di Pietro, the son of Pietro. Beyond the year and place of his birth and his father's baptismal name we know nothing with certainty of his parentage or his early life. It seems probable that his youth was passed in some artist's studio or workshop in Florence, for Vasari tells us that while still very young he was perfectly acquainted with the practice of his art; and an earlier biographer, Antonio Billi, relates that when a boy he painted a pic- ture on the great screen of the Church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence — a work that has since been destroyed. Nothing definite, however, is known concerning the young Guide's artistic training. Baldinucci and others have affirmed that his first master was the Florentine painter Gherardo Stamina, but there is no documentary evidence to prove this or any other theory, and Vasari is silent on the subject. Impossible though it be to state who his mas- ter was, it is evident that the three great centers of artistic life in Florence in the early years of the fifteenth century all left their mark upon his work. First of these important art centers were the studios or workshops of the Giottesques, or followers of the teachings of Giotto; second, the schools of the miniaturists, of which the most prominent was that of the Camaldolese Convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli, where Lorenzo Monaco, to whose works Fra Angelico's early achievements bear a certain affinity, was a leading member; and last, and most important of all, the group of young sculptors and architects, Jacopo della Quercia, Ghiberti, Brunelleschi, Donatello, and others, who were destined to produce the most perfect works of art of that 1 This sketch of the life of Fra Angelico is based upon the recent study of his life and works by Lang- ton Douglas. — Editor. [65] 24 MASTERS IN ART century. These were the artistic surroundings of the young Guido, these the influences under which he spent his early years. In later years he was strongly influenced by the architecture of Michelozzo, and by the paintings of Masac- cio in the Brancacci Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, Flor- ence. It is probable that Guido would have been content to follow the profession of a painter, and that alone, for the rest of his life had it not been for the teachings of the great Dominican preacher and scholar, Giovanni Dominici, who, de- ploring the excesses of the "humanists," whose pursuit of classical culture was already beguiling them into a certain tendency to imitate pagan vices, determined to counteract the growing evil by establishing houses of the Do- minican Order of monks which should be conducted under more rigid rules than had hitherto prevailed. With this object in view Dominici traveled from one end of Italy to the other, preaching in all the principal towns, and ex- horting the people to a more holy life. His eloquence induced many young men to follow in his footsteps; and among those who sought admission to the reformed order were Guido and his brother Benedetto, who, in the year 1407, when Guido had reached the age of twenty, presented themselves as candidates for members.hip at the convent founded by Dominici on the lower slopes of the hill of Fiesole, just outside of Florence. The two young men were warmly welcomed by the brethren, and at once sent to Cortona, where the novitiate of the order was established. At the end of a year Guido took the irrevocable vows, assumed the black and white habit of the Dominicans, changed the name of Guido for that of Giovanni, and was henceforth known as Fra Giovanni da Fiesole (pronounced Fee a' so ly). It was not until after his death and beatification that he was called "II Beato," the Blessed, or, still more generally, "Angelico," the Angelic. In the year 1409 the monks, forced to leave Fiesole because of their fidel- ity to Pope Gregory xii., and their refusal to acknowledge Alexander v., who had been irregularly elected pope at the council of Pisa, and whose cause was espoused by the Florentine government, took refuge at Foligno, leaving some of the younger members of the community at Cortona to follow them later to their new home. After spending several years at Foligno, the whole brotherhood, driven from there by a pestilence, settled for a time at Cortona; and when the schism in the Church had been healed, and the attitude of the Florentine government had become more friendly toward them, they returned to their former residence at Fiesole. In all probability Fra Angelico followed the fortunes of the other younger members of the community, and in that case seven or eight years of his early manhood were spent in the hill-set town of Cortona. One of his earliest known works, an 'Annunciation,' was painted during this time, and is still to be seen in the Oratorio del Gesu in that city. From 1418 to 1435 Fra Angelico lived in the convent of his order at Fiesole. The Dominican Order fostered the exercise of both architecture and painting; and while in this peaceful retreat the young monk worked with un- tiring industry at his art, painting many pictures not only for his own con- vent, but, with his prior's consent, for other religious houses and for churches, [66] FRA ANGELICO 25 gilds, and private individuals. Among the most important of his achievements at this time are the great 'Coronation of the Virgin ' in the Louvre, a picture of the same subject in the Uffizi, the 'Last Judgment' in the Florentine Acad- emy, and four great Madonna pictures, of which the 'Madonna dei Linajuoli,' with its framing border of angels, is the best known. In the summer of 1435 the brothers of San Domenico left Fiesole and moved nearer Florence. Early in the following year they made a solemn entrance into that city, and with elaborate ceremonial took up their residence at the Convent of San Marco, which, through the intercession of Cosimo de' Medici, had been placed at their disposal. Owing to the dilapidated condi- tion of the building, however, their new home was far from comfortable; many fell sick, and some of the brethren died in consequence of the severity of the weather and the lack of proper accommodations. Finally, in response to an appeal from the pope on their behalf, Cosimo de' Medici came to their as- sistance, and, having sent for his favorite architect, Michelozzo, caused new and commodious buildings to be erected. Amidst all the bustle of the busy monks settling themselves in their new home, and before the buildings were fairly completed, Fra Angelico began to decorate the interior walls of the convent, which in time became a perfect treasure-house of his works. Convent life was no idle existence. Each brother was allotted his special task. Apart from the regular business of the commu- nity, many, skilled in the art of illuminating choir-books and missals, devoted their lives to this important branch of monkish industry; others again were sent out into the world "to edify the holy and convince the sinner" by argu- ment and exhortation. Not by the power of words, however, but by setting before his brethren scenes from the gospel story did Fra Angelico do his part toward fixing their thoughts upon things heavenly. The great 'Crucifixion' which he painted in the chapter-house is the largest and one of the most im- portant of his achievements. He painted smaller frescos of the chief Do- minican saints in the cloisters, and decorated the walls of the cells with sacred subjects, principally scenes from the life of Christ, intended to assist the de- vout meditations of the monks. Thus occupied, Fra Angelico had spent ten years or more at San Marco when he was summoned to Rome by Pope Eugenius iv. to decorate the walls of a chapel adjoining St. Peter's. Eugenius had passed many years in Flor- ence, and had shown a special interest in the brothers of San Marco, one of whom, the saintly Antoninus, he had appointed to the archbishopric of that city,^ and it is probable that the works of their distinguished painter Fra An- gehco had attracted his notice. We first hear of the artist at work in Rome in 1447. Pope Eugenius had died a few weeks before, and Nicholas v. had succeeded to the papal chair. Desirous of carrying out his predecessor's plans, the new pontiff persuaded Fra Angelico to proceed with the work; and at the end of a few months, with the assistance of his pupil Benozzo Gozzoli and four other painters, the friar 1 None of the early chroniclers confirm Vasari's statement that this position was offered to Fra Angel- ico, though it may have been through his influence that Antoninus received the appointment. — Editor. [67] 26 MASTERS IN ART had completed in fresco the decorations of the chapel, which was destroyed less than a century later to make room for the great staircase of the Vatican Palace. Soon after his arrival in Rome, Fra Angelico, wishing to escape from the city during the heat of summer, arranged with the directors of the cathedral works at Orvieto to spend the warm months there painting the recently erected Chapel of San Brizio in the cathedral of that town. On the fifteenth of June the friar began his task in Orvieto, and, with the help of Benozzo Gozzoli, painted a portion of a 'Last Judgment' upon the ceiling of the chapel. For some unknown reason this great work was left unfinished. Fifty years later it was Completed by Luca Signorelli. Soon after his return to Rome in the following September, Fra Angelico, now sixty years of age, entered upon what may be regarded as the crowning achievement of his life — the decoration of the little Chapel of Nicholas v. in the Vatican, on the walls of which he painted his famous frescos repre- senting scenes from the lives of St. Laurence and St. Stephen. Records show that toward the close of the year 1449 Fra Angelico was again at Fiesole, having been elected prior of the Monastery of San Domen- ico, and that three years after this he declined an invitation from the author- ities of Prato to paint the choir-chapel of their cathedral. It is not known just when he returned to Rome; but in 1455, when he was sixty-eight years old, he died in that city, in the great convent of his order, Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, and was buried near the high altar in the convent church. At the command of Pope Nicholas v. his effigy in marble was carved upon his tomb. Under the figure the following epitaph in Latin, composed, it is said, by the pope himself, records the virtues of the holy monk: GIVE ME NOT PRAISE FOR BEING ALMOST A SECOND APELLES, BUT BECAUSE I GAVE TO THY POOR, O CHRIST, ALL MY EARNINGS. THUS PART OF MY WORK REMAINS ON EARTH AND PART IN HEAVEN. THAT CITY WHICH IS THE FLOWER OF ETRURIA, BORE ME, GIOVANNI. GIORGIO VASARI «LIVES OF THE PAINTERS' FRA ANGELICO was a man of the utmost simplicity of intention, and was most holy in every act of his life. It is related of him — and it is a good evidence of his simple earnestness of purpose — that being one morn- ing invited to breakfast by Pope Nicholas v., he had scruples of conscience as to eating meat without the permission of his prior, not considering that the authority of the pontiff was superseding that of the prior. He disregarded all earthly advantages, and, living in pure holiness, was as much the friend of the poor in life as I believe his soul now is in heaven. He labored con- tinually at his paintings, but would do nothing that was not connected with things holy. He might have been rich, but of riches he took no care; on the contrary, he was accustomed to say that the only true riches was contentment with Httle. He might have commanded many, but would not do so, declar- ing that there was less fatigue and less danger of error in obeying others than [68] FRAANGELICO 27 in commanding others. It was at his option to hold places of dignity in the brotherhood of his order, and also in the world; but he regarded them not, affirming that he sought no dignity and took no care but that of escaping hell and drawing near to Paradise. Fra Giovanni was kindly to all, and moderate in all his habits, living tem- perately, and holding himself entirely apart from the snares of the world. He used frequently to say that he who practised the art of painting had need of quiet, and should live without cares or anxious thoughts; adding that he who would do the work of Christ should perpetually remain with Christ. He was never seen to display anger among the brethren of his order — a thing which appears to me most extraordinary, nay, almost incredible; if he admonished his friends, it was with gentleness and a quiet smile; and to those who sought his works he would reply, with the utmost cordiality, that they had but to ob- tain the assent of the prior, when he would assuredly not fail to do what they desired. In fine, this never sufficiently to be lauded father was most humble, modest, and excellent in all his words and works; in his painting he gave evidence of piety and devotion as well as of ability, and the saints that he painted have more of the air and expression of sanctity than have those of any other master. It was the custom of Fra Giovanni to abstain from retouching or improv- ing any painting once finished. He altered nothing, but left all as it was done the first time, believing, as he said, that such was the will of God. It is also affirmed that he would never take the pencil in hand until he had first offered a prayer. He is said never to have painted a Crucifix without tears stream- ing from his eyes; and in the countenances and attitudes of his figures it is easy to perceive proof of his sincerity, his goodness, and the depth of his de- votion to the religion of Christ. Cfje art of jFra angeltco LANGTON DOUGLAS 'FRA ANGELICC VASARI'S description of Fra Angelico has impressed itself upon the minds of twelve generations of his readers. As to whence he derived it there can be no reasonable doubt. The Piagnoni (or followers of Savonarola) of San Marco, full of filial piety, cherished all stories relating to that saintly triad, Fra Angelico, St. Antoninus, and Savonarola. Vasari had intimate friends at the convent; and if the brothers did not actually write the greater part of the account of Fra Angelico, they at least succeeded in making Vasari adopt their own conception, and supplied him with most of the material for his work. Being aware of the source of this biography, doubts as to its accuracy can- not fail to enter into the mind of the historical student who has some ac- quaintance with the Piagnone literature of the sixteenth century, for he knows well that Savonarola's followers, enthusiastic, imaginative, and intensely mys- [69] 28 MASTERSINART tical, not only inherited their master's belief in miracles and portents, but had also developed the myth-making faculty to a remarkable degree. But in justice to all who helped to make this biography of the friar, it must be admitted that the scientific study of his artistic achievement, and research among such contemporary records as are likely to throw light upon his career, whilst compelling us to reject as fictitious some of its details, confirm on the whole the traditional story — so far as it goes. Its main fault lies not in its inaccuracy, but in its inadequacy. The Dominicans, Fra Giovanni's con- temporaries, who fashioned it in its earliest form, saw and appreciated their brother's goodness, his humility, his quiet charm of manner; and therefore the account which they gave of him tells us a great deal of Fra Angelico the religious, Fra Angelico the Catholic saint. But the Dominican painter was not merely a saint — a saint with a happy knack of illustration. He was above all else an artist, an artist to his very finger-tips, who carried about in one body two temperaments which are usually supposed to have but little in com- mon, and which indeed are not often found inhabiting the same frame — the artistic and the saintly. But he was primarily an artist, an artist who hap- pened to be a saint. It is true that in the course of the last two years certain of the younger critics have revolted against the traditional and popular conception of Fra Angelico. But their change of opinion has scarcely influenced at all even those who have some right to be considered connoisseurs; and the leaders of criticism in England and in France, in Germany and in Italy, still maintain, with but one or two exceptions, that the friar was "an isolated and belated master" — that he belonged rather to the fourteenth than to the fifteenth, century. . . . Fra Angelico as an artist, then, has never received fair and adequate treat- ment, and it is the Piagnone conception of him, inadequate as it is, which still holds the field. And, unfortunately, the manufacturers of reproductions of the works of the Italian masters would seem to have conspired with pop- ular writers to keep alive a derogatory view of Fra Angelico's art. Every great artist has his moments of weakness, and the Dominican painter was certainly not without them. But he is perhaps the only master of his own rank of whom it is true that the feeblest of all his productions are those by which he is most widely known. It is not too much to say that, in the case of nine persons out of every ten who have any knowledge of him, the angels playing on musical" instruments which adorn the frame of the 'Madonna dei Linajuoli' are sym- bols of his artistic achievement. But these figures, which hold so high a place in popular estimation, are artistically contemptible. They deserve, in fact, all that daring critics have said about them : they are nothing more than "celestial dolls, flat as paper, stuck fast to their gold backgrounds." To any- one who knows how consummate was Fra Angelico's power of rendering form when he was at his best, it is surprising that even in a moment of weak- ness he should have given to the world such inferior stuff as this. Those who love and reverence the artist would like to lose all recollection of them, just as they would wish to bury in oblivion the early, brief indiscretions of one [70] FRA ANGELICO 29 whose subsequent life has been of such a character as to command theiraffec- tion and admiration. But it is just these figures, in all their inane prettiness, that the public have chosen to regard as Fra Angelico's most characteristic works — symbols of his artistic virtues. . . . And, moreover, those who, in contemplating Fra Angelico's pictures, seek for confirmation of the traditional view of him find it; for, in a measure, it is there. In his effort to give material form to the most sublime mystical visions that have ever filled the minds of men he has succeeded to a degree that many of his admirers are quite incapable of appreciating. Finding in the master's work, then, what our pride of opinion makes us desire to find, we cannot see anything else. The painter's artistic personality as a whole re- mains quite unrevealed to us. Nay! even at the Vatican itself, in that chapel of Pope Nicholas on the walls of which Fra Angelico showed most plainly that he was entirely a child of the early Renaissance, the scales do not fall from our eyes; for here temporary circumstances as a rule conspire with our prej- udices to rob us of enlightenment. Owing, then, to a variety of causes, the Piagnone view of Fra Angelico still holds the field. It is shared by people holding the most diverse opinions. On the one side are those who inwardly despise "this mild, meek, angelic monk, who," as they say, "bolted his monastery doors, and sprinkled holy- water in the face of the antique." On the other side is a great company of persons, both Catholic and Protestant, who love Fra Angelico because of his saintliness. These are prejudiced in his favor because he was a devout and earnest Christian. Those are prejudiced against him for the same reason. In each case theological or anti-theological prejudices are allowed to modify the judgment formed of his merit as an artist, and no serious attempt is made to see his achievement as a whole "as in itself it really is." . . . In tracing the story of Fra Angelico's artistic development from its com- mencement to its close, we see him largely influenced at first by the Giot- tesques and the miniaturists. Gradually he rid himself of the cramping effects of his early training, and became more and more identified with that new movement in art which had begun with the architects and sculptors, and had had for its first pioneer in painting the great Masaccio. Fra Angelico's de- velopment was constant, at one time accelerated a little, at another more grad- ual, but without backslidings or reactions. There are certain great artistic qualities which are to be found in abun- dance in his earliest paintings as in his latest: exquisite grace of line, the charm of bright, harmonious color, and singular beauty of facial expression. But as time went on, and the friar continued to grow in power and knowledge, other great qualities became more manifest in his works, and at the same time we find in them no loss of grace and loveliness. The development of these qual- ities was due in a measure to Fra Angelico's ever-increasing love of classical art, to his observation of nature, to his study of the works of his great con- temporaries in sculpture, and of the frescos of Masaccio. He was an eager student of the antique, and keenly interested in the new movement in architecture. The newly revived classical forms — the Ionic [71] 30 MASTERS IN ART capital, the festoons with which Michelozzo adorned his friezes, the medal- lions copied by Brunelleschi from the temple of Vesta at Tivoli, and many more beside — found a place in his paintings almost simultaneously with their appearance in the sister art. He was always abreast of the movement. He was always closely associated with those humanists and sculptors who were the leaders of the early Renaissance. And as he was the first of the painters systematically to make pictorial use of classical forms, so there are more rep- resentations of them to be found in his works than in all the other pictures of the first half of the fifteenth century taken together. He was, moreover, the first Italian artist of the Renaissance to represent from nature a landscape that can be identified, as he was also the first to attempt to solve certain prob- lems of aerial perspective. He shows a feeling for space unrivaled in his own day, and surpassed indeed by but few of the Florentines who came after him. . . . To say, as some do, that Fra Angelico was sometimes more interested in the matter of his theme than in its representation is only to say what is true of every great Florentine painter of the Renaissance. In Venice there was a love of painting for its own sake. It was not so in Florence. The great Florentines, as has been so often remarked, were, each and all, so much more than painters! They were sculptors ; they were poets. Nay, more ! they were men of science, theologians, archaeologists, and humanists; and at times in every one of them the desire to record mere facts of the natural world, or to teach some theological or philosophical dogma, predominated over all purely artistic impulses. Unfortunately, in the best of them there is a tendency to illustration. This tendency, therefore, would not of itself disqualify Fra Angelico from taking rank amongst the great leaders of the Florentine Renaissance. But in reality he is very little guilty of any such failing. The artist and the saint in him worked in such perfect harmony that we are rarely conscious of any effort on the part of the latter to dominate the former. And it is in this fact that one of the greatest secrets of his success lies. He painted the kind of subjects that he liked best to paint. Pictures with religious subjects were required of him, and religious subjects were just those that he was longing to paint. And so innate, so essential a part of him were his artistic qualities that the fervor of his religious emotion scarcely ever marred the decorative character of his work. In him, as I have said, the artist and the saint, the devout Catholic and the man of the Renaissance, were in perfect harmony. Living in that wonderful age of the early Renaissance, he was one of its most characteristic products. TRACING the history of Italian painting is like pursuing a journey down an ever-broadening river, whose affluents are Giotto and Masaccio, Ghirlandajo, Signorelli, and Mantegna. We have to turn aside and land upon the shore in order to visit the heaven-reflecting lakelet, self-encompassed and secluded, called Angelico. — john addington symonds [72] FRA ANGELICO 31 E.H.ANDE.W. BLASHFIELDAND A. A. HOPKINS, EDITORS '4 Tt73563 ^%?w-^ ./:;^^^ UNIVERSITY OF CAUFORNIA UBRARY .fflfH %m ■^rr