UC-NRLF ■f) •J THE LIFE OF FRA ANGELICO .1849 — 50 THE LIFE OF GIOVANNI ANGELICO DA FIESOLE. The Life of GIOVANNI ANGELICO DA FIESOLE, Tranilated from the Italian of Vafari BY GIOVANNI AUBREY BEZZI, With Notes and Illuftrations. PRINTED FOR THE ARUNDEL SOCIETY. 1850. Fsl/as- Fra Giovanni da Fiefole. RATE* GIOVANNI ANGELICO Da Fiefole, whofe fecular name was Guido, ( i ) having been not lefs excellent as a Painter and Illuminator, than as an Ecclefiaftic, on both accounts well deferves that his life fhould be honourably recorded. He might have lived an eafy life in the world, and, in addition to what he had, might have gained whatever he wifhed by the exercife of * Fra or Frate, that is, Brother. 046 6 The Life of Fra Giovanni Da Fiefole. that Art, in which he excelled from his very youth ; never- thelefs, being good and gentle by nature, he determined for his own fatisfadtion and peace of mind, and in order to attend above all things to the faving of his foul, to enter the religious Order of the Dominicans. (2) For although it is poffible to ferve God in all conditions of life, ftill there are fome to whom their own falvation appears more fecure in monafteries than in the world ; which indeed as it fuc- ceeds fortunately for the good, fo, on the contrary, is the refult truly miferable and fad to him who makes himfelf an Ecclefiaflic for other ends. There are by the hand of Fra Giovanni in his Convent of St. Mark at Florence, illuminated choir-books inexpref- libly beautiful, and of a like perfed:ion are thofe which he executed with incredible diligence, and left in S. Do- menico at Fiefole. (3) It mufl be faid, however, that in thefe he was helped by an elder brother of his, (4) who was alfo an Illuminator, as well as fufficiently pradiifed in the art of Painting. One of the earliefl works of this good Father is that which he painted on panel in the Certofa of Florence ; and which is there placed in the principal Cha- pel of the Cardinal Acciaiuoli ; it reprefents our Lady, with the infant Jefus in her arms ; at their feet are fome very beautiful angels iinging and playing upon inflruments of mufic, and at their fides St. Lawrence, St. Mary Mag- dalene, St. Zanobius, and St. Benedict. The Predella contains illuftrations of the lives of thefe faints in fmall figures done with the utmofi: care. In the Tranfept of that fame Chapel are two other paintings on panel by the fame hand, one reprefenting the Coronation of our Lady, with The Life of F?^a Giova7i7ii Da Fiefole, j two Saints, painted with the mofl beautiful ultramarines. (5) He afterwards painted in frefco on the fcreen* of S. Maria Novella, next to the door facing the Choir, St. Dominic, St. Catharine of Sienna, and St. Peter the Martyr, and fome fmall fubjecfts in the Chapel of the Coronation of our Lady. (6) On the doors of the old organ he painted on cloth an Annunciation, which is now in the Convent, oppofite to the entrance of the lower dormitory, between the two cloifters. This good Father was for his deferts fo beloved by CoUmo de Medici, that having built a wall around the Church and the Convent of St. Mark, Colimo took care to have the whole Paffion of Jefus Chrift [fee PI. i] painted by Giovanni on one of the walls of the Chapter houfe,(7) with all the Saints on one fide, who had been heads or founders of any religious Order, forrowing and weeping at the foot of the Crofs, and on the other the Evangelift St. Mark attending upon the Mother of the Son of God, who has fainted at the fpediacle of the Saviour of the world crucified; miniftering unto and fupporting her are the other Marys, all forrowful, and together with them Sts. Cofimo and Damiano. It is faid that the head of St. Cofimo is the portrait, taken from life, of his friend the Sculptor Nanni d'Antonio di Banco. Under this work he painted, upon the frieze over the dado, a Tree with St. * " Screen" is an imperfedl tranflation of the word " tramezzo," which indicates a ftrufture attached to the fides of the High Altar, for the ufe of the Choral performers. Thefe Altar-Screens, which have now difappeared, were to be feen in feveral Churches of Florence, fuch as S*. Maria Nuova, S^ Maria Novella, S^. Croce, S. Marco and others. Vafari, in his own Life, fays that Cofimo I. commiffioned him to remove the Altar-Screen of S''. Maria Novella, and that the Church was very much improved by the removal. 8 The Life of Fra Giovanni Da Fiefole, Dominic at the root of it, and, within round fhields about the branches, all the Popes, Cardinals, Bifhops, Saints, and theological teachers, who had belonged to his Order, — that of the Dominicans, — down to his own time. In this work, and with the aflifliance of the Brethren, who col- lected information from different places, he was enabled to paint feveral portraits. They were thefe : St. Dominic in the middle, who holds the trunk of the tree ; Pope Inno- cent V, a Frenchman ; the Beato Ugoni, firfl Cardinal of that order ; the Beato Paolo of Florence ; the Patriarch, St. Antonino, (8) Archbifhop of Florence ; Giordano Tedefco, fecond General of that order ; of Beato Niccolo ; and the Beato Remigio, and Boninfegno the Martyr, both Floren- tines ; all thefe are on the right fide. On the left he placed Benedi(fl XI. of Trevifo ; Giandomenico, a Florentine Car- dinal ; Pietro, da Palude, Patriarch of Jerufalem ; Albertus Magnus, the German ; Raimondo the Catalan, third Ge- neral of the Order ; the Beato Chiaro of Florence, Father Provincial at Rome ; St. Vincent of Valence, and the Beato Bernardo of Florence ; all thefe heads are full of grace and beauty. (9) Within fome lunettes under the outer cloifter he painted alfo many beautiful figures in frefco, and a Saviour on the Crofs with St. Dominic at the foot of it, which is very much praifed, (10) and, befides many other things about the cells \^fee PL 2] and on the walls, he painted in the dormitory a fubjed: from the New Teftament beau- tiful beyond all praife. (11) But mofl wonderful of all is the principal altar-piece [fee PL 3] on panel in the fame Church, for the Virgin in it by her fweet fimplicity infpires devotion in the hearts of all beholders, and the Saints who The Life of Fra Giovanni Da Fiefole. 9 furround her breathe a like influence. (12) In the Predella are reprefented fome fubjedls from the martyrdom of Sts. Cofimo and Damiano, and of others, fo beautifully, that it is impoffible to conceive fmall figures more delicate, or better conceived, or more carefully finiflied. (13) He exe- cuted likewife the principal altar-piece of S. Domenico at Fiefole, which, having probably fhown figns of decay, has been retouched by other painters, and fomew^hat in- jured, but the Predella, and the Ciborium of the Holy Sa- crament are better preferved, and an infinite number of fmall figures, feen in the celeftial glory, are fo beautiful that they really appear to belong to Heaven, and no one is ever fated w^ith beholding them. (14) In a chapel of the fame Church there is alfo a panel painted by him, repre- fenting the Annunciation, in which the Angel Gabriel's (15) profile is fo devout, delicate, and well drawn, that it looks not like the work of a mortal hand, but as if it had been painted in Paradife. In the landfcape in the back- ground are feen Adam and Eve, who were the caufe of the Incarnation of our Redeemer through the Virgin. The Predella contains alfo fome beautiful fmall fubjeds ; but of all his works, that in which Fra Giovanni furpafi^ed himfelf, and manifefted his greatefi: powers and know- ledge of his Art, is a pidure in that fame Church, at the left of the door of entrance, reprefenting Chrift crowning the Virgin-mother [fee PL 4] in the midfi: of a choir of Angels, and furrounded by hofls of Saints, both men and women, (16) fo innumerable, and ftill fo well brought out in their various attitudes and in their individual exprefiion, that an indefcribable pleafure and fweetnefs is felt in con- B I o The Life of Fra Giovanni Da Fiefole, templating them, and it feems, that the blefled Spirits can- not be in Heaven otherwife than they are here reprefented, or rather, to fpeak more corre(5lly, that they could not be different, if they were there in the body ; for not only the Saints are living, and have a delicate and fweet expreffion of countenance, but the entire colouring of the pidure appears to be the handiwork of a Saint or Angel, which indeed it is ; hence moft rightly was this good Monk ever called Frate Giovanni Angelico. The fubje(5ts of the Vir- gin and St. Dominic, which he painted on the Predella, are divine in their kind, and I for my part can affert in all truth, that I never look upon that work without difcover- ing new beauties, and never leave it without regret. In the Chapel of the Annunziata at Florence, built by Piero, fon of Cofimo de Medici, he painted on the doors of the ambry, in which ftand the filver veffels, fome fmall figures worked out moft carefully \fee PL 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]. (17) This Father painted fo many pictures, which are difperfed through the houfes of the Florentines, that fome- times I am loft in wonder when I think how works fo good and fo many could, though in the courfe of many years, have been brought to perfediion by one man alone. The Very Reverend Don Vincenzio Borghini, Superintendent of the Hofpital of the Innocents, has a moft beautiful little picture reprefenting the Virgin : and Bartolomeo Gondi, as great a lover of the Arts as any gentleman can be, pof- feffes a large pidure, a fmall one, and a Crucifixion, all by his hand. The pidlures on the arch above the gate of San Domenico are his alfo, as well as the Depofition from the Crofs, painted on wood for the Sacrifty of Santa Trinita, \^fee PL 12] (18) upon which he beftowed fo much care. The Life of Fra Giovanni Da Fiefole. 1 1 that it may be reckoned one of his completed works. In San Francefco, beyond the Porta a San Miniato, there is an Annunciation, and in S. Maria Novella, befides the works already mentioned, he painted fmall fubjedls on the Pafcal candle, and on the Reliquaries, [fee PL 1 8] which are expofed upon the Altar on the great folemnities of the Church. In the Abbey of the fame City, over the door of the cloifter, he painted a St. Benedid; in the adl of en- joining lilence. (19) For the Flax-merchant's Guild he painted a pi(5ture, [fee PI. i 3] (20) which is in their Guild- hall, and at Cortona a little lunette over the door of the church (21) of his own Order, as well as the principal Al- tar-piece; thefe are on panel. In the Duomo of Orvieto he began fome Prophets [fee PI. 14 a?2d 15] (which were afterwards completed by Luca da Cortona), on the ceiling of the Chapel dedicated to the Virgin. For the Confra- ternity of the Tempio of Florence, he painted a Dead Chrift on panel, (22) and, in the Church of the Friars of the Angeli, a Paradife and a Hell in fmall figures,* [fee PI. 1 6] in which with great propriety he reprefented the Blefied in glorified beauty, and full of joy and heavenly delight, and the Damned made ready for the pains of Hell, in all the various fhapes of forrow, and bearing ftamped upon their faces their fins and their fhame. The Blefi^ed are (qqw in celeftial dance, entering the gates of Paradife, and the wicked dragged down by Devils into the eternal punifh- ment of Hell. This work is in the fame church towards the great Altar at the right hand, where the priefi: fits when Mafs is fung. (23) For the Nuns of San Piero Martire * Or rather the " Quatuor Noviflima." 1 2 The Life of Fra Giovanni Da Fief ale. (now transferred to the Monaftery of S. Felice in FhzzsLy this Saint being Hkewife of the Order of Camaldoli) he painted on panel our Lady, St. John the Baptift, St. Do- minic, St. Thomas, and St. Peter Martyr, with many fmall figures (24), and there is alfo a panel by his hand on the Screen of S. Maria Nuova (25). The fame of Fra Giovanni having fpread throughout the whole of Italy on account of thefe his many works, Pope Nicholas V. fent for him (26), and ordered him to paint in the Chapel of the Palace in Rome, where the Pope ufually hears Mafs, a Depofition from the Crofs, and fome beautiful fubje(fls illuftrating the Life of S. Lorenzo (27), as well as to illuminate fome books, which are moft beautiful. In the Minerva* he painted the principal Altar-piece, and an Annunciation, which is now againft a wall near the great Chapel (28) ; and he ornamented with paintings, for the fame Pontiff, the Chapel of the Sacrament in the Palace, which was fubfequently deftroyed by Paul III. in order to ftraighten the ftaircafe. This great work of Fra Giovanni was a frefco in his beft manner, and it repre- fented fome portion of the Life of Jefus Chrift ; he intro- duced in it feveral portraits from life of remarkable con- temporary perfons, which in all probability would all have been loft, if Jovius had not faved, and placed in his own Mufeum, thofe of Nicholas V., of the Emperor Frederick, (who at that time had come to Italy,) of the Monk Anto- nino, afterwards Archbifhop of Florence (29), of Biondo of Forli, and of Ferrante of Aragon. * This title is commonly given in Rome to the Church of S. Maria, built upon the fite of an ancient temple of Minerva. The Life of Fra Giovanni Da Fiefole. 1 3 Seeing that Fra Giovanni was a moft holy, peaceful, and humble minded man (as in very deed he was) the Pontiff thought this fimple Monk worthy to fill the archiepifcopal chair of Florence, which happened at that time to be vacant ; but upon its being offered to him, Fra Giovanni intreated his Holinefs that this dignity might be beftowed upon fome other perfon, in as much as he did not confider himfelf fit to hold rule over men ; and he pointed out a Monk of his Order, who loved the poor, was mod learned, and capable of governing, and upon whom that high office might be conferred much more fitly than upon himfelf. Hearing this, and being aware of its truth, the Pope moft freely granted the requeft, and it was thus that the Domi- nican monk Antonino came to be Archbifhop of Florence, a man famous for his fand:ity and his learning, and, in a word, fuch as to deferve to be canonized by Adrian VI. now in our own times. Great was the goodnefs of Fra Giovanni (indeed moft rare in thefe days) to yield fo great a dignity and honour, offered to him by the Pontiff, to another man, whom with gladnefs and finglenefs of heart he thought more fit for them than himfelf. Let the Eccle- fiaftics of our times learn from this holy man not to feek greedily thofe honours which they cannot worthily fuffain, but rather to yield them to the more deferving. But to return to Fra Giovanni ; would to God that every Ecclefi- aflic (and the Faithful ought to take this in good part) fpent his time, as did this truly angelic Monk, in the fervice of God, and to the good of his neighbour and of the world ! What more can any one defire, what more ought any one to defire, than by holy living to gain the Heavenly Kingdom, 14 The Life of Fra Giovanni Da Fiefole, and by virtuous labours to leave in this world a lafting fame ? In truth it cannot be, nor mufi: we think it poffible, that fuch high and extraordinary gifts as were in Fra Giovanni fliould defcend from on high upon any but a man of the holiefl life, for thofe, the working of whofe art is in religious things, ought themfelves to be devoted to the Church and holy men, feeing that when fuch things come from the hand of men of little faith and little reverence for Religion, they often (uggtH to the mind finful defires and wanton thoughts ; whence arife both blame and praife, blame for the impure intent, praife for the power and fkil- fulnefs of the working. But I fhould be forry to lead any one to the wrong conclufion, that weaknefs and awkward- nefs are devotional, or that beauty and excellence muft be fenfual, as fome think, who, when they fee a reprefentation of a woman or a youth more than commonly fair and gracious, call it at once wanton, not perceiving how un- juftly they condemn the judgement of the Painter, who holds that the Saints in Heaven are as much more beautiful than mere mortal beings, as Heaven is more beautiful than our Earth and all our works ; and what is worfe, they difcover their own grofs and corrupt mind, when they draw out of thefe things evil defires. If they loved purity as much as they wifh to fhow by their foolifh zeal, thefe re- prefentations would turn their thoughts to Heaven, and fofler the defire of making themfelves acceptable to the Creator of all things, from whom, as from their foun- tain, all beauty and perfed:ion do flow. How muft we fuppofe fuch men to be moved, how mufl we believe that they demean themfelves, when they are in the prefence of living beauty, accompanied by lafcivious blandifliments, by The Life of Fra Giovanni Da Fiefole. 1 5 honeyed words, by graceful movements, by glances that ravifh all but the ftouteft hearts, if the image, the fhadow, fo to fpeak, of beauty, awakens in them fuch emotions ? But on the other fide, I would not let it be believed that I approve of thofe figures almofi: wholly unclothed, that are feen in churches ; becaufe in them it is evident that the artifh has not properly confidered what was due to the place ; for even to make a fhow of the knowledge of his Art, the Painter Ihould do it with all due confideration of circumftances, perfons, times, and places. Fra Giovanni was in his manner of life fimple and moft holy ; and the following may be taken as an indication of his fcrupulous fubjediion to duty. One day Nicholas V. having invited him to dinner, he refufed to eat meat, be- caufe he had not previoufly obtained the required permifTion of his Superior, forgetting, in his unqueftioning obedience, the authority of the Pope to releafe him from it. He avoided all worldly bufinefs, and living in purity and holi- nefs, he fo loved the poor, as, I believe, his foul now loves Heaven ; he worked continually in his Art ; nor would he ever paint other things than thofe which concerned the Saints. He might have been rich, but he cared not for riches ; nay, he was wont to fay, that true riches confift en- tirely in being content with little. He might have had command over many, and would not ; faying, that to obey others was lefs troublefome and lefs liable to error. It was in his choice to have honours and dignities in his Convent and beyond it ; but they were valuelefs to him, who affirmed that the only dignity he fought was to avoid Hell, and to reach Paradife : and what dignity is to be compared to that, which all Ecclefiaftics, and indeed all men, ought to feek. 1 6 The Life of Fra Giovanni Da Fiefole, and which is found only in God and in a virtuous Hfe ? He was moft kind, and Hving foberly and chaftely, he freed himfelf from the fnares of the world, frequently repeating that the Painter had need of quiet, and of a life undifturbed by cares, and that he who does the things of Chrift fhould always be with Chrift. That which appears to me a very wondrous and almoft an incredible thing is, that among his brethren he never was feen in anger : and it was his wont, when he admonifhed his friends, to do fo with a fweet and fmiling gentlenefs. To thofe who afked for his works he invariably anfwered with incredible benignity, -that they had only to obtain the confent of the Prior, and then he would not fail to do their pleafure. In fine, this Monk, whom it is impoffible to praife over much, was in his works and words moft humble and modeft, and in his pidures of ready fkill, and devout ; and the Saints which he painted have a more faint-like air and femblance than thofe of any other Painter whatever. It was his rule not to retouch or alter any of his works, but to leave them juft as they had fliaped themfelves at firft ; for he believed, and he ufed to fay, that fuch was the will of God. It is fuppofed that Fra Giovanni never took up a brufti without a previous prayer. He never painted a Crucifix without bathing his own cheeks with tears ; and therefore it is that the exprefilons and attitudes of his figures clearly demonftrate the fincerity of his great foul for the Chriftian Religion. He died in 1455, in the fixty-eighth year of his age, (30) and left furviving him his fcholars, Benozzo (31) Fiorentino, a clofe imitator of his ftyle, and Zanobi Strozzi, (32) who painted many works both on canvafs and on wood, that are difperfed The Life of Fra Giovanni Da Fiefole. ij through the houfes of the Florentines. One of his pic- tures, on panel, is now on the Screen of S. Maria Novella, by the fide of the work of Fra Giovanni, and another in the now ruined Convent of S. Benedetto of the Order of Camaldoli, beyond the Porta a Pinti. It was, however, transferred to the Convent of the Angeli, in the fmall Church of S.Michele(fituated before the principal Church), and placed againft the wall at the right hand Ude, going towards the Altar. (33) A third, on panel, is in the Chapel of the Nafi in S. Lucia; and a fourth in S. Romeo. (34) In the clofet of the Ducal Palace there is alfo, by the fame hand, the portrait of Giovanni de Medici fon of Bicci, and that of Bartolommeo Valori, both in one picture. Gentile da Fabriano (35) and Domenico fon of Michelino were two other fcholars of Fra Giovanni ; and Domenico painted, among many other things, the pidure for the Altar of S. Zanobi in the Church of S. Apollinare at Florence. Fra Giovanni was buried by his brethren in the Church of the Minerva at Rome, by the fide entrance near the Sacrifty, in a round tomb, (36) upon which was placed his portrait, of the natural lize. This epitaph was carved on the marble : (37) " Non mihl fit laudi, quod eram velut alter Apelles ; Sed quod lucra tuis omnia, Chrifte, dabam : Altera nam terris opera extant ; altera caslo. Urbs me Joannem flos tulit Etruriae."* * Not that in me a new Apelles lived, But that Thy poor, O Chrifl, my gains received, This be my praife ; Deeds done for fame on Earth Live not in Heaven. Fair Florence gave me birth. C I 8 The Life of Fra Giovanni Da Fiefole. In S. Maria del Fiore there are two very large books, divinely illuminated, (38) by Fra Giovanni; they are very richly ornamented, held in great veneration, and io^xi only on the days of the great Feftivals of the Church. NOTES4 :N [the later editions of] Lanzi's " Storia Pittorica," and in the " Giornata d'iftruzione a Fiefole" of Giufeppe del Roflb, the fecular name of Fra Giovanni is dated to have been Santi Tofini. This, however, is a miftake, which has its origin in the Lettere Fiefolane, where, (in the fourth Letter), Fra Giovanni is confounded with another monk of the fame Order and Convent. Baldinucci found in fome ancient Florentine records an alluflon to " Frate Guido vocato frate Giovanni." In the Chronicles of the Dominican Fathers he is mentioned as " Frater Johannes Petri de Mugello," and his brother, alfo a Dominican, is entitled " Frater Benedidus Petri de Mugello." Again, in an inftrument cited by Delia Valle [Storia del Duomo d'Orvieto, p. 368] mention is made of '^ Frater Johannes Petri." From thefe documents we learn the name of the painter's father, and confe- quently his own furname. The adjundl of Fiefole is derived not from his birthplace, but from his convent. [Fra Giovanni was born, according to Padre L. V. Marchefe (Memorie dei piu infigni pittori, fcultori, e architetti Dominicani, Firenze, 1 845) in the neighbourhood of Vicchio, a fortrefs fituate between Dicomano and X The Notes diftinguifhed by a * are tranflated from thofe of the Florentine edition of Vafari, publifhed in 1832-8; thofe marked with a f are from the German tranflation of Ludwig Schorn (Stuttg. und Tub. 1837.) The Notes included within brackets are added by the prefent Tranflator. 20 * Notes, Borgo a S. Lorenzo, near the Sieve, in the beautiful province of Mugello, and but a few miles from Vefpignano, the birthplace of Giotto. The fame writer reprefents the titles of " Beato" and " Angelico" as epithets by which the painter was popularly diftin- guifhed, in teftimony both of the purity of his life, and the devo- tional fpirit of his works. And this account feems In accordance with an allufion in Vafari's text (p. lo). Other authorities, however, confider thefe as defignations proper to the fpiritual rank which was folemnly conferred on Fra Giovanni by the Church.] (2). f He entered holy Orders In 1409, when he was twenty years of age. Vafari, In his Life of Mafaccio, fays that the ftudy of that artift's works was the fource of Fra Giovanni's excellence in painting. Fra Giovanni, however, was born In 1387, Mafaccio in 1402 ; Bottari therefore thinks it probable, that the former may have been a fcholar of Gherardo Stamina, though he may fubfe- quently have profited from feeing the works of Mafaccio, whom he furvived twelve years. In the paintings of Fra Giovanni no indi- cation is {^qvl of that ftudy and purfuit of the Real which chara^le- rifes Mafaccio : animated. Indeed, by a fpirit at once pious and independent. It Is hardly to be fuppofed that he would have fettered himfelf by the more material aims of his contemporary. Von Rumohr attributes to Fra Giovanni the great merit of having been the firft to exprefs the mental emotions and their moft fubtle modifications In the human countenance ; " not that we mean," fays Rumohr, " to point him out as a phyfiognomlft, for In felzing " the varieties of the human countenance, Mafaccio has unquef- " tionably a power greater than Giovanni's, In whofe hands there " Is no doubt a certain uniformity of expreftion ; but yet Giovanni " obtained a very decided Influence on his times by the clearnefs " with which, within thofe limits, he ImprefTed upon the countenance " the tendereft emotions of the foul." (3). * Moft of thefe miniatures were effaced by the conftant ufe of the books, which were difperfed after the fupprefTion of the convents by the French ; fome, however, are ftill preferved in S. Marco. Notes, 2 1 (4). *Very probably the fame " Frater Benedidus Petri de Mugello" mentioned in note (i). (5)- [Of thefe three paintings on panel, one, according to Padre Marchefe, is the fame which is now in the Gallery of the Uffizii : the other two appear to be loft.] (6). * Three beautiful little paintings, probably thofe here named, are now in the facrifty of Sa. Maria Novella. (7). *This painting is ftill in very good prefervation, except the red mantle of the Magdalene, which has been infelicitoufly re- touched. [Although the defcription of it is introduced by Vafari whilft referring to the earlier works of Fra Giovanni, it appears from Marchefe, p. 279, that it could not have been executed before 1441, when the painter was about fifty-four years of age.] (8). *Frate Giovanni did not paint S. Antonino, who was then living, but fome other perfon, whofe portrait, as Baldinucci fhews, was fubfequently turned into a reprefentation of that faint, by altering the old infcription, adding the glory and the diadem on the head, and giving him the archiepifcopal pallium. (9). t The whole of this large painting is ftill well preferved, and full of beauty. [Marchefe, however, fays (p. 292) that during the French occupation of Florence fome troops quartered in the con- vent erafed the pupils from the eyes of all the figures,] (10). * The Crucifixion and the lunettes are ftill in good prefer- vation. (11). * In the cells are ftill preferved fome fubjeds from the New Teftament, and from the life of S. Domenico ; but the painting in the dormitory is no longer to be feen : there is however a Madonna, furrounded by Saints, not mentioned by Vafari. (12). * This is now in the Accademia delle Belle Arti, ruined by cleanings and retouchings from inexperienced hands. (13). * The predella is now on the principal altar of the Cap- pella dei Pittori, near the large cloifter of the Ss. Nunziata. The lateral fubjeds are in tolerable prefervation, but the central piece is fpoiled by retouching. (14). * The picfture is yet in the Church, but the predella, fo 22 Notes, much praifed by Vafari, paiTed into the hands of ftrangers ; and a copy is now fubftituted for the original. (15). t This pidlure of the Annunciation was fold about the middle of the laft century to the Duke Maria Farnefe. (16). f This excellent pidure has been, fince 18 12, in the Gal- lery of the Louvre. Outlines of it have been publifhed by Ternite, with an introductory effay by A. W. Schlegel on the Coronation of the Virgin, and the Miracle of S. Dominic (Paris, 18 17). A panel, reprefenting the Death and Afcenfion of the Virgin, was in the pofTefTion of the late W. Y. Ottley, Efq. (17). f They are upon eight panels, divided into thirty-fix com- partments, reprefenting the life of Chrift, and pafled from the library of the monks of the order of Serviti to the gallery of the Florentine Academy. Outlines of them have been publifhed by G. B. Nocchi and by Metzger.J (18). t Now in the gallery of the Academy of Florence. At the top of the picture, on three fmaller panels, are the three Marys at the grave, the Refurredtion, and Chrift appearing to Mary Magdalene ; and at the fides, three faints. One head alone in this pidture has fuffered from unfkilful reftoration. It contains the portrait of Mi- chelozzo Michelozzi, [mentioned by Vafari in his Life of that artift]. (19). * It is there ftill, though fpoiled by dufi: and damp, over a walled up door in the fmall cloifter containing the well. (20). f This is a large tabernacle. In the centre the Madonna is fitting with the divine infant on her lap, and at the fides are twelve angels. The doors have two faints on the inner fide, and two on the outer. This tabernacle is now in the Gallery of the Uffizii, at the entrance of the eafl:ern corridor, and bears the date of 1433- X Prefixed to the outlines of G. B. Nocchi is the profile portrait of the painter given, on a reduced fcale, in the firft page of the prefent tranflation. Fra Barto- lommeo, a monk of the fame religious houfe with Fra Giovanni, though not a con- temporary, introduced his figure amongft the Beati in the frefco of the Laft Judgment, painted, about 1499, ^^ ^ chapel belonging to the Hofpital of S. Maria Nuova at Florence. (See Vafari, Vita di Fra Bartolommeo.) From this frefco the head of Nocchi was traced. Notes, 23 (21). * t The painting over the door has fuffered much, and the altar-piece has been removed to the choir. Formerly there were three other pictures of Beato Angelico in the facrifty of the Church of S. Domenico, viz. an Annunciation with large figures, and two panels with fmall, reprefenting the life of the Virgin, and that of S. Domenico. Thefe three pidures are now in the church of the Gefu. (22). * After the fupprefTion of this confraternity, in 1786, the pidlure pafled into the Accademia delle Belle Arti. Befides the dead Chrift, the Marys, &c. the painter has introduced into this compo- fition S. Domenico and the Beata Villana, becaufe the confraternity of the Tempio had fome ancient claims to the relics of the latter faint, which were preferved in the Dominican Church of Sa. Maria Novella. (23). f This mofl beautiful pidlure is alfo at prefent in the Acca- demia. Another celebrated work of Fra Giovanni, reprefenting the Laft Judgment, was in the collection of Cardinal Fefch at Rome ; [and is now in that of Lord Ward at London.] A third Laft Judg- ment, of large fize, in good prefervation, and (according to Lanzi) one of the beft works of Fra Angelico, is ftill in the Church of Sa. Maria de' Pazzi at Florence. [Herr L. Schorn gives the following account of fome other works of the Beato Angelico.] " Three fmall panels, reprefenting the " hiftory of five Martyrs, two others with theological difputants, " the above mentioned Madonna with the four Saints, and an " excellent dead Chrift at the foot of the Crofs, with various Saints, '■'■ are in the Florentine Gallery. The Gallery of the Uffizii pofTelTes " five panels by the fame hand, viz. the Preaching of a Saint, the " Marriage of the Virgin, the Adoration of the Magi, the Death " of St. Mary, and the Birth of John the Baptift. Three of thefe are '' engraved in the * Galleria di Firenze.' In the facrifty of the '' Dominicans at Perugia, is a Madonna. In the Corfini Gallery " at Rome an Afcenfion of Chrift, a Defcent of the Holy Ghoft, " and a Laft Judgment. In the collecftion of paintings in the 24 Notes, " Vatican there are two fmall pidlures from the life of S. Niccolo " di Bari. In the Gallery of the Royal Mufeum at Berlin, a ^' Virgin enthroned, a St. Francis, a St. Francis and St. Dominic " greeting each other, and the Laft Judgment, in which Cofimo '' Rofelli is faid to have helped him, (fee Waagen's Verzeichnifs.) A " myflical pi6ture reprefenting the Afcenfion of the believing Soul '' to Heaven, is now in the colledion of Meffrs. Weuddftadt at " Frankfort." (24). * This pi6lure is in the Grand-Ducal Gallery, hanging near the tabernacle mentioned in note (20). (25). * This is alfo in the Gallery in the firft room of the Tufcan School. (26). [In the opinion of Padre Marchefe (fee pp. 320-331) Vafari has, in this and the fucceeding paragraph, confounded Nicholas V. with his predeceffor Eugenius IV. According to this critic, Bartolommeo Zabarella, Archbifhop of Florence, died in 1445, and Eugenius, who then occupied the papal chair, beftowed that fee on St. Antonino on the ift of March, 1446. In fupport of thefe ftatements Marchefe cites Padre Guglielmo Bartoli (Vita di S. Antonino e de' fuoi Difcepoli, and Vita di Fra Giovanni Angelico), and alfo a letter of Francefco Caftiglione, the friend of Antonino, preferved in the " Afta Sandlorum." Confequently, if the fee of Florence was ever offered to Fra Angelico, it muft have been by Eugenius, and by him alfo the Painter muft have been firft invited to Rome, fome time before March, 1446. Eugenius died in February, 1447, and on the fifth of March following, Tommafo da Sarzana was ele6led to the papal chair, with the title of Nicholas V. Within two months of this event, on the firft of May, 1447, Fra Giovanni wrote from Rome to the Chapter of Orvieto, offering his fervices for the decoration of their Cathedral ; which, in the opinion of Marchefe, is inconfiftent with the fuppofition that he was brought for the firft time to Rome by Nicholas, for the purpofe of painting in the Vatican. On the other hand, it is very furprifing that Vafari, befides afTigning thefe incidents to the wrong Pontiff, fhould at the fame time miftake the portrait preferved in the Notes. 25 mufeum of Paulus Jovius. For fince the frefco which contained this portrait contained alfo, as he tells us, that of " the Monk AntoninOj afterwards Archbifhop of Florence," it is clear that the Pope there introduced muft be he whofe pontificate commenced before the appointment of Antonino. However this queftion may be refolved, it is certain that Nicholas, a liberal patron both of learning and art, continued, if he did not initiate, the favour fhewed to the painter. He is at leaft entitled to the credit of having commiflioned the frefcoes of the Chapel which bears his name ; for on one of them is the following infcription placed in the enfuing century by Gregory XIII. — *' Greg. XIII. Pont. Max. egregiam hanc pi^luram a F. Joanne Angelico Fefulano ord. Prasd. Nicolai Papas V. jufTu elaboratam ac vetuftate poene confumptam inftaurari mandavit." See Seroax d'Agincourt, Hift. de I'Art, PI. cxLV. where an outline is given of all the paintings in the chapel.] (27). [Thefe, and the fubjedls from the Life of S. Stefano, are in the Chapel of Nicholas V. near the Stanze di Raffaelle, and approached through the Sala di Coftantino. They are for the moft part in good prefervation.] Of this Chapel Herr L. Schorn fays, " It was reftored under *' Gregory XIII. and reopened, but it became fo totally negle6led " after his time, that Taja learned its exiftence by reading the " infcription of Gregory XIII., and Bottari could only get admit- " tance to it through the window. In the middle of the laft " century mafs was again performed in it ; but the Chapel was " again forgotten, and it was a German, Herr Wolfez Hirt, " who directed to it the attention of the lovers of art. The paint- " ings of Fra Giovanni appear to have fuffered much from refto- " rations. They reprefent in two rows, one above the other, the " life of the two deacons, St. Lawrence and St. Stephen, whofe bones " were preferved in S. Lorenzo fuori le mura. The higher row *' contains, " I . The ordination of St. Stephen as Deacon. " 2. The Saint diftributing alms. " 3. His preaching to the people. D 2 6 Notes. " 4. His appearance before the Council at Jerufalem. " 5 and 6. The leading forth and ftoning of the Saint. " The lower row contains, " I. The ordination of St. Lawrence as Deacon. ^* 2. The Pope giving to St. Lawrence the riches of the Church to be beftowed upon the poor. " 3. The Saint diftributing thefe riches among the poor. " 4. The Saint in bonds before the judgment feat of the Em- peror. " 5. His martyrdom. " On the arches of the windows and of the doors are the four '* fathers of the Greek, and the four of the Latin, Church, and on " the ceiling the four Evangelifts. A Defcent from the Crofs, " which was over the altar, is concealed by whitewafh. The " Evangelift St. John has been beautifully etched by Stolzel ; the " preaching of St. Stephen, and the diftribution of alms by St. " Lawrence, have been etched by Ottley." \ (28). * Thefe two panels are ftill in the Church of the Minerva, one over the altar of the CarafFa Chapel, dedicated to St. Thomas Aquinas, the other over the altar of the Chapel of the Rofario. f In the tranfept of the Church there are now fome paintings which are attributed to Fra Giovanni. Wood cuts from them are to be feen in a rare work entitled " Medltationes Reverendiflimi patrls Domini Johannis de Turrecremata." (29). * He was fubfequently canonized : here he is reprefented by Fra Giovanni merely as a monk. [For the fuppofed portrait of him in S. Marco fee note (8).] (30). f In the firft edition Vafari fays in his fixty-ninth year. Fra Giovanni died at Rome on the i8th of February, 1455. See Baldinucci, vol. 3, p. 99. (31). f Benozzo Gozzoli's life is written by Vafari. (32). fThis Zanobi di Benedetto was of the noble family of X The copper-plate engraving now publifhed by the Society is from the third fubjedl in the lower feries. Notes, 27 Strozzl. Baldlnucci gives a lengthened notice of him (vol. 3). He painted, not merely pictures for churches, but trays refembling our tea-boards, which it was the cuftom to prefent to women, as a gift after their confinement, and which were ornamented with facred fubjedls. {^'2)'^' t This pidture is no longer to be found. [The panel pidlures mentioned by Vafari are now difficult to trace, having been difperfed at the fuppreffion of the religious orders by the French.] (34). t Richa (" Notizie delle Chiefe Florentine," part i. p. 258) was not able to find this pidlure. i^^';^'). t Lanzi doubts this, becaufe, in 141 7, Gentile was already employed on the Duomo of Orvieto as Magifter Magiftrorum, and Fra Giovanni at this time was only thirty years old ; but according to Delia Valle, (Storia del Duomo d' Orvieto), Gentile's refidence in that city dates from 1423. His firft mailer was Allegretto da Fabriano. (^Z^^- * The tomb is not round, but oblong. (37). [An infcription is added, above thefe lines, which is given in the Vignette following the Plates. The date (1455) is adduced by the Italian and German Editors, in proof of the Inaccuracy of Delia Valle, who, in the Catalogue of Artifts employed at Orvieto, which is appended to the " Storia del Duomo," enters Fra Giovanni under the year 1457. -^^ ^^^' however, this Is fimply a mifprint for 1447, as may be feen by reference to the narrative portion of the fame work.] (38). * Some of the illuminated books of Sa. Maria del Flore have been transferred to the Laurentian Library, but of thefe mentioned by Vafari we have no accurate information. 'The following CATAhOGUK of the Paintings now remain- ing from the hand of Fra Giovanni Angelico^ is given by Padre Mar chef e in his " Memorie'' already quoted. Its pretenfions to completenefs mufl be limited to the fpecimens left in Italy. Perugia. Church of S. Domenico. In the fmall Choir of the Monks, the BlefTed Virgin on a throne with the Infant in her arms ; at the fides two panels (now feparated), one with S. John the Baptift, and St. Catherine the Virgin and Martyr, the other with S. Domenico and S. Niccolo di Bari. In the Sacrifty, twelve fmall panels with twelve Saints ; a pi6lure on wood with two fubje6ts from the life and death of S. Niccolo di Bari ; two fmall panels with the Virgin receiving the Annunciation, and the angel Gabriel. CORTONA. Church of S. Domenico. On the facade of the Church, over the entrance door, in Frefco, the Blefi'ed Virgin with the Infant in her arms, and at the fides two Domenican Saints. On the Canopy of the Porch, the four Evangelifl:s. Within the Church, in the lateral Chapel near the High Altar, the Virgin enthroned, furrounded by Angels and Saints. In the Chieja del Gefu^ an Annunciation and two predellas, one with the hiftory of S. Domenico, and the other with that of the Virgin. [All thefe works were painted about 141 4. See "Me- morie," vol. i, p. 248.] FlESOLE. Convent of S. Domenico. In the Choir of the Church, a pidlure on wood, with the Blefi^ed Virgin in a throne furrounded by Angels and Saints. In the Refedtory, a frefco of the Crucifixion, with St. Catalogue of Paint i?tgs by Fra Giovanni, 2 9 John and the Virgui befide the Crofs. In the old Chapter Houfe, alfo hi frefco, the Blefled Virgin with the Infant in her arms, be- tween S. Domenico and S. Thomas Aquinas, figures of the fize of life. Church of St. Jerome. The Blefled Virgin with the *' Seraphic Do5for" and other Saints. Florence. Convent of St. Mark. In frefco — the Crucifixion in the firft cloifter, and five lunettes, with half-length figures. In the Chapter Houfe, the Crucifixion, and the portraits of illuftrious Dominicans. In the Convent, all the cells but two of the upper Dormitory, amounting to thirty-two, and three fubjeds on the external walls. Some Cru- cifixes in the Dormitory called *' II Giovanato." S. Maria Novella. Three Reliquaries. The Academy. The Depofition from the Crofs. Two fmall panels reprefenting the Beato Albertus Magnus, and S. Thomas Aquinas difcourfing from the Pulpit. The Blefled Virgin with the Infant in her arms. S. Cofimo healing a fick man. Another De- pofition from the Crofs. The Final Judgment. The entombment of the five Martyrs, Sts. Cofimo and Damiano, and their three brothers. A Pieta, with the infliruments of the Pafllon. Eight panels, which formed the doors of the Ambry in the Church of the Annunziata, with thirty-five fubjedls from the life of Chrift. The Blefled Virgin in the midft of feveral Saints. Another fimilar panel. The Blefled Virgin, with two Angels and fome Saints. Gallery of the UJfizii. A large tabernacle with the Blefled Virgin on a throne, and feveral Saints. The Coronation of the Virgin. Six fmall panels reprefenting the Adoration of the Magi, two fub- jeds from the life of S. Mark, the Marriage and the Death of the Blefled Virgin, and the Birth of S. John the Baptill:. Gallery of the Pitti Palace. A pidure on wood, formerly in the Church of S. Peter the Martyr, and afterwards in the Gallery of the Uffizii ; it reprefents the Blefled Virgin, and feveral Saints. J o Catalogue of Paintings by Fra Giovan?ti. Rome. Vatican. Chapel of Nicholas V. painted in frefco with fubjedls from the lives of the Martyrs St. Stephen and St. Lawrence. Gal- lery. Two fmall panels with fubjedls relating to S. Niccolo di Bari. Valentini Gallery. Part of a predella, probably belonging to the pifture in the Choir of the Church of S. Domenico at Fiefole. Corfini Gallery. Laft Judgment. Gallery of Cardinal Fejch. A Final Judgment. [Now in Lord Ward's Colledion in London]. Orvieto. Cathedral. A large frefco on the roof of the Chapel of the Bleffed Virgin, reprefenting the upper portion of a Laft Judgment, left unfinilhed by Fra Angelico, and completed by Luca Signorelli. MONTEFALCO. The Church of the Francijcan MonkSy according to Rofini, has fome works of Fra Giovanni ; the fubjeds, however, he does not mention. Paris. Louvre. A large pifture on wood, reprefenting the Coronation of the Virgin, and a predella, with fubjedls from the life of S. Domenico. Berlin. Royal Mujeum. S. Domenico and S. Francifco embracing each other, and a Final Judgment. LIST OF PLATES. Vignette at the beginning of the Life. Portrait of Fra Giovanni. From the freico-painting by Fra Bartolommeo. (See p. 22, Note.) Plate 1. Crucifixion and various Saints. On the wall of the Chapter Houfe of S. Marco at Florence. 2. Coronation of the Virgin. From one of the cells in S. Marco. 3. Altarpiece, Madonna with infant Saviour and Saints. Now in the Accademia at Florence. 4. Coronation of the Virgin. Now in the Louvre. 5. The Flight into Egypt. 6. The Murder of the Innocents. 7. The Raifing of Lazarus. 8. Chrift's Entry into Jerufalem. 9. Judas receiving the Thirty Pieces of Silver. I 0. Chrift vi^afhing the Difciples' Feet. II. The Burial in the Garden. Panel-pi6turcs, now in the Accademia at Florence. 12. The Depofition from the Crofs. Now in the Accademia at Florence. 13. Tabernacle. Now in the Galleiy of the Uffizii at Florence. 14. Figure of Chrift. In the Duomo at Orvieto. 15. Group of Prophets. In the Duomo at Orvieto. 16. The Laft Judgment. Now in the Accademia at Florence. 17. The Marriage of the Virgin. Now in the Galleiy of the Uffizii. 3 2 Liji of Plates, i8. The Annunciation. On a Reliquary in the Sacrifty of Sta. Maria Novella. 19. St. Peter preaching. Now in the Gallery of the Uffizii. 20. The Adoration of the Magi. Now in the Galleiy of the Uffizii. Vignette. Tombftone of Fra Giovanni, in Sta. Maria fopra A'linerva, at Rome. Printed by C. 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