Fra Beato Angelico

Vasari called the artist "Angelic" ( Italian: Angelico ); thanks to him, the artist became known as Fra (brother, monk) Angelico. Very early, he was called Beato Angelico , that is, Blessed Angelico, but the Vatican officially ranked him blessed only in 1984 , and he began to be considered the heavenly patron of all artists ^[3] .

Born in 1400 in Vicchio in the Mugello Valley near Florence . Entered the Dominican monastery in Fiesole in 1418 .

The teacher is unknown. He began his activity with illustrations of religious books. Work with large forms began with the painting of altars in 1428 ? - 1433 the monastery of San Marco (Florence), when several monks from Fiesole moved to Florence to paint the rebuilt Monastery of Michelozzo . In 1445, Angelico summoned Pope Eugene IV to Rome to paint the frescoes of the now defunct Epiphany Church in the Vatican .

In 1447, with his pupil, Benozzo Gozzoli painted the frescoes of the church in Orvieto , and in 1447-1450, the walls of the Niccolin chapel in the Popes Palace in the Vatican. His other student was Antoniazzo Romano - an important figure of Italian painting of the XV century.

Fra Angelico returned to Florence in 1449 . In 1450, he became abbot of the monastery of San Domenico in Fiesole ^[3] .

In 1452, the artist again went to Rome - at the call of the new Pope Nicholas V ^[4] .

Fra Beato Angelico died in Rome in 1455 . He was buried in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva , where his grave exists to this day. On his sarcophagus you can read: “Here lies the honored artist Fra Giovanni from the Order of Preachers. Let it be praised not that I seemed the second Apelles , but that I have given everything that I possess to You, O Christ. Some creations are alive on earth, others in heaven. The city of Florence, Etrurian color, gave me, Giovanni, a birth ” ^[3] . The Latin text of the epitaph on his grave was allegedly composed by Pope Nicholas V ^[5] .

The creativity of Fra Angelico is characterized by the simplicity of color schemes, bordering on naivety, the soft lyricism characteristic of many quattrocento masters, and the widespread use of gold.

Nikolai Gumilev named one of his poems “Fra Beato Angelico” (1912) in honor of the artist ^[4] .

The memory of the blessed Fra Angelico is celebrated on February 18 .

• The Annunciation , (1430-1432. Wood, tempera. 194x194, Prado )
• The Coronation of Mary, (1434-1435. Wood, tempera. 112x114, Uffizi )
• "Noli me tangere", (c. 1437-1446. Museum of St. Mark, Florence )
• The Transfiguration, (1440-1441. Monastery of San Marco, Florence)
• The Last Judgment, (c. 1432-1435. Wood, tempera, 105x210. Museum of San Marco, Florence)
• Crucifixion, (c. 1435. Louvre Museum , Paris )
• “Descent from the Cross”, (1437-1440. Museum of San Marco, Florence, 176x185 cm, wood, tempera)
• “Madonna and Child with St. Dominic and St. Thomas Aquinas” (1424-1430, fresco. 196x187)
• The Madonna of Fiesole, (1428-1430. Monastery of San Domenico, Fiesole)
• "History of St. Nicholas", (1437. Pinacoteca of the Vatican , Rome)
• “Skull of Adam on Mount Calvary”, (1435, wood, tempera. Florence. Church of San Niccolo del Cheppo)
• Crucifixion with St. Dominic, (c. 1437-1446. Fresco, Florence. Museum of San Marco)
• " Madonna and Child, Saints Dominic and Thomas Aquinas ." (1430. Fresco. State Hermitage Museum , St. Petersburg )
• " Madonna and Child with the Four Angels ." (Around 1420. The State Hermitage Museum , St. Petersburg )
• The Annunciation (1414. Wood, tempera, gold). Collection of Sergei Ivanovich Grigoryants. Moscow.

• "Fra Angelico and the Rise of the Florentine Renaissance" ( Fra Angelico and the Rise of the Florentine Renaissance ) - Prado , 2019.

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  The Annunciation , 1430-1432, Prado , Madrid

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  The Coronation of Mary , 1434-1435, Uffizi , Florence

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  "Noli me tangere" , approx. 1437-1446, Museum of San Marco (Florence)

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  “The Annunciation” (fragment with “Expulsion from Paradise”), 1430-1432, Prado , Madrid

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  The Last Judgment (c. 1432-1435. Wood, tempera, 105x210. Museum of San Marco (Florence)

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  “Skull of Adam on Mount Calvary”, (1435, wood, tempera. Florence . Church of San Niccolo del Cheppo)

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  “ Madonna and Child with Saints Dominic and Thomas Aquinas ”, 1430, fresco, State Hermitage Museum , St. Petersburg

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  " Madonna and Child with the Four Angels ." OK. 1420. The State Hermitage Museum , St. Petersburg

• Fiesole, yes, Fra-Giovanni // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Fra Beato Angelico on artcyclopedia.com
• Fra Beato at Web Gallery of Art
• The Coronation of Our Lady by Beato Angelico (Uffizi Gallery) on the Google Art Project
• Nikolai Gumilev . Fra Beato Angelico (neopr.) . Nikolay Gumilyov: electronic collected works. Date of treatment February 18, 2016.