Fra Angelico : Heaven on Earth
Regular price £38.95'A scholarly but accessible and thought-provoking exercise ... a taut and concentrated study of the painter, focusing on the reliquaries, but also examining broader issues concerning the artist and Dominican patronage. It is full of significant, and often new, information, including important technical analysis' - Apollo Magazine
A handsome book exploring one of the most important artists of the Renaissance
Fra Angelico (c. 1395-1455) transformed painting in Florence with pioneering images, rethinking popular compositions and investing traditional Christian subjects with new meaning.
His altarpieces and frescoes set new standards for quality and ingenuity, contributing to Angelico's unparalleled fame on the Italian peninsula. With the intellect of a Dominican theologian, the technical facility of Florence's finest craftsmen and the business acumen of its shrewdest merchants, he shaped the future of painting in Italy and beyond.
The book includes Fra Angelico's four reliquaries for Santa Maria Novella. Together they cover key episodes in the life of the Virgin Mary and capture in miniature some of his most important compositional innovations. With exceptional examples of Angelico's narrative paintings from collections in Europe and the United States, this book explores Fra Angelico's celebrated talents as a storyteller and the artistic contributions that shaped a new ideal of painting in Florence.
Details
- Author: Nathaniel Silver, Associate Curator of the Collection, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
- Hardcover: 250 pages | 125 colour illustrations
- Date published: February 2018
- Language: English
- Delivery: Allow 1-2 weeks
- ISBN: 978-1911300397
- Dimensions: 28.9 x 25.0 cm
Reviews
'Accompanying an exhibition at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, this catalog combines illuminating essays on the life and art of Italian Renaissance painter Fra Angelico with gorgeous reproductions of his works. The book pays special attention to four reliquaries devoted to the life of the Virgin Mary, one of which was acquired by the museum’s namesake in 1899 and became the first Fra Angelico painting in America. The selection of essays successfully contextualize the artwork in 15th-century Tuscany and describe how Angelico’s involvement in the Dominican Order and his exposure to Sienese art influenced his work. Contributors highlight the artist’s connections to his famous contemporaries, such as the painter Gentile da Fabriano, whose colorful work motivated Angelico to replace his “somber palette” with vibrant colors, and the art theorist Leon Battista Alberti, who drew inspiration from Angelico’s work to craft his important treatise on painting. The detailed exhibition catalog compels readers to scrutinize the featured paintings, observing intriguing details that may be overlooked at a first glance, such as the attributes associated with a group of saints whom Fra Angelico depicts in the predella of one of the reliquaries. This is a wonderful book for Italian Renaissance art enthusiasts' - Publishers Weekly
'A scholarly but accessible and thought-provoking exercise ... a taut and concentrated study of the painter, focusing on the reliquaries, but also examining broader issues concerning the artist and Dominican patronage. It is full of significant, and often new, information, including important technical analysis' - Apollo Magazine
