Part 8

In the fresco representing the Noli me tangere Angelico gives us a work full of freshness and life, idealized in Giottesque style. The figure of Christ is majestic, as with a sign He withdraws Himself from the kneeling Magdalene, who supplicatingly extends her arms towards Him.

Most lovely are the composition and feeling of the figures in the "Nativity," where the Virgin and St. Joseph with joined hands kneel in adoration of the Babe stretched on a heap of straw on the ground. A little above, on the right stands St. Dominic, and behind the Virgin on the left a female saint kneels, her hands clasped in prayer. In the background beneath a humble shed are the bull and the ass, and four adoring angels above.

In the "Transfiguration on Mount Tabor" the figure of the ascending Christ with outstretched arms and noble features is one of Fra Angelico's best works, but the attitudes of the Apostles are conventional; the kneeling figure on the left with hands upraised to express confusion and surprise at the resurrection, is too mannered, and by its pose and action disturbs the serene harmony of the picture.

In the "Institution of the Holy Sacrament," Fra Angelico, in true Giottesque style, represented the Apostles at the mystic feast, and Christ giving them the consecrated wafer, while He holds the chalice in His left hand. Here the figures of the disciples admirably express varied feelings of devotion and joy in receiving the divine food from the hand of the Master. But the fresco which surpasses all, in nobility of line and simple grandeur of conception, is the "Coronation of the Virgin." Christ and the Virgin are seated in glory above the light clouds, the Son places the celestial crown on the head of the Mother who humbly bows her whole form towards Him, with hands crossed on her bosom. Her face is irradiated by an ineffable and heavenly smile, the supreme expression of happiness; the drapery of both is white and delicate, enveloping the limbs with well defined folds. The figures without being ineffectual, indeed they are even forcible, yet appear aerial apparitions, and veritable visions of divinity. Six saints in ecstasy assist at the triumph, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Paul, St. Dominic, St. Francis, St. Peter Martyr and St. Benedict, three on the right and three on the left, in a semicircular composition, all in attitudes of contemplative ecstasy.

The frescoes of the Maries at the Sepulchre, may also be considered one of our artist's masterpieces. The risen Christ emerges to half His figure from the clouds which envelop Him, while the holy women contemplate the empty sepulchre, and the angel seated in it points out the miracle which has happened. Other scenes worthy of notice are the "Presentation in the Temple," "Christ in Hades," and the "Buffeting of the Saviour," and "The Prayer in the Garden."

In one of the last cells, the "Crucifixion" is reproduced in a new manner, which represents Christ having ascended the ladder and offering Himself to death: His Mother faints at his feet in the arms of Mary Magdalene. Marchese asserts that this composition was inspired by a legend of St. Mary Magdalene in the language of the 14th century. "And I thought that Messer Gesu, ascended the cross by a ladder voluntarily, offering His hands and feet. A centurion who was afterwards saved saw the deed, and like a wise man he said within himself, oh, what a marvel is here! that this prophet appears to willingly place himself on the Cross, neither murmuring nor resisting! And while he stood admiring, Messer Gesu had ascended sufficiently high, and turning on the ladder opened His kingly arms, and extended His hands to those who were waiting to nail them."

Lastly in the room which Cosimo de' Medici had prepared for his own use in the convent and where he often talked with the Prior Fra Antonino, Fra Angelico painted an "Adoration of the Magi." As Pope Eugene IV. slept in this room when he came to Florence in 1442 to assist at the consecration of the church, it is probable that this Adoration allusive to the Epiphany, at which time the consecration took place, was painted at that epoch.

The fresco, rich in figures and beauty, is executed with real mastery. The personages of the royal cortege vary in type and character, in expression and sentiment, showing the great pains our artist had taken in the painting of this important work, which now, unhappily restored and injured, only allows us to guess at the wonderful beauty with which it was once filled.

We see his own hand more completely in the fresco in the corridor representing the Virgin enthroned, with the child seated on her knee and several saints at the sides. On the right are St. Paul, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Laurence, and St. Peter Martyr; on the left St. Mark, St. Cosmo and St. Damian, and St. Dominic, holding an open book where it is written: Caritatem habete; humilitatem servate; paupertatem voluntariam possidete. Maledictionem Dei et meam imprecor possessiones inducenti in meo Ordine.

This painting, one of the most perfect in the convent, is one of Angelico's best, and shows what a high degree of ability he had reached. The gentle head of the Virgin bends down to look at her Son with the golden curls, whose face with sparkling eyes breathes an infantile grace. The execution is accurate, the figures well designed, full of character, nobility and life; the delicacy of tone, just balance of composition and freshness of colouring, are mingled with the most profound sentiment and intimate knowledge of truth.

Rio thinks this fresco was done while Fra Angelico was in Tuscany after 1450; his adieu, as it were, to his brethren; a last legacy to that devout household with whom he had shared joys and sorrows, and from which he was about to be separated. There is nothing to refute this; but it appears to us that he who had painted the great Crucifixion of the chapter-house might well have done at the same time this fresco. It is a compendium of all his technical qualities and feeling, and demonstrates how little by little he succeeded, while still preserving his own spirit, in reaching the real in art, and giving it life in a manner all his own. But in comparing the pictures of the chapel of Pope Nicholas V. in Rome, with this fresco, we cannot avoid noticing in those a greater freedom of composition and grouping of the figures, a greater majesty of design, a truth and depth of observation, not recognisable in any of his earlier works, nor even in the large Crucifixion, which is justly considered one of the pious monk's best works.

IN THE GALLERY OF ANCIENT AND MODERN ART.

The enthusiasm aroused by Fra Angelico's pictures, caused a vivid desire amongst the various religious orders of the city, to possess some work of his; Dominicans, Vallombrosians, Chartreuse monks, and the Camaldolese of Santa Maria degli Angeli, vied with each other, and all in turn obtained some of his admirable creations.

Among the panels painted by Fra Giovanni for the Florentine churches and convents, the one which excels all for intensity of sentiment and sincerity of expression is the "Deposition from the Cross," once in the Sacristy of Santa Trinita, and now in the Ancient and Modern Gallery, a panel "in which," writes Vasari, "he put so much care that we may class it among the best things he ever did."

The disciples with loving reverence let down from the Cross, which occupies the centre of the composition, the body of the Saviour. His face, drooping on the left shoulder, breathes a sorrowful calm, and divine serenity which death itself could not destroy. The nude is intelligently rendered, in nobility of form, softness of line, and transparency and morbidity of colouring. On the left stands a group of women; St. Mary Magdalene kisses the feet of Christ; the Virgin contemplates Him in a trance of sadness; on the right the disciples discuss the melancholy drama among themselves, while below, a kneeling saint holds his right hand to his breast and extends the left in a sorrowful wonder. In the background is a hilly landscape with the Holy City on the left, and Mount Calvary which the artist "with poetic and devout conceit," writes Marchese, "has drawn adorned with grass and flowers, as though to denote that at the touch of the feet and precious blood of Jesus Christ, the bare heights were reclad in rich and verdant beauty. Although marred by restoration--for the eye is offended by the inharmonious contrast of tints, the effect of unskilful retouching,--we may consider this painting as one of the most beautiful works which Fra Angelico has left us. Grandeur and simplicity are marvellously blended with freshness of colour, and correctness of design with most intense expression and pure sentiment."

The landscape in the background shows the usual defects of perspective, but the mountains shade off delicately against the distant blue of the sky, the plain is illuminated with infinite flowerets, and a rich verdure clothes the summit of the sacred hill. In the pilasters of the frame are small figures of Saints, some of the best and finest that Fra Angelico ever painted, and in the gables above the three arches Lorenzo Monaco has represented the "Noli me tangere," the "Resurrection," and the "Maries at the Sepulchre."

Here the question naturally arises: Why should Lorenzo Monaco have limited his work solely to the three little scenes in the gables of the frame, while Fra Angelico has given us the beautiful little figures of the pilasters which show all his peculiar grace and refinement? Why did an artist capable of producing those admirable saints, leave to Fra Lorenzo Monaco the office (all the worse if he had been, as some say, his master) of finishing the work with only those three insignificant little scenes? And can we suppose that Fra Lorenzo Monaco, already at the apex of his fame, should accept, and, still more strange, be content with a secondary part in Fra Giovanni's work?

The answer is more simple than it at first appears. There is no doubt that the scenes in the Gothic gables are the work of the Camaldolese monk, and as we cannot logically infer that they were specially painted by him for Fra Angelico's picture, we must suppose, and indeed firmly believe them to have been added at a later time. In fact, the form of the foliated Gothic decoration lacks character and does not harmonize with the pilasters which clearly show, too, a subsequent adaptation of the frame. The finials of the pilasters do not match the style of the gables, in fact it is clear that the Gothic ornamentation, taken from some painting by Lorenzo Monaco, was at a more recent date adapted to Fra Angelico's altar-piece.

Fra Giovanni painted a panel picture of the "Dead Christ" for the "Compagnia del Tempio" in Florence; this is now in the Ancient and Modern Gallery, having been placed there in 1786, after the suppression of that Company.

Rio supposes that the enthusiasm aroused by the great Deposition in Santa Trinita, tempted the Company to covet the possession of a similar one.

Only two figures, however, are common to the two paintings: one is the St. Simeon kneeling in the left corner who, in this second picture, is represented as a younger man than in the first; the other is a figure a little behind him, which is a reproduction of that one in the large Deposition with a hood on his head, who is speaking to the disciple below him, as he entrust to him the body of the Saviour;--a figure which Milanesi believes to be a portrait of the architect Michelozzo.

If this be indeed Fra Angelico's friend the Florentine architect, we may admit Cartier's assertion that this panel is a sequel of the larger Descent from the Cross, and may have been painted at the same time. But these are things which we dare not affirm with any certainty, as we entertain doubts regarding the greater or less authenticity of writers on the subject of Michelozzo's portrait.

Besides many figures of saints, the painter has introduced those of St. Dominic and the Beata Villana, because the Company of the Temple had ancient rights over the relics of this good woman which are preserved in the Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella. The other figures, though expressing divers feelings of sorrow and lively sympathy, have nothing in common with the famous Deposition either in character or technique and the picture does not reach the usual perfection.

Even the type of the Christ differs remarkably in the two paintings, so much so that no comparison can be instituted, or resemblance found between them; moreover, the panel of the Temple Company is badly spoilt by restoration, and the colouring is so altered that it is almost black in some parts.

"In the Chapel of the SS. Annunziata at Florence which Piero di Cosimo de' Medici caused to be built, Fra Angelico painted the doors of the presses where the silver plate is kept, with little figures executed with great diligence." They represent the life and death of Christ in 35 small scenes, which are now in the Ancient and Modern Gallery.

Padre Marchese writes: "I believe it was in Fiesole that he painted many of those little panels, which may now be seen in the Gallery of the Florentine Academy of Design, and perhaps also the doors of the presses for the silver vessels in the chapel of the SS. Annunziata at Florence. In his first edition Vasari had enumerated them among his early works, which may have seemed probable, as Fra Angelico's first steps in art were in illuminating and painting small stories."

But as it was only in 1448 that Piero de' Medici, to show his devotion to the Virgin of the Annunciation, obtained from the monks the patronage of that altar with the intention of adorning it with a splendour worthy of the dignity of Her to whom it was dedicated, we cannot suppose that Fra Angelico painted the door of its treasure presses before that time.

Rio also dates at the epoch of the monk's sojourn in Tuscany towards 1450, the great unfinished painting now in the Academy of the Belle Arti, which has been regarded as one of Fra Angelico's first works. We know as a fact that in 1450 he was prior of the convent at Fiesole, and may believe that he stayed some time in Tuscany, before returning to Rome to finish the chapel of Pope Nicholas V. But Rio adds that "besides the date of the building of the chapel, the fact that the portrait of Michelozzo represents him as older in this work than in the Deposition," suggests for this cyclic composition an approximative date, very far from that assigned to it previously.