Chapter 2
While staying at Foligno, the Fiesolan refugees propagated that severe form of life and strict observance which Giovanni Dominici had taught in his convent at Fiesole, and brother Giovanni again began his artistic work, for painting was to him like prayer, i. e. his usual way of raising his mind and heart to God. Unfortunately few of these first works have been preserved, but from those few we are assured that he studied in Florence, from which school alone he could have appropriated the noble manner impressed on all his works; and that those who perceive an Umbrian influence in his art, are very far from the truth.
There may be some elements common to both the Umbrian art and that of Angelico; this, however, does not depend so much on the teaching of the school, as on technical affinity; insomuch as Umbrian painting in its lucidity, charm and accuracy of colour, is in some measure derived from the art of illumination, and most probably Fra Angelico took his style from the same source, as even in his most perfect works, he always preserved a remembrance of it.
In fact, his patient diligence and study of detail render his pictures so many miniatures, done in larger proportions; the lucidity of tint, the grace of the ornamental motives, the almost exaggerated minuteness of execution, are decided proofs of the artistic education of Fra Angelico. It is pleasant to imagine him, during his sojourn at Foligno and Cortona, making pilgrimages to Assisi, to draw inspiration from the works of the great masters in the splendid church of San Francesco. There he found his old friends, and might at a glance admire together Giotto, Simone Martini, and Lorenzetto. We should say he admired Simone and Lorenzetto more than Giotto, for the grace of their figures, refinement of execution, and greater richness of the accessories, robes and ornamentation, together with the pleasing brilliance of colouring, all approached more nearly to Fra Giovanni's own artistic sentiment than the style of Giotto.
And even less than the Umbrian painters or miniaturists (if indeed there were any worthy to influence the artistic spirit of our artist) did the landscape of verdant Umbria stir his soul, which even the sweet slopes of Fiesole could not touch.
Doubtless from the heights of the convent at Cortona, which dominates one of the finest views in Italy, the young monk admired the beautiful horizon, and enjoyed the splendour of the verdant plain, and the blue mountains, "enwrapt in mists of purple and gold", as he had often at sunrise and sunset, enjoyed from his Fiesole convent the gentle fields and dales "peopled with houses and olives"; but, after all, these beauties of nature so often displayed before him, were dumb to an artist who was wholly absorbed in visions beyond this world.
The study of the verdant country never occupied his mind; in his paintings, landscape is either an insignificant accessory, or if it occupies a large space in the picture as in the "Deposition from the Cross" in the Florentine Gallery, it shows plainly that it is not the result of special study, of personal impressions, or of love of the place itself. In fact it does not attract or interest the observer at all.
Nor could this be otherwise; the inner life of the spirit, which he lived so intensely, and so vividly transfused in the figures of his Saints, must necessarily have abstracted his mind from his surroundings, to which he therefore gave little attention. In this he was faithful to the Giottesque principle of not enriching the background, except by just what was necessary to render the subject intelligible, and this without pretension, or new research.
His trees rose straight on their trunks, the leaves and branches spreading in conventional style; his rocks have the usual gradations which we find in the old school; the views of distant cities are absolutely fantastic and infantile creations; only the green plain is often illumined, in an unusual manner, by tiny flowerets of many hues, while mystic roses crown the angels' locks, adorn overflowing baskets, or rise on long stalks at the foot of the Virgin's throne in transparent vases.
Such are the characteristics, the spirit and the sentiment that appear in the works of Fra Angelico, who might be considered as the last representative of that school of which Giotto was master; and at the same time the initiator of "Quattrocento" art, whose powerful development irresistibly attracted him. He painted so many pictures for the houses of Florentine citizens, that "I was often astonished," writes Vasari, "how one man alone could, even in many years, do so much and so well." "And we also," justly observes Milanesi, "are not less amazed than Vasari, for although many works have been dispersed or are still hidden, yet a great number still remain both in Italy and other countries, and, what is more remarkable, the greater part are not mentioned by Vasari."[14]
We will follow our artist in his different places of abode, thus establishing the various periods of his life and artistic productions; from the Fiesole hills, where the first seedlings of his fantasy were sown, to green Umbria, where his early works are, works warm with enthusiasm, faith and youthful candour: from Florence, which he enriched with admirable frescoes, and innumerable pictures dazzling with gold and azure, to Rome, where he left his grand pictorial legacy in the oratory of Pope Nicholas V.
I.
FRA ANGELICO AT CORTONA AND PERUGIA.
[1409-1418.]
If, after a study of the pictorial works of Fra Angelico, any one should undertake to make a precise classification of them, he would--although his frescoes are easy enough to classify--find himself confronted by no small difficulty in regard to the panel paintings.
So active and original was the artist, and so grand in his simplicity, that he always remained just what he appeared from the beginning,--the painter of ingenuous piety, mystical ecstasy, and intense religious fervour.
No record is extant of his first visit to Foligno, but in the church of St. Dominic at Cortona we may still admire a triptych with the Virgin and four Saints; an Annunciation; and two "predelle"; one of which is said to have belonged to the picture of St. Dominic, as the scenes relate to the life of that Saint, and the other with some stories of the Virgin, to the Annunciation mentioned above.
To the story of St. Dominic (which had already been treated in a masterly manner by Fra Guglielmo, in the "arca" at Bologna, and by Traini in his picture at Pisa), Fra Angelico has, in some scenes, given a fuller development, but with less dramatic sentiment; exactly the good and bad points which are more clearly shown in his other works. The "predella", divided into seven parts, represents the birth of Saint Dominic; the dream of Pope Honorius III., to whom the Saint appears in act of steadying the falling church; the meeting of the Saint with St. Francis; the confirmation of his rule by means of the Virgin; the visits of St. Peter and St. Paul; the dispute with heretics; the resurrection of the nephew of Cardinal de' Ceccani; the supper of the Saint and his brethren; and lastly his death.
The scene of the resurrection of the young Napoleon, nephew of Cardinal Stefano de' Ceccani, had been already powerfully depicted by Traini; in Angelico's hands it comes out restrained and cold, the acts of amazement in the devotees present at the miracle, who raise their hands in astonishment, are too conventional: and it is precisely in the intermingling of these gestures of sorrow for the death, and wonder for the revivication, that the Pisan artist has brought out his best effects. As we have before pointed out, the calm spirit of Fra Angelico avoided realistic representation; his figures always suggest love, faith and resignation, but are never agitated; like the soul of their author, they are incapable of violent action; therefore when these should be drawn, the representation falls below reality. We shall see instances of this in other works of his.
One of Angelico's most familiar subjects was the Annunciation, and the most interesting of the Cortona pictures, is that of the angel's visit to Mary. Its motive is simple and clear, as it was transmitted from early Christian art; the general lines are unchanged, but the expression greatly so. Fra Angelico did not disturb the religious solemnity of the apparition with useless accessories; faithful to his own sentiment, he has clothed Mary with humility. She sits beneath the portico, the book neglected on her lap, her hands crossed, and her drooping head inclined towards the heavenly messenger. The golden-winged angel with roseate robe also bends before the Virgin, the right hand pointing to her breast and the left to the dove which sheds celestial rays on Mary's head. In the background Adam and Eve are being expelled from the terrestrial Paradise, symbol of the ancient Christian legend which directly connects the story of original sin with that of the Redemption.
This mystic subject, which does not lack grace and freshness in the Cortona painting, finds its fuller development in San Marco at Florence. Here the Madonna is seated on a wooden stool, her head projected forward almost in ecstasy, with hands clasped on her breast, and in similar attitude the angel half kneels before her. The scene takes place before a little grated window in the colonnade of a cloister, utterly bare of ornament, but in this very simplicity lies all the charm and poetry of Angelico.
Before a subject so ideal, so solemn, which reveals in such intensity of faith and feeling how his thought spontaneously turned to the prayer of the Salutation which was certainly on the artist's lips as he painted, or was inspired by some sweet Annunciation hymn such as this, which probably has been often repeated before this entrancing picture:
Alzando gli occhi vidi Maria bella Col libro in mano, e l' angel gli favella.
Dinnanzi a lei si stava inginocchiato Quell' angel Gabriel tanto lucente, Ed umilmente a lei ebbe parlato: "Vergine pura, non temer niente; Messaggio son di Dio onnipotente, Che t' ha eletta e vuolti per sua sposa."
E poi le disse: "In cielo è ordinato, Che siate madre del figliuol di Dio, Però che gli angeli il padre han pregato, Che con effetto adempia el lor disio; E da parte del sommo e buono Dio, Questa benedizione a voi s' appella."
Queste parole fur tanto infiammate E circundate di virtù d' amore, Che ben parean da Dio fussin mandate, E molto se n' allegra nel suo core: "Da poi che piace all' alto Dio Signore, Io son contenta d' essere sua ancella."
Ella si stava dentro alla sua cella, E grande meraviglia si faceva, Però che a nessun uomo ella favella, E molto timorosa rispondeva. L' angelo disse allora: "Ave Maria, Di grazia tu se' piena, o chiara stella."
Allor discese lo Spirito santo, Come un razzo di sol l' ha circundata, Poi dentro a lei entrò quel frutto santo In quella sacrestia chiusa e serrata; Di poi partori inviolata E si rimase vergine e donzella.
O veri amanti, venite a costei, Quella che di bellezza è madonna: L' aria e la terra si sostien per lei, Del ciel regina e del mondo colonna, Chi vuol veder la donzella gioconda Vada a veder la nunziata bella.[15]
The other predella at Cortona represents various episodes in the life of the Virgin:--the Nativity, Marriage, Visitation, Adoration of the Magi, Presentation in the Temple, Death, Burial and lastly the apparition of the Virgin to the blessed Dominican Reginald of Orleans. Padre Marchese believes that this last scene did not originally belong to the predella; but the doubt is unfounded, for nothing is more natural than the artist's wish to connect the history of the Virgin with his Order, of which she is the patroness.
Cavalcaselle, as well as Marchese, affirms that the scene of the Marriage of the Virgin reproduces that of the picture in the Uffizi at Florence. This may be, as far as the subject and scene go, but in the disposition of the figures, the development of action, the two works have nothing in common. Of course in both there must be the priest who unites the bridal couple, and around them the usual personages in various attitudes of complaisance, surprise, and rejoicing, but the grouping of the figures in the predella at Cortona is more naturally conceived. The women on the right appear to come from the house where they had met to assist at the ceremony; the men stand on the left. The background with its portico, and the walls, above which the trees of a garden project, are shown with more truth and solidity. To give wider scope to the scene Fra Angelico has depicted the marriage in an open space. The picture in the Uffizi, on the other hand, is so conventional both in architecture and landscape that it is impossible to establish a comparison between the two.
The Visitation depicts the wife of Zacharias meeting the Virgin, and lovingly embracing her; a serving maid leaning against the threshold, half hidden by the door, is listening with devotion, while another woman kneels on the ground in the road raising her hands to heaven.
In the Adoration of the Magi we find the usual qualities of composition and feeling. One of the Kings has already rendered homage to the Redeemer, and is talking to St. Joseph, who thanks him with earnest devotion; and while the second falls prone before the divine Child, and kisses His feet with profound emotion, the third prepares himself to render the required homage. All around are elegant little figures of pages and servants, in life-like and natural attitudes.
The last story represents the Assumption of the Virgin, at which, according to ancient tradition, Christ is present and carries in his arms the soul of His mother in the form of a little child.
Padre Marchese wrote that both the Adoration and this Assumption are in every respect similar, or replicas of those in the Uffizi. If anything, the pretty little panels of the Uffizi might be replicas of the Cortona ones; but in Florence the only painting with the scene of the Adoration of the Magi is that in the predella of the tabernacle of the Linen Weavers' Guild. Now, while the Adoration in the Cortona predella is naturally and simply pourtrayed, that of Florence is conventional and stiff, the vacuity of some figures and their actions is very evident--therefore this similitude also reduces itself to mere identity of subject. The Assumption of the Virgin also offers very notable differences. The predella at Cortona is more intense and severe, more simple and hence more grand; while the little panel in the Uffizi shows that the effort to embellish the scene has been too much for the artist, and the intensity of sentiment is greatly lessened, being injured by useless accessories. In that of Cortona, on the contrary, the figures of the Apostles who hold the sheet on which the Virgin reposes are full of expression and natural in action, the steep and mountainous background has severe and grand lines, as if to emphasize the sadness of the scene. Here the artist felt and created, there he merely repeated himself.
The triptych, once on the great altar of the church of San Domenico, now at a side altar on the right, has the Virgin seated in the centre with the Holy Child upright on her knee, his right hand is raised in act of benediction, and with his left he holds a rose. Around the throne are four angels, one of which carries a basket of flowers. In the side panels are St. Matthew, St. John Baptist, St. John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalene. Above in the central compartment of the triptych, is the Crucifixion and the two rounds on the sides represent the Annunciation.
In the Chapel of Sant' Orsola in San Domenico at Perugia there was formerly a panel picture now divided into many parts and much damaged. This was painted by Fra Giovanni for the Chapel of San Niccolò de' Guidalotti, and may now be seen in the Vannucci gallery at Perugia.
The Virgin is enthroned with her Son on her knees, His right hand in act of benediction, His left holding a half open pomegranate. At the foot of the throne four angels are standing back, the two first lift up a basket full of white and red roses, the others peep from behind the throne of the Virgin who turns lovingly to her little Son, who is entirely nude, and as rosy as the angels' flowers, and those in three vases at the foot of the throne. On the right of the Virgin are St. John Baptist and St. Catherine; on the left St. Dominic and St. Nicholas. On the predella, which is divided into three parts, were once various scenes from the life of St. Nicholas of Bari, two of these are now to be found in the Vatican Gallery. In a complex composition, they represent the birth of the Saint; his listening to the preaching of a bishop to a congregation of women seated in a flowery field; the Saint saving from dishonour the daughters of a poor gentleman; and the miracle of causing a hundred measures of wheat to rain down and relieve the famine in the city of Nuri. On the upper portion the Saint appears from behind a rock, having been invoked by some devotees to calm a tempest which threatened to wreck their bark.
The portion at Perugia represents the miraculous salvation of three innocent youths, sons of Roman princes; and the death and funeral of the Saint. In the lower part of the picture he is extended on the bier surrounded by monks, women and poor people who weep his loss, while above, his soul is being led to heaven by four angels. The frame of the painting is now divided into twelve fragments, each one containing a small figure of a Saint: they are St. Romuald, St. Gregory, St. Laurence, St. Bonaventure, St. Catherine, St. Peter Martyr, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Peter, St. Stephen, St. Paul and St. John. The last four figures have been mutilated in the lower part, and in these, as well as the others, the colouring is much injured. If it were desired to complete the altar-piece, at present, the gables of the tripartite frame would be missing, but there is no doubt that--as in the Cortona picture--the two small rounds in the Perugian Pinacoteca, representing the Angel of the Annunciation and the Virgin, on gold backgrounds, formed part. Padre Marchese places this panel among the youthful works of the artist, "because it shows more than his other works the manner and technique of Giotto's school." Padre Timoteo Bottonio wrote that it was painted in 1437, but the Dominican author adds that this is not likely, as Fra Giovanni Angelico was at that time in Florence, where the restoration of San Marco was begun, and also the building of the new convent which he adorned with so many marvellous frescoes.
This would actually signify little. As the picture which is said to have been painted for the church of Sant' Andrea at Brescia was naturally done at Fiesole, this one for Perugia might well have been executed at Florence. But though it recalls the most characteristic works of the artist and, for liveliness of colour and accurate study of form, may be considered one of his most remarkable works, we have no hesitation in ascribing it to his first artistic period. In both these altar-pieces the grouping of the figures is still faithful to Giottesque tradition; it was only later, i. e. when Fra Angelico had felt the artistic influences developing around him, that he placed the figures in one picture on different levels, to make a circle round the Mother of Christ.
The type of the Virgin herself in this Perugian picture is similar to that of the Cortona panel; they both have the eyes wide apart, a short, receding chin, and small mouth; characteristics which are also seen in the angels behind the Virgin's throne in the San Domenico picture at Cortona. From an architectural view the throne has here a much more antique shape than in his later designs, where Renaissance forms predominate. As to the picture at Perugia it has been so restored and arbitrarily put together after the panel was divided, that it affords no serious proof of authenticity.
We must therefore conclude that the Perugian one was painted before 1433, for could we possibly admit (as Padre Bottonio wills it) that it was done in 1437, that is only a year before the celebrated painting for the church of San Marco? And seeing that when the Dominicans again obtained possession of their own convent and returned to Fiesole neither Fra Angelico nor his brother Fra Benedetto were among them, we may reasonably suppose that Angelico was then at Perugia, painting the altar-piece for the Guidalotti Chapel; and that he only returned to Florence when he had finished that work, which we may date later than the panel still to be admired at Cortona.
These are the only works known to have been painted by him while he and his brethren had left their beloved Fiesole hills to seek peace and tranquillity in Umbria,--the only records of that period of voluntary exile.
II.
FRA ANGELICO AT FIESOLE.
[1418-1436.]
Whilst Fra Angelico was putting the legends of the Virgin and St. Dominic into colour in Umbria, Giovanni Dominici together with Leonardo Dati, master-general of the Order, was negotiating with the Bishop of Fiesole and Pope Gregory XII. to again obtain possession of the convent founded by Dominici. It was only in 1418 that the Fiesolan bishop acceded to their request, on condition that the Dominicans would make him a present of some sacred vestments to the value of a hundred ducats. This sum, writes Marchese, was taken from the legacy left to the convent by the father of St. Antonino, who died about that time. A rich merchant having died in Florence in the same year, leaving the monks of Fiesole six thousand florins, it was besides decided to enlarge the building. The legal act of free and absolute concession being signed, the father-general at once sent for four of the monks from Cortona, among whom, as we have said, were neither Fra Angelico nor Fra Benedetto. This does not imply that all the others who had left in 1409, might not have returned later, and probably Fra Angelico among them.[16]