Chapter 7

In 1455 after a life entirely dedicated to art, Fra Giovanni, at the age of 68 years, died in Rome, having well earned the grateful veneration of posterity. The austere virtues of his soul gained him the title of _Beato_ (blessed) and for the lovely lines traced by his brush, he was called _Angelico_. A marble monument was erected over his tomb in the church of the Minerva, with his effigy and the following inscription, said to have been dictated by Pope Nicholas V. himself:

HIC JACET VEN. PICTOR FR. JO. DE FLOR. ORD. P. M C C C C L V Non mihi sit laudi, quod eram velut alter Apelles, Sed quod lucra tuis omnia, Christe, dabam; Altera nam terris opera extant, altera coelo; Urbs me Joannem Flos tulit Etruriæ.

"Give me not praise for being almost a second Apelles, but because I gave to thy poor, O Christ, all my earnings. Thus part of my work remains on earth and part in heaven. My home was in that city, which is the Flower of Etruria."

[FOOTNOTES]

[1] Vasari, Sansoni's edition, II, p. 520.

[2] Buckhardt und Boue, _Cicerone_.

[3] _Storia della Pittura_, II, p. 360.

[4] Guido was Fra Angelico's baptismal name in the world.

[5] Marchese, _Memorie dei più insigni pittori, scultori e architetti domenicani_, I, p. 267. Bologna, Romagnoli 1878.

[6] Cavalcaselle, _Storia della Pittura_, II, p. 234.

[7] Vasari, _Vita di Masaccio_, II, p. 299.

[8] Museo civico. Sala 6, n. 7.

[9] Cartier, _Vie de Fra Angelico_. Paris, 1857, p. 356.

[10] Vasari, II, p. 518.

[11] Vasari, II, p. 528, note i. The translations from Vasari are from Bohn's edition.

[12] Ibid., II, p. 528.

[13] Vasari, II, p. 505.

[14] Vasari, vol. II, p. 512.

[15] Translation:

I raise my eyes, sweet Mary I behold, With book in hand; an angel form is near.

It is the shining angel Gabriel Who kneels before her in humility, And saith: "Fear not, pure Virgin, I from heaven A messenger from God omnipotent Come down to bring glad tidings unto thee, For he hath chosen thee for his blest spouse."

He saith again: "In heaven it is decreed Thou shalt be mother of the Son of God, Therefore the Father me, his angel, sends To swift fulfil his sacred will and law. And down from him the highest Lord to bring This benediction unto which thou'rt called."

The angel's heaven-sent words were so inflamed With sacred love's own virtue did they burn They truly seemed to fall from God above. With holy joy her beating heart was full: "Behold," she said, "the handmaid of the Lord, Be it to me according to his word."

But as she sat within her archèd cell She wondered greatly how this thing should be: "For I know not, nor speak with any man," To Gabriel she timidly responds. Then quoth he: "Mary Hail! thou favoured art, And full of grace, the Lord is with thee now."

And then came down the spirit of the Lord, A ray of golden light shone round about, It pierced her breast, that fruitful heaven-sent ray, And from her womb, whose virgin purity Was still inviolate, was born the Christ While she a mother, was pure Virgin still.

Oh! lovers true, come hither unto her: Madonna she of grace and beauty fair, The earth and air but live for her sweet sake, The queen of heaven, and pillar of the world: He who would see the lovely damosel One this Annunciation he should gaze.

From an anonymous "Laud" reprinted by Galletti, n. CCLXVIII, p. 121.

[16] Op. cit., I, p. 293.

[17] _Vie de Fra Angelico_, p. 243.

[18] Year 1894, p. 370.

[19] Vol. II, p. 510.

[20] Vol. I, p. 297.

[21] Vasari, II, p. 510, note 1.

[22] _Pictures in the National Gallery_, with descriptive text written by C. L. Eastlake. No. I, p. 10.

[23] Vasari, II, p. 510.

[24] This valuable painting was ceded by the monks of the "Scalzi" to the Museum of Madrid in 1861 at the suggestion of Señor Don Federigo de Madrazo.--_Catalogue of the Museum of Prado_, Don Pedro de Madrazo 1889, p. 19.

[25] Vasari, II, p. 510 and 511.

[26] Müntz, _Histoire de l'art pendant la Renaissance--Les Primitifs_--p. 653 and 658.

[27] Op. cit., I, p. 308.

[28] _La Sculpture Florentine_, Alinari, 1897, p. 152.

[29] Vasari, II, p. 515.

[30] _Par._, Canto XXXI (Carey's translation).

[31] _Par._, Canto XXX (Carey's translation).

[32] The _caròla_ was a kind of sacred dance, in which the dancers holding hands move in a circle, singing as they go. It was supposed to be the dance of Paradise.--(_Translator's note_.)

[33] Translation:

In Paradise that garden lies Where love divine eternal shines, And holy Saints _carolas_ weave, Their souls inflamed with sacred love.

The Saints in that bright joyous ring, With Angels fair of all degrees, Before the Bridegroom graceful move And weave the dance of sacred love.

Those heavenly courts are full of grace, With love immeasurable filled, All in the dance angelic move Inspired by their sweet Saviour's love.

Their robes of linen pure are made, White, roseate, and of mingled hues; Fair garlands on their heads they wear, Fit crowns to crown them priests of love.

No head is there ungarlanded, And youthful beams each joyous face; In that bright court refreshed they move Where everything o'erflows with love.

The garlands made of blossoms fair, Shine brighter than the purest gold, The pearly daisies glisten there Emblazoning the heavenly love.

[34] Venturi, _Le Gallerie Italiane_. _La Galleria Nazionale di Roma_, vol. II, p. 89.

[35] See _Gazette de Beaux Arts_, 1888. W. Bode, _La Renaissance au Musée de Berlin_; IV. _Les Peintres Florentins du XVme siècle_, p. 473.

[36] Cavalcaselle, _Storia della Pittura_, II, p. 369, note 2. Venturi thinks that the picture approaches more to the art of Gentile da Fabriano. See Vasari, _Gentile da Fabriano e Pisanello_. Firenze, Sansoni, 1897, p. x.

[37] Vasari, II, _Vita di Michelozzo_, p. 440.

[38] Richa, _Le Chiese Fiorentine_, VII, p. 117.

[39] Vol. II, p. 440. In October 1438 the monks demanded a subsidy to rebuild the dormitory which had been destroyed by fire. Gaye, I, p. 553.

[40] Vol. II, p. 441. Some chroniclers attribute the design of the convent to Brunelleschi, and the direction and execution of the work to Michelozzi. The building was probably completed in 1443.

[41] Vasari, II, p. 441.

[42] Vol. II, p. 508.

[43] _Katalog der Gemälde-Sammlung der kgl. älteren Pinakothek in München._ Mit einer historischen Einleitung von Dr. Franz von Reber.

[44] Vol. II, p. 507.

[45] See Vasari, II, p. 508, and Marchese, op. cit., I, p. 326 and following.

[46] Marchese, _San Marco illustrato_, p. 40.

[47] Rio, op. cit., II. p. 314.

[48] Cartier, _Vie de Fra Angelico_, p. 231.

[49] Vasari, II, p. 511.

[50] Marchese, op. cit., I, p. 295.

[51] _Il Santuario della SS. Annunziata di Firenze_, Guida storica illustrativa, compilata da un religioso dei servi di Maria. Firenze, Ricci, 1876, p. 87.

[52] Vasari, II, p. 531, note 2.

[53] Rio, _De l'art chrétien_, p. 368. "Michelozzo paraît avoir, dans ce tableau, de quarante-cinq à cinquante ans. Or, on suppose qu'il était né vers 1396, ce qui placerait l'exécution de ce tableau très-peu de temps avant le départ de l'artiste pour Rome, en 1445," p. 312, note i.

[54] Rio, op. cit., II, p. 318 et seq.

[55] Rio, op. cit, II, p. 315.

[56] Richa, _Le Chiese Fiorentine_, X, pp. 137-138.

[57] Vasari, II, p. 516.

[58] Vasari, II, p. 517.

[59] Vasari, II, p. 517.

[60] Luigi Fumi, _Il duomo d' Orvieto e i suoi restauri_. Roma, Tipografia Cooperativa, p. 370.

[61] _Storia della Pittura Italiana_, III, p. 83.

[62] Müntz, _Les Arts à la cour des Papes_. Première partie, p. 92.

[63] Pératé, _Les Papes et les Arts_. Paris, Didot, 1895, p. 72. Müntz, _Histoire de l'Art pendant la Renaissance_, I, p. 664, and M. Faucon, _L'OEuvre de Fra Angelico à Rome in the Newspaper L'Art_, 1883, XXXV, pp. 141-147 and 167-175.

[64] Crowe and Cavalcaselle, _A new history of painting in Italy_. London, Murray, 1864, II, p. 500.

INDEX TO THE ILLUSTRATIONS.

The Annunciation (Convent of San Marco, Florence) Frontispiece

Angels of the "Last Judgment" Page 5 and 28

History of St. Dominic's Life 32

The Resurrection of Cardinal De' Ceccani's Nephew 33

Death of St. Dominic 34

The Annunciation (Church of Gesù, Cortona) 35

The Marriage of the Virgin (Cortona) 41

The Marriage of the Virgin (Uffizi Gallery, Florence) 41

The Visitation 42

Adoration of the Magi 43

Adoration of the Magi (Uffizi Gallery, Florence) 44

The Death of the Virgin (Cortona) 45

The Death of the Virgin (Uffizi Gallery, Florence) 45

Virgin and Child with Saints (Church of San Domenico, Cortona) 47

Madonna and Child (Pinacoteca, Perugia) 49

Birth, Preaching and Miracles of St. Nicholas (Vatican, Rome) 51

The Death of St. Nicholas (Pinacoteca, Perugia) 52

Virgin of the Annunciation (Pinacoteca, Perugia) 54

View of the Convent of San Domenico near Fiesole 57

Coronation of the Virgin (San Marco, Florence) 59

Madonna della Stella (of the Star) (San Marco, Florence) 61

The Annunciation and the Adoration of the Magi (San Marco, Florence) 63

Predella (National Gallery, London) 69

The Coronation of the Virgin (Museum of the Louvre, Paris) To face page 72

The Coronation of the Virgin (Uffizi Gallery, Florence) To face page 75

The Last Judgment (Ancient and Modern Gallery, Florence) To face page 77

The Dance of the Blessed (Details from the Last Judgment) To face page 81

The Last Judgment (Rome, National Gallery) 84

The Last Judgment (Berlin Museum) 85

The Virgin of the Linen Weavers' Guild (Uffizi Gallery, Florence) 87

Angels with musical instruments from the Tabernacle of the Linen Weavers' Guild 88 and 89

St. Mark 90

St. John Baptist 90

The Cloister of San Marco 97

Madonna and Child with Angels and Saints (Ancient and Modern Gallery, Florence) 101

Christ on the Cross 105

St. Peter martyr 108

Christ issuing from the sepulchre 109

Christ in pilgrim's dress 111

The Crucifixion (San Marco, Florence) To face page 112

The Annunciation 116

"Noli me tangere" 117

The Transfiguration 118

The Risen Christ 119

The Institution of the Holy Sacrament 120

The Presentation in the Temple 121

Coronation of the Virgin 122

The Prayer in the Garden 123

Adoration of the Magi 124

The Crucifixion 125

The Virgin enthroned amidst Saints 126

St. Dominic, from the fresco of "Christ at the Pretorium" 129

The Descent from the Cross (Ancient and Modern Gallery) To face page 133

View of Florence 133

The dead Christ 137

Flight into Egypt 142

Christ betrayed by Judas 144

The Resurrection of Lazarus 144

The Slaughter of the Innocents 145

Entombment of Christ 145

Coronation of the Virgin 146

The symbolic Wheel 147

The Madonna and Child with Saints (Annalena Convent) 148

The Madonna and Child with Angels and Saints (From the Convent of the Osservanza) 149

The Last Supper 153

Christ in Judgment (Orvieto, Cathedral) 157

The Prophets (Orvieto, Cathedral) 161

The Preaching and Justification of St. Stephen (Vatican, Rome) 167

St. Laurence ordained deacon (Vatican, Rome) To face page 167

Sixtus II. consigns the church treasures to St. Laurence (Vatican, Rome) To face page 169

The distribution of alms (Vatican, Rome) To face page 171

St. Bonaventure (Vatican, Rome) 171

Judgment of St. Laurence (Vatican, Rome) To face page 173