Fra Angelico, also known as Guido di Pietro, was one of the most influential Italian artists of the early Renaissance. He was praised by his contemporaries and successors, inspiring artists from Raphael to the Pre-Raphaelites. He even received offers to become an Archbishop of Florence, however, he declined, preferring to focus on painting and remain in his native town of Fiesole. Fra Angelico’s art marked the transition between Medieval and Renaissance imagery and style. Read on to learn more about the saint and the outstanding painter of the Early Renaissance.
1. Fra Angelico Was Not His Real Name
He is known as Fra Angelico, but the artist had a different name assigned at birth. He was born around 1395 in Tuscany and baptized as Guido di Pietro. Among his contemporaries, he was also known as Fra Giovanni da Fiesole, with Fiesole referring to his native Toscanian town. The name Fra Angelico translates as Angelic Friar and refers to the artist’s notable piety, dedication to faith, and deep spirituality in his art.
Little is known about his background or his early years. From scarce evidence, we can conclude that he came from a relatively privileged background and had a chance to study painting early in his life in rather comfortable conditions. The names of his tutors remain unknown despite several possible options. However, art historians believe that he started making manuscript illuminations before gradually moving to fresco painting. Documents suggest that he was a rather established artist even before entering the Dominican convent and becoming a monk. However, the principal part of his artistic biography started at the convent.
2. He Was a Dominican Friar
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Sign up to our Free Weekly NewsletterThe members of the Dominican Order focused on intellectual and theological exploration, while also ruthlessly fighting heresy. Saint Dominic, the founder of the Order, was among those responsible for the establishment of the Inquisition and normalizing its inhumane practices. On the other hand, monasteries, especially Dominican ones, were the true intellectual centers of the Medieval and Early Renaissance world, offering education and vast collections of manuscripts. Faith was the principal aspect of Fra Angelico’s life. In 1982, he was officially declared a saint and the spiritual guardian of all Catholic artists.
Centuries have passed since his lifetime, yet art historians and theologians still argue with each other about the nature of Fra Angelico’s work. There were two sides to his personality — he was an outstanding artist and a deeply religious man with staunch beliefs. Some believe he was a painter who found his artistic language through religion while others insist it was his religious stance that brought him to art. No matter what came first, the oeuvre of Fra Angelico is equally valuable for both domains which certainly cannot be mutually exclusive.
3. Giorgio Vasari Wrote About Him
He was one of the many artists mentioned in the 1550 publication by Giorgio Vasari The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. The ambitious text is considered to be the first written work in the discipline of art history, containing biographies of dozens of Italian artists both of Vasari’s generation and older. Despite its fame and importance, Vasari’s account of practical details should be accepted with a grain of salt, since many of his presented theories seem to be made up.
According to Vasari’s account, Fra Angelico was humble and modest, reflecting these qualities in his outstanding work. His older brother Benedetto was also an illuminator and probably influenced Guido’s style and preferences. Vasari claimed that, as Fra Angelico’s career progressed, he received an offer to become the Archbishop of Florence that he refused, preferring to focus on art instead. Vasari also wrote that the figures of saints by Fra Angelico were much more realistic than those of any other artists and that the artist could not be praised enough. While describing his frescoes done for the San Marco Dominican convent, Vasari wrote that the images must have been painted by a saint or an angel.
4. He Painted Frescoes for the San Marco Convent
The most famous artistic project of Fra Angelico was his series of frescoes for the newly built San Marco Dominican convent. Fra Angelico himself was one of the first friars to move there. He created altarpieces and decorations for it and since San Marcos was his convent, the artist was much less restricted in his style, ideas, and their execution. The artist’s move to San Marco attracted the attention of Cosimo de Medici, the banker and politician who funded the project.
In terms of style, Fra Angelico is now recognized as an intermediate artist between the visual language of the Medieval period and the Renaissance. San Marco frescoes were the purest expressions of the painter’s preferences and stances. The series was mostly painted with muted colors, with little to no use of expensive pigments, usually required by his wealthy clients. Most images were intended for the private devotion of the friars and reminded them of asceticism, modesty, and piety. His images like The Mocking of Christ or Noli Me Tangere provoked a deeply sympathetic and emotional response from the San Marco friars.
5. New Opportunities Propelled His Talent
Fra Angelico’s painting style was unique for his time and remains such even centuries later. Among his innovations was the active use of visual illusions in composition. In his frescoes, he created illusions of space, intricately constructed architecture, and perspective. He was also the great master of nuanced and subtle play of light and shadow, created in the sfumato technique — a fine shading of tones that creates a gradient barely recognizable to the human eye.
Another important feature of Fra Angelico’s career was his unique placement in time and place. During the Middle Ages, the Church was the principal commissioner of art, controlling the market, the subject matter, and the artistic style. However, with the turn towards the Renaissance era, the institute of artistic patronage started to emerge. Wealthy commissioners sought ways to secure their public image and display their status through the collection and donation of art objects. This led to the development of styles and methods, as well as the gradual growth of the status of the artist himself. Fra Angelico started his artistic career in these early days, balancing on the verge of two systems and two concepts of art.
6. Annunciation Was His Favorite Subject
Of many subjects painted by Fra Angelico, the scene of Annunciation holds a very special place as the most frequently painted one. This crucial scene from the Bible depicts the visit of archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, announcing her pregnancy with the Son of God and instructing her to name him Jesus. Fra Angelico painted at least thirteen different variations of Annunciation for altarpieces of different Italian churches.
The emotional aspect of the Annunciation scene has been one of the most popular among artists of different periods and regions. In the traditional interpretation, Mary is silent and obedient, accepting her faith with piety and meekness. Fra Angelico’s Mary is calm yet visibly afraid, nervously covering herself with her hands. Her range of emotion is much more human-like and, therefore, more understandable to the artist’s contemporaries. Later generations of Renaissance artists would experiment further, sometimes even painting expressions of shock, horror, and denial on the face of the young Virgin.
7. Fra Angelico’s Work Inspired Generations of Artists
The works of Fra Angelico were spread all over Italy since the artist frequently received commissions outside of his Florentine convent. He worked in Rome and the Vatican and was in close contact with several Popes. He died quietly as the head of a convent in his native Fiesole, but his artistic reputation and influence continued to grow.
The famous artist Raphael included the figure of Fra Angelico in his monumental work The Disputation of the Sacrament which was painted for the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. The image of the artist appears in the crowd of the most important figures in the history of Christianity, including Dante Alighieri and Thomas Aquinas. Fra Angelico had an even more profound impact on the generation of artists that were born several centuries after him. His art was one of the main sources of inspiration for the artists of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, with Dante Gabriel Rossetti directly referencing the friar’s compositional choices.
