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The Renaissance Paintings of Fra Angelico Essay

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The Renaissance Paintings of Fra Angelico

It seems fitting that for more than a century, the popular image of an angel has been that of an angel by Angelico. As historian Pope-Hennessy tells us - "the idiom he evolved has come to be regarded as the natural language of religious painting". (1) The impetus to research Fra Angelico's life comes from a deep respect for religious art . However, having grown up in the Catholic Church, stained glass windows and sculptures of religious figures were more familiar to me than religious paintings. An in-depth look at the life of one of the most familiar Italian artists was very appealing . Angelico's work was very well known in his own day, and throughout the entire Renaissance period it lost …show more content…

Angelico was born Guido di Pietro sometime between 1395 and 1400 (the exact year unknown) in Vicchio in the Mugello (Tuscany) in the province of Florence. Very early in life, he was taught the art of painting miniatures . I noted some discrepancy among historians regarding his earliest work. The Guillards state that his earliest work was the painting of an alterpiece for the Gherardini chapel of the church of Santo Stefano al Ponte in Florence in 1418 (5). Roettgen states that Angelico was first documented as a painter in 1417 as Fra Giovanni de Fiesole (referring to his affiliation with the monastery of San Domenico in Fiesole). He adds that it is unknown where and under whom he received his training as a painter (6). These discrepancies regarding dates continue between authors; subsequently, I decided to document the most recent author, Roettgen (7).

The artist became a Dominican friar entering the community of San Domenico da Fiesole. Here, he was given the name of Fra Giovanni and became known to his contemporaries as Fra Giovanni da Fiesole. I was unable to find the origins of the name that he is known by as an artist, Fra Angelico; perhaps it was a name given to him because he was so well known for his angelic-like figures. For about 20 years, he painted at his studio at San Domenico, while pursuing his life as a friar.

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