San Marco Altarpiece, Fra Angelico

who commissioned the san marco altarpiece?

Cosimo de Medici

red and white heraldei garlands

colours of the city of Florence

illusionistic draperies

reference to curtains covering contemporary altarpieces

What else did the curtains symbolise?

• Birth of Christ

• Opening of the real curtains in unveiling the altarpiece (6th Jan - Epiphany) - moment of revelation.

crucifix central in the foreground

• Tabernacle - cycle of life of Christ

• Reflection on sin

St Cosmas

• Acts as an interlocutor

• Looks at view & gestures towards Virgin Mary - demands an empathetic response.

who does John the Evangelist represent?

Giovanni di Bicci, father of Cosimo

red balls around carpet

Medici family crest - coat of arms.

three monks on the right

Dominican Order

classical throne

shows influence of antiquity

cedar trees in background

symbolise wisdom - from Ecclesiasticus 24:13-15

red pattern on Jesus’ halo

Medici family crest, shows power and importance

What does Christ hold?

• An orb = symbol of the world

• Motif or Dominican imagery

who does St Damian represent?

Cosimo’s brother Lorenzo who had recently died

year?

1440

dimensions?

2.2x2.27m

what are the connections to the Medici Family?

• Commissioned by Cosimo

• St Cosmos and Damian

• Medici crest on carpet

classical associations?

* drapery
* Mary's classical niche
* use of perspective

What do the patterns on the rug create?

Orthogonal lines

what past altarpiece represented how far altarpieces had come in the renaissance?

Adoration of the Magi - Gentile da Fabiano

Where did linear perspective come from?

Masaccio's Holy trinity

Alberti source

“some painters use too much gold in their paintings... I do not praise this”

Vasari source?

“Astonishingly beautiful”

Barnaby Nugren source?

“Divide between the real world & the heavenly”

what was the significance of the curtains?

a trompe d'oeil - real ones opened on the day of the Epiphany and they are also depicted in the painting

What is the altarpiece an example of?

• Sacra Conversazione

• Represents a Madonna & Child surrounded by 6 saints & donors

What is the central theme of the panel?

Adoration of the Eucharist but in a specific Dominican context.

What emphasises the symbolic role of Christ & Mary?

Iconography:

• Christ = role as fruit of the tree of life.

• Mary = role as Mother of Christ - from apocryphal Book of Wisdom.

When was the monastery of San Marco rededicated?

• 6th Jan 1443

• Goal of the precession led by the Pope was Fra Angelico’s altarpiece.

who influenced the sculptural form of the figures?

Masaccio and Donatello

who did he also get influenced by for perspective and overall altarpiece design?

• Alberti

• Influence also seen in St Cosmas role as interlocuter.

what did Fra Angelico identify as?

A dominican

what else did Frank Angelico do for the San Marco church?

over 50 frescos for the monk cells

what are the colours of Florence

red and white

when did Lorenzo die?

1440

what else did the rug represent?

trade

location?

San Marco

Who was Fra Angelico?

• Fra Angelico was a painter, illuminator and Dominican friar.

• He was attached to the monastery of San Domenico in Fiesole, just outside of Florence.

• He joined the Order in 1417

Fra Angelico’s artistic career?

• Fra Angelico was operating the most prestigious workshop in Florence by the 1430s.

• He was heavily influenced by Alberti’s theories relating to perspective and altarpiece design.

Influence of Humanism?

• Huge influence of Humanism - Cosimo de Medici.

• This is seen through the use of single-point perspective, Classical drapery and Mary’s Classical niche.

What is the altarpiece constructed as?

• Deliberately constructed as a window on the scene ALSO as a mirror reflecting the world of the viewer.

• Separates the otherworldly from the earthly.

Where was the painting commissioned for?

Commissioned for the high altar of the Dominican church Or San Marco.

Religious influences?

• It is filled with references to Dominican theology and liturgy - reflected in the flowers and cedar trees.

• The San Marco complex was consecrated on the 6th January 1443 by the Pope - important as it marked the Epiphany.

What does the altarpiece celebrate?

• Celebrates lineage of the Medici family

• Strengthened the link between the Medici family and the Papacy.

• The opening of the real curtains on the 6th January marked the climax of the Papal precession which had toured Florence.

Technological context?

• Use of single-point perspective demonstrated the influence of Brunelleschi.

• Sculptural forms shows influence of Masaccio and Donatello

What later work also showed the influence of Alberti’s theories?

Following on from Fra Angelico, Domenico Veneziano also made use of Alberti’s theories in the Saint Lucy Altarpiece (1445-7).

When was the monastery of San Marco given to the Dominican Order?

1436 by Pope Eugenius IV.

How did Cosimo de Medici change the monastery?

• Paid 36,000 Ducats for it to be rebuilt & renovate the building.

• Added library, cloister bell, church furnishing & altarpiece.

Who was entrusted with the design & construction?

• Michelozzo di Bartolomeo

• Of the new church, library & adjacent buildings.

What was Fra Angelico’s role in the redesign?

• Decorating the convent with frescos

• Painting the altarpiece.

• Provided 50 frescos