Fra Angelico [Hardcover]

John T. Spike (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1997

Nicknamed "Angelico" for his clear and tender style, this artist, who was also a Dominican friar, was considered in his lifetime the greatest Italian painter of his generation.

In his engaging new appraisal, John Spike discusses how Angelico's painting reveals important artistic innovations, from his use of linear perspective to his invention of the Renaissance altarpiece known as the sacra conversazione (sacred conversation). As the author persuasively demonstrates, his precision with Greek, Latin, and Hebrew inscriptions placed him in the center of the new theological debates of the time. This Dominican friar fulfilled some of the most remarkably learned early humanistic projects, from his early Annunciations, to his ambitious series of large frescoes for the Dominican monastery of San Marco in Florence, to papal commissions including the private chapel for the humanist Pope Nicholas V.

This essential volume contains an extensive essay on the artist's life and work, followed by large color plates with detailed discussions of individual works and a catalog of the artist's oeuvre. Lavish details of Angelico's works and an up-to-date bibliography make this volume indispensable for anyone interested in this critical period of the Renaissance.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: Abbeville Press; 1st edition (May 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789203227
• ISBN-13: 978-0789203229
• Product Dimensions: 13.3 x 11.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,256,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Book, March 20, 2011

By 

ccondesa (Usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fra Angelico (Hardcover)

Although this book is a scholarly presentation of the life and work of Fra Angelico, it is not written in the obscure language of art history. The style is clear and straightforward. This is a beautiful book printed on high quality paper. The reproductions reflect the true colors of the originals.

Spike puts forth the novel theory that Fra Angelico apprenticed under Starnina, a semi mythical painter whose body of work for the most part has not survived. As proof, he offers the fact that a painting which hangs in the Uffizi and which had been previously attributed to Starnina was reassigned to Angelico in 1947. In Angelico's early work, one may see a similarity between his late Gothic figures and those of Starnina and his pupil, Masolino. On the other hand, Fra Angelico's style and his use of pure color can easily be seen to resemble that of Lorenzo Monaco. The majority of art historians seem to agree that Fra Angelico trained in Monoco's studio and even finished several of Monaco's works upon his death.

The most illuminating part of the book is Spike's interpretation of the fresco cycles at San Marco. The most complex designs are to be found in the cells of the friars. Spike divides the 9 cells into triads and has determined that the subject matter of each triad is not random but rather, for this group of highly educated theologians, Fra Angelico designed each of frescoes to be a meditation on the mysteries of the Incarnation, the Passion and the Resurrection of Christ.

The third section of the book is a complete catalog of Fra Angelico's body of work. Unfortunately this consists mostly of thumbnails and are all in black and white. While I would have preferred larger prints, it does not change the fact that this is truly a book that any lover of the art of Fra Angelico would want to own.