Customer Reviews

Fra Angelico

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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.