Tags
1400s, 15th Century, art, Artists, Florence, Fra Angelico, International Gothic, Italy, Painters, Paintings, Religious, Renaissance
Name: Fra Angelico
Work: Painter
Born: 1395
Died: 1455
Hometown: Vicchio, Italy and Florence, Italy
Period: Early Italian Renaissance
Influences: International Gothic Style (Simone Martini, Gentile da Fabriano) and Early Renaissance artists in Florence (Masaccio, Donatello, Ghiberti)
What I have learnt about his work in general:
Fra Angelico was a Dominican Friar who completed a great number of paintings and frescoes including many for the priory of San Marco in Florence while he was resident there. His work was religious, and combined the intricately decorative nature of the International Gothic style with the emerging classically influenced and more realistic Renaissance style. He was able to create realistic depth through linear perspective and through his use of light and shadow, and he enhanced emotion through the use of colour and naturalistic facial expressions.
The Annunciation (fresco), Fra Angelico
1438-45
Museum of San Marco, Florence
My interpretation of this painting:
In this painting Fra Angelico compeltely stripped back this frequently painted scene when the Angel Gabriel announces to Mary she is to give birth to Christ. There are no extra items or symbols, but instead it is just the two of them facing one another under a simple loggia, their body language is mirrored and their clothes are plain and modest. I feel this creates a sense of intimacy, stillness and serenity, which gives more weight to the actual story and the life-changing news the angel is delivering. This intimacy, as well as the depth of colour in the scene and the devout facial expressions, creates emotional impact and commands respect and reverence from the viewer.
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