Book Description
This beautiful book, published in conjunction with the first major exhibition of Fra Angelico’s work since the cinquecentenary exhibition of 1955 in Florence, will feature more than seventy paintings, drawings, and manuscript illuminations covering all periods of the artist’s career, from round 1410 to 1455. Also included will be fifty selected works by his assistants and closest followers.

Fra Angelico (“the angelic friar”; ca. 1390/95–1455) was one of Renaissance Florence’s leading painters. In addition to his celebrated altarpieces and frescos in Florence, Fiesole, Cortona, Perugia, and Rome, Fra Angelico alsocompleted many masterpieces on a small scale. His predella panels, the small narrative scenes included beneath large altarpieces, are among the most innovative creations in fifteenthcentury Florence, while his images of the Virgin and Child still retain the inspirational immediacy and presence that first secured the artist’s reputation as the premier painter of his age.

Research undertaken in the last fifty years now allows scholars to reconstruct a more historically reliable biography of Fra Angelico that goes beyond the legends and traditions to establish his position not only as one of the greatest masters of the fifteenth century, but also as one of the most intellectually accomplished painters who ever lived.

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Customer Reviews (3)

BEAUTIFUL CALENDER
This is a calendar I will enjoy everyday, and I knew I would when I ordered it.Fra Angelio is a featured artist of The Met this year, but they were out of the calendars when I ordered, so I was very happy to find that Amazon had it.The pictures selected for this calendar are beautiful, and provide daily inspiration, though painted by this Italian artist about 800 years ago.

Fra Angelico: A Breathtaking Glimpse
This is much more than a coffee table book because of the extensive coverage of the artist: his life, his contemporaties, influences on his style and his influence on the styles of others.The lavish illustrations in glorious color emphasize the other-worldliness of the subject matter.

Fra Angelico: A Reevaluation and Appreciation
FRA ANGELICO may be a museum catalogue for the current exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, but it is also one of the more impressive historical documents on this important painter and his influence on the world of art in the library today.The book is a masterwork of scholarship and visual examples of this 15th Century artist.

Words fail in describing the degree of integrity of scholarship of the contributors. Under the curatorial guidance of Laurence Kanter the museum has gathered seventy-odd paintings, drawings and illuminations from books by Fra Angelico, and then to add to the dimension of the great master's influence, they have added some fifty works by his students and disciples.While Fra Angelico shines in his extraordinary sense of detail and representational art in a period when art was flattened decor and just entering the blossoming of the Renaissance, the works included by his pupils are quite staggeringly beautiful.Some would say comparison to the master is unfair: history offers another vantage, that being the concept that the truly great teachers enlighten their pupils to exceed the teacher's creations!

While the visual components of this fine book are incomparable, the various written sections by not only Laurence Kanter, but also by Pia Palladino, Magnolia Scudieri, Carl Strehlke, Victor M. Schmidt, andAnneke de Vries not only inform - they also read like a novel of the life and times in 15th Century Florence. In every way this is a magnum opus that represents well the Museum's exemplary exhibition of the work of Fra Angelico.Highly Recommended.Grady Harp, October 05 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

SanMarco a Beautiful Place
William Hood's Fra Angelico at San Marco is one of the best books written on this important period of art. It is comprehenisve, well-illustrated and entertaining, it is also a model of clarity and scholarly precision.There are many painting and sculpturesthat are beautiful to see. The book has captured the beautiful works of Fra Angelico. William Hood writes with authority and eloquence.He illustrates the architecute and painting of San Marco with a burst of creativity. Beautiful illustration, fine writing and authoritative scholarship bring into focus all the elements of this beautiful book. ... Read more

Book Description
Guido di Petro was born in 1387 in Tuscany, near Fiesole. While still very young, he joined the Observant Dominican order, making the vow of absolute poverty and obedience. His talent soon proved useful as he began to paint miniatures for missals and other religious books.In 1436, along with several other friars, he moved to the convent of San Marco in Florence. There he painted frescos in the cloister and in the chapel. His move to Florence established a fundamental change for him, as he was plunged into the effervescence of a major artistic centre under the protection of Medici family the most influential patrons of the arts of the time.He was among the first to use the techniques of perspective proposed by Leon Battista Alberti. His method of depicting movement, as well as his use of colour and facial expressions to highlight grace and emotion, place him among the major painters of European Gothic and early Renaissance, with such brilliant works as the Annunciation, and The Last Judgement. Gentile da Fabriano may have been one of his students.By the end of his life, he was an archpriest in Florence and died in 1455 in Rome. Called Blessed Angelico for a long time (Vasari dates this name back to 1469), he was not officially beatified until 1984 by Pope John Paul II.Through a series of magnificent illustrations, combined with artistic and biographical analysis, Etienne Beissel unravels the talent of this unique artist, who alone knew how to paint a Christian soul, and whom Andr Malraux considered to be the painter who marked the severance between the sacred art of the Middle Ages and the new art born with the Renaissance. ... Read more

Book Description
The volumes in this bibliophile series provide unique portraits of European art history.Readers gain fascinating insights into the artists' biographies and their styles: Durer and his famous portraits and altarpieces, the vivid farm scenes of Pieter Bruegel, the great painters of the Italian Renaissance, the symphonies in color ofTitian, the mysterious chiaroscuro paintings of Caravaggio, the rococo worlds of Antoine Watteau, and the great historical paintings created by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.Authoritative texts illuminate the decisive stages in the artists' lives and the development of their styles, explaining their impact against the background of their social context as well as their significance for following generations of artists.Plentiful large sized illustrations showcase each artist's oeuvre.Each volume contains a comprehensive appendixproviding information on the artists' biographies in tabular form as well as an extensive bibliography.Each of the authors of the individual volumes is renowned in his or her field. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Fra Angelico
This is what an art book should be, page after page of splendid reproductions, including several full page details of Fra Angelico's greatest works.I was able to spend one day in San Marco, 2 years ago, I was alone most of the morning, but by noon had to contend with hoards of tourists pushing their way to get their 3 second glimsp of each fresco.Looking at these wonderful reproductions, I am reminded of the originals, I am able to see details I could not see peering through the entrances to the monks' rooms, and to recall many details had just forgotten.The text, devoted to the illuminating the art, included a wonderful explaination of composition and perspective.

incredible book for an incredible work of art !
this book is a piece of art itself. the reproductions and the details close-up photographs gives a new demention of fra angelico's frescos of 'san marco' in florence.it is a unic book. tzvia haitin ... Read more

Book Description
The frescoes of the Cappella Nuova in the Cathedral of Orvieto have fascinated visitors from Michelangelo to Freud and Czelow Milosz because of their dramatic portrayal of the end of the world and the Last Judgment. Creighton Gilbert's study draws on previously overlooked documents to explain the commissioning of this extraordinary cycle of paintings, begun by Fra Angelico in the 1400s and completed almost a half-century later by Luca Signorelli. In contrast to most other art historians, who ascribe the iconographic and formal structure of the paintings to Signorelli, Gilbert contends that his predecessor, Fra Angelico, devised the entire program of decoration. Gilbert also situates the cycle in the contexts of liturgical practice, humanistic studies, and the rich body of texts and images shaping the Renaissance conception of the coming of the Antichrist and the world's final moments.

How Fra Angelico and Signorelli Saw the End of the World examines every element in the Cappella Nuova's architecture and complex decoration, which represents not only the coming of the Antichrist, the end of the world, and the Last Judgment but also, on a high dado, features portraits of Dante and other poets, scenes from their texts, and sinuous grotesque ornaments. Although Dante's likeness has long been recognized, Gilbert is the first scholar to establish that his great epic, The Divine Comedy, exerted a profound influence on the Chapel's iconographic program. ... Read more

Book Description
Two fascinating essays reveal how art historians and conservators do their sleuthing.Laurence Kantor explores the attribution of three of his panels that had been at Yale but belong to a triptych at the Getty. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

GreatArt /Great Book
First rate elegant book on Fra Angelico.Excellent reproductions of an artist that Rothko preferred to any otherartist of this period ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

One nice alternative Rosary
Through The Rosary With Fra Angelico is a beautiful pamphlet whichprovides one alternative for reciting the rosary.It begins with a shorthistory of the Rosary and instructions on how to say the Rosary.For eachmystery it includes art by Fra Angelica; a short description of themystery; a Biblical passage related to the mystery; prayer intentions; Then for each Hail Mary after "fruit of your womb Jesus" itprovides a phrase "who ; forfinal prayers it provides the Salve Regina and the Litany of the BlessedVirgin.

Every Catholic should know the "plain vanilla" Rosarybut everyone must find the form of the Rosary (if any) which is mostappropriate to their prayer life.This could be an excellent choice.

23 year old recommends this book
This book is an awesome way to help you meditate on the mysteries whilepraying the Rosary. I have bought it for several of my friends. Thepaintings are also beautiful. Try it out. It is only a couple bucks! :O)

23 year old recommends this book
This book is an awesome way to help you meditate on the mysteries whilepraying the Rosary. I have bought it for several of my friends. Thepaintings are also beautiful. Try it out. It is only a couple bucks! :O)

Through the Rosary with Fra Angelico
I've used this book for years, and I find it to be a much more meaningful way to say the Rosary than the usual method. It is a good way to do a meditation on each of the mysteries. I bought copies for all the kids atthe diocesan summer camp that I run, so obviously, I really do recommendit! Fr. Bob Haux ... Read more

Book Description
Fra Angelico’s magnificent painting of the Annunciation to the Virgin can be seen today at the San Marco Museum in Florence, Italy. A beautiful reproduction of the memorable Italian Renaissance painting is presented and described in this attractive miniature book, which does double duty as a framed picture! The front cover shows the painting in a faithful, miniaturized full-color reproduction, and the book’s extra-sturdy slipcase is designed so it can be used as a picture frame. The slipcase can be stood up on a desk or tabletop with a pull-out tab, to present a framed picture. A second tab serves for those who prefer to use their Miniature Art Book as a wall hanging. But taken out of its slipcase, the book features 21 pages of color-illustrated text on glossy, card stock. The artist’s life and work is discussed with attention to significant features in the title painting. The book’s last two pages present a capsule timeline biography of the artist and his works. ... Read more