An Angel Paints an Angel

Today I went to the Museum of San Marco, a well restored 15th C monastery that boasts the largest collection of Fra Angelico’s work (so named because he painted like an angel). No pix were allowed, which was a shame as they didn’t take up the slack in the postcard department. Sigh. The image above is from the web.

Fra Angelico’s “Annunciation” fresco is an important stop on the art history road. We get introduced to it right before the juicy Renaissance stuff, and what we usually see is a rather pale picture in one of the two main art history tomes used for introductory classes. There is a winged angel in a pink robe, kneeling before the Virgin Mary, who is sitting in a stunning (for its time) 3D space. Fra Angelico straddled the place between his flatter, medieval style training and the explosion of dimensional realism that was to become the Renaissance.

Fresco is one heck of an art discipline. My friend Adam pointed out that fresco demands immediate commitment and precision. You paint directly onto a section of wet plaster, catching it in the sweet moments between too wet and too dry. No indecision, no noodling. If you goof up, you have to chisel it out – but then you run the risk of damaging the part next to it and having to chisel it out too. One would think that this would lead to less detail, but no, not at all in the case of artists like Fra Angelico who commanded it.

One of the things we struggle with at the university these days is getting students to understand that the mediated experience of seeing it on the internet just isn’t enough. Location matters. Light matters. Your viewing position matters. The group experience of the crowd matters. Size really does matter!

This “Annunciation” is a case in point. The angel’s wings traverse a rainbow of colors from the golden leading edge to the deep red flight feathers, which are infused with a subtle shimmer. The edges of the robe are leafed in gold pattern, along with both halos. The angel’s face is concentrated, intent, focused on Mary. Mary’s face is a wonder of somber emotions – comprehension, a little fear, perhaps even a slight resignation. The Latin inscription below gets straight to the point, beginning “Salve Mater…” “Greetings Mother…” This is heavy stuff, finding out that you are to be Mother to the Son of God… no wonder Mary has some trepidation. And this was all done in FRESCO.

My point is that none of these details showed up for me in Art History 101. I’m not really sure there is a way that it could, given the limitations of projected photography in a lecture hall, and the speed at which the information has to be delivered. Suffice to say that I’m so very grateful I got to see it in person today. And I think I’ll pass on trying fresco!