Main entry:

Hood, William, 1940-

Title & Author:

Fra Angelico at San Marco / William Hood.

Publication:

London ; New York : BCA, 1993.

Description:

xv, 338 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 29 cm

Notes:
"This edition published 1993 by BCA by arrangement with Yale University Press."--Title page verso
Includes bibliographical references (pages 327-335) and index.
Introduction: San Marco Problems -- 1. The Myth of Original Perfection and the Ideals of the Dominican Observance -- 2. Contingency and Discontinuity: The Dominican Community at San Marco, 1436-1455 -- 3. Traditio: Dominican Altarpiece Conventions in Fourteenth-Century Tuscany -- 4. The Limitations of Likeness: Fra Angelico's Dominican Altarpieces before 1440 -- 5. Real Presence: The San Marco Altarpiece -- 6. Ritual Sites: Florentine Painted Cloisters and the Representation of History -- 7. The Liturgy of the Dominican Constitutions: Frescoes in the Cloister of San Marco -- 8. The Community of Believers: The Crucifixion in the Chapter Room of San Marco -- 9. Habits and Manners: Frescoes in the Novices' Dormitory -- 10. Eloquence and Contemplation: Frescoes in the Clerics' Dormitory -- 11. Rich and Poor: Frescoes in the Laybrothers' Dormitory and in Cosimo de' Medici's Cells -- 12. Nature and Grace in the Art of Fra Angelico: The Madonna and Child with Eight Saints and the Annunciation -- Appendix: The Dominican Constitutions.

Summary:

Paintings of saints - Florentine painted cloisters - San Marco - Frescoes - Fra Angelico.
Fra Angelico's fresco paintings at the Dominican priory of San Marco are among the best-loved works of Italian art, yet they have been oddly neglected by art historians. In this beautiful book, William Hood analyzes the newly cleaned frescoes at San Marco, setting them against the background of fifteenth-century Florentine artistic, political, cultural, and religious history. Hood discusses the ideals, daily rituals, and pictorial traditions of the Dominican order - especially the reformed or Observant branch to which Fra Angelico belonged. He presents new material on traditions of religious art, altarpiece design and imagery, and the decoration of chapter rooms and cloisters. Hood compares Fra Angelico's work at San Marco to earlier Dominican altarpieces and to his other altarpieces for Dominican buildings in Siena, Pisa, Prato, and Florence, pointing out both the traditional elements and the startling novelty of the San Marco altarpiece. Similarly, by comparing San Marco to other Florentine fresco cycles, he illuminates the originality of the cloister and chapter-house of San Marco. Hood's discussion of San Marco follows an itinerary through the church and adjoining convent buildings, beginning with the high altarpiece and ending with the corridor paintings - especially the exquisite Annunciation in the corridor of the north dormitory. Throughout, he analyzes Angelico's use of color, his technique in fresco and tempera, the way he solved specific visual problems, and how his paintings affected fifteenth-century viewers. This beautiful book will be an important addition to our understanding of fifteenth-century art and of artistic and cultural practices.

ISBN:

0300057342
9780300057348

Subject:

Angelico, fra, approximately 1400-1455 Criticism and interpretation.
Angelico, fra, approximately 1400-1455
Angelico, Fra, (1400?-1455) Critique et interprétation.
Dominicans Italy Influence.
San Marco (Monastery : Florence, Italy)
Museo di San Marco.
Dominicans
Spirituality in art.
Monasticism and religious orders in art.
Spiritualité dans l'art.
Monachisme et ordres religieux dans l'art.
Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.)
Spiritualité Dans l'art.
Dominicains Italie Influence.
Italy

Form/genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 103775
Call No.: ID PLS; ID:94-B185
Status: Available