Fra Angelico and the Convent of San Marco

 The magnificent frescoes in chapels and town halls across Italy are among the greatest achievements of Renaissance art. Commissioned by either private patrons or by the Church, the great artists of the day produced images of matchless beauty. The work of Fra Angelico at the Dominican convent of San Marco in Florence is a brilliant reflection of the remarkable artistry of the time.

The Convent of San Marco is located in the former monastery of the Dominicans, constructed by Michelozzo in 1436 on a commission from the Medici ruler Cosimo the Elder. Michelozzo here adheres firmly to the Renaissance forms of Brunelleschi, even though his classicism has none of the other's passion for archeological research in it. The smooth, flowing lines of the cloister's arches create effects of light and shade which alternate in the series of vaults. Naturally the religious function and the deliberately spiritual effect of the structure, suggested by the order's Vicar General and perhaps by Fra Angelico himself, qualify these chiaroscuro and plastic impressions.

The figure of Fra Angelico dominates the Convent. The friar painter lived a long time here and expressed his delicate and simple soul in the sincere, candid forms of art. A great part, not only the artistic, but of the religious and civil history of Florence developed here.