circa 1395 -1455 · First Florentine Renaissance, Dominican light and sacred perspective

Luminous gold, intense blues, measured architecture and collected gestures make Fra Angelico one of the great spiritual inventors of the Florentine Renaissance.

Fra Angelico was born around 1395 in Vicchio, in Mugello, under the name Guido di Pietro. Installed in Florence with his brother Benedetto, he formed in the world of illuminated manuscripts, where he acquired a taste for precious colors, detail and gold. Documented as a painter in 1417, he then entered the observant Dominicans of San Domenico in Fiesole and took the name Fra Giovanni. His art developed at the time when Florence invented a new representation of space. Fra Angelico assimilated the perspective, the volume of Masaccio and the architecture of Brunelleschi without abandoning the brilliance of international Gothic. In his Annunciations, a rigorous portico welcomes the meeting of Gabriel and Mary; the geometric depth does not reduce the mystery, it gives it a calm and intelligible place. Altarpieces, predelles and small panels combine precise narration, landscapes, hallmarked gold and figures with readable gestures. From 1438, he worked at the convent of San Marco, rebuilt for the Medici. The cell frescoes simplified the color and decor in order to support the brothers' meditation. Then called to Rome by Popes Eugene IV and Nicholas V, he painted the Niccoline chapel there, where his language became more monumental. Then called to Rome by Popes Eugene IV and Nicholas V, he notably painted the Niccoline chapel, where his language became more monumental. Then called to Rome by Popes Eugene IV and Nicholas V, he painted the Niccoline chapel, where his language became more monumental. Then called to Rome by Popes Eugene IV and Nicholas V, he painted the Niccoline chapel, where his language became more monumental. Then called to Rome by Popes Eugene IV and Nicholas V, he notably painted the Niccoline chapel, where his language became more monumental. Then called to Rome by Popes Eugene IV and Nicholas V, he painted the Niccoline chapel, where his language became more monumental. Then called to Rome by Popes Eugene IV and Nicholas V, he after his death and beatified in the 20th century, he remained a major painter because he united visual innovation, narrative clarity and spiritual demands. The "Fra Angelico" selection notably compares Mary of the Annunciation and The Annunciation of Cortona. His reading favors drawing.

Fra Angelico does not choose between medieval gold and new space: he makes perspective itself an instrument of contemplation.