BRONZE DOORS OF THE CATHEDRAL AT PISA
(Twelfth Century)
Relief by Luca della Robbia
One of the best known painters of the first half of the fifteenth century, Fra[236] Angelico, was a monk. His frescoes on the walls of the monastery of San Marco (and elsewhere) reflect a love of beauty and a cheerful piety, in striking contrast to the fiery zeal of Savonarola,[237] who, later in the century, went forth from this same monastery to denounce the vanities of the art-loving Florentines.[238]
Rome becomes the center of artistic activity.
126. Florence reached the height of its preëminence as an art center during the reign of Lorenzo the Magnificent, who was an ardent patron of all the arts. With his death (1492), and the subsequent brief but overwhelming influence of Savonarola, this preëminence passed to Rome, which was fast becoming one of the great capitals of Europe. The art-loving popes, Julius II and Leo X,[239] took pains to secure the services of the most distinguished artists and architects of the time in the building and adornment of St. Peter's and the Vatican, i.e., the papal church and palace.