Photo. Alinari.
Plate 15.—Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene
Fra Angelico, Monastery of St. Mark, Florence
pattern-like effect, at the same time the intense fervour and piety of the subject is well expressed. The figure of the female saint at the feet of Christ has a red dress, the remainder of the lower figures have purple garments, and St. Dominic has the black and white dress of his order. The “Resurrection,” painted in the eighth cell, has a colour arrangement of pale purples, greens, white, and dark blue, which is very harmonious. The colouring of the fresco in the last or inner cell on the right, the “Adoration of the Magi,” though somewhat faded, is still very beautiful: the Virgin has a blue dress, and for the rest of the colouring, peach and plum, and golden tints prevail. The colour schemes of the frescos in the other cells, that have been painted by Fra Angelico, are similar to those of the first and second of the series, with the exception of the tenth, which has the entire background of the subject, the Presentation in the Temple, painted in a broken Venetian red colour, which can hardly have been the original colour.
The execution or technique of these small frescos by Angelico is exceedingly firm and direct; they are frankly painted, without any apparent hesitation of touch—indeed, in these paintings the student will find a more masterly freedom in the workmanship than in the case of the laboured and miniature-like paintings of the more popular altar-pieces and easel pictures of this master. These remarks apply to those of the cell frescos, which are the authentic work of this master; and under this head would come more particularly the first, the third (the “Annunciation”), sixth (the “Transfiguration”), ninth (“Coronation of the Virgin”), and the “Adoration of the Magi,” on the wall of an inner cell.
Two better-known works of Angelico are, the “Annunciation,” on the wall of the upper corridor, facing the staircase, and his larger work, the lunette of the “Crucifixion” in the chapter-house of this monastery. The fresco of the “Annunciation,” which has been considerably repainted, is very simple in composition, but very effective; and the colouring, though now dull and opaque, has still something reminiscent of Angelico’s colour arrangements. The Virgin’s dress is dark blue, with olive-green lining; the angel’s dress is a pinkish dove-colour; the grass, foliage, and flowers are in grey greens and white; architecture, a light stone-colour; and the paling behind is a warm grey.