It's the 18th of the month so it's Fra Angelico day again! To celebrate Fra Angelico's feast day on 18 February I'm posting a painting of his that I've seen on the 18th of each month this year. This month I've chosen 'The Crucifixion' in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
It's a relatively early painting by the Fra and I always think it's a painting of two parts - the upper more traditional part of Christ on the cross, angels carrying symbols of the passion and the golden background. The lower half is more interesting and experimental with it's crowd of soldiers and saints. Mary has collapsed to the ground in shock at her son's death, surrounded by the Marys and with John looking on and twisting his hands in anguish.
Behind Mary and the saints there's a cluster of soldiers in contemporary dress and a soldier holding the pole with the sponge of vinegar looking up at Jesus. The Fra is experimenting with perspective in the man's head and with realism by giving him a hairy chest - how many hairy chests do you see in Renaissance painting?
The painting is full of small details in the clothing and the horses and all those faces are different and might be based on fellow friars and the donors who paid for this painting. It really is a bit of a gem. It would be lovely to see it freshly (and very carefully) cleaned.
Photos by me.
It's a relatively early painting by the Fra and I always think it's a painting of two parts - the upper more traditional part of Christ on the cross, angels carrying symbols of the passion and the golden background. The lower half is more interesting and experimental with it's crowd of soldiers and saints. Mary has collapsed to the ground in shock at her son's death, surrounded by the Marys and with John looking on and twisting his hands in anguish.
Behind Mary and the saints there's a cluster of soldiers in contemporary dress and a soldier holding the pole with the sponge of vinegar looking up at Jesus. The Fra is experimenting with perspective in the man's head and with realism by giving him a hairy chest - how many hairy chests do you see in Renaissance painting?
The painting is full of small details in the clothing and the horses and all those faces are different and might be based on fellow friars and the donors who paid for this painting. It really is a bit of a gem. It would be lovely to see it freshly (and very carefully) cleaned.
Photos by me.
No comments:
Post a Comment