'Fra Angelico: Heaven on Earth' at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

An exhibition of works by Fra Angelico is rare enough to take note, but that the exhibition is bringing together four linked works for the first time in centuries is definitely worth a trip to see them. The current exhibition at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum brings together four reliquaries by Fra Angelico that were commissioned for Santa Maria Novella in Florence. I packed my bag and jumped on a plane for Boston just after an unexpected snowstorm had hit the city and everywhere was coated in a deep layer of snow.

Reliquaries are containers for holy relics. In the case of the painted panels by Fra Angelico, the relics would've been contained in small drawers or alcoves built into the frame so the paintings themselves are decorative as well as providing a focal point for veneration. The reliquaries would have been brought out from safekeeping on feast and holy days so weren't generally seen even back when they were painted. The current frames for the panels are not the originals but rather replacements made in the early 1800s. Brief background lesson over, let's look at the exhibition.

The first painting you see on entering the exhibition is the Corsini Triptych from the Italian national collection in Rome. I've seen it twice before, as part of the Fra Angelico exhibition at Musee Jacquemart-Andree in Paris in 2011 and again, last year, in Rome. It was cleaned a while ago and the colours and gold leaf shine out like new. In the Corsini Gallery the work is hung in a glass case without a frame but here it is in a simple wooden frame that seems to enhance its brilliance. There's a similar, earlier work by the Fra using a similar composition in the Gemaldegallerie in Berlin (that needs to be cleaned). The panels show the Ascension, the Last Judgement and Pentecost

The next painting along is one of the large panels from the Armadio degli Argenti, the silver chest, which is on display at San Marco in Florence. The panel shows ten scenes from the life of Christ and the final panel shows his family tree to remind viewers of his royal heritage. This panel deals with the last days of the Christ from the road to Golgotha, crucifixion, ascension, Pentecost, Last Judgement and the crowning of the Virgin in heaven. These paintings are easy to read and follow to anyone who knows the Christian tradition so it's the detail that makes them more interesting and shows how the Fra decided to tell the stories. I didn't measure them but each scene is about one foot square so that's a lot of detail in each scene.

Next is a panel I've not seen before, 'The Entombment of Christ'. Christ has been taken down from the cross (see the three crosses on the hill in the distance?) and has been carried to his tomb where he is mourned and cleaned before being entombed. The scene takes place in a Tuscan landscape (I love the prominent tree) and the symbols of torture are laid out on show.

Although this is a relatively simple composition, it's actually really important in the development of artistic trends at the time. The Fra sets this scene in a landscape whereas some of his contemporaries would've still used a golden background reminiscent of Gothic and Byzantine paintings. The style hadn't totally changed when this painting was completed but the Fra is clearly stating which side he's on - he's humanising the divine while saying this is the here and now, we live in holy times so be careful of your behaviour since the Christ is returning just as he rose from the dead all those years ago.

The final work in this first room is a predella - a series of small paintings that sit underneath a main altarpiece - depicting scenes from the lives of Saint Cosimas and Saint Demian, two brother physicians who were the patron saints of the Medici family. This predella is attributed to both Fra Angelico and to Zanobi Strozzi, thought to be one of the Fra's pupils.

The Fra painted the two brothers numerous times, presumably to keep the Medici's happy, including in the San Domenico predella in the National Gallery in London. We see scenes of the brothers escaping death such as being saved from drowning by an angel, surviving being shot with arrows and, when it was decided to get rid of them by burning them alive, the flames turned on their oppressors and left the brothers safe and whole. Finally, chopping off their heads worked and the brothers were martyred for their beliefs.

The main room contains a special semi-circular framing device to hold the reliquaries but before looking at them there are three more paintings to look at. The first is the 'Marriage of the Virgin' which includes the tale of how Joseph won her hand when his bough sprouted into new life, one of the many tales from 'The Golden Legend'. Many of the tales in this manuscript were popular at the time despite not being in the Bible but you don't really need to know that, just enjoy the painting.

This is a lovely little panel full of colour and story-telling. I like the bloke in red at the far left trying to break his tree bough to find a fresh place to encourage it to grow while two others hold their boughs like sticks. Then there are the two blokes patting Joseph on the back, almost as if in congratulations until you see that their hands are clenched into fists. This isn't congratulations, this is jealousy. And there is poor old Joseph with his bough sprouting new leaves as he weds Mary the Virgin. If you were familiar with the 'Legend', and many people were back in the day, from stories told and repeated, then you'd easily read this painting and understand God's plan.

Next is a much larger painting on loan from the Uffizi in Florence, called 'The Coronation of the Virgin' there but called 'Paradise' here. The holy pair are surrounded by angels and then by saints holding their symbols so we can recognise them. I particularly like Mary Magdalene kneeling to the left of the group of women saints on the right of the painting. Her flowing hair and clothes of red/pink highlight her as she looks out of the painting back at us. Her mouth is open and her gaze is direct, other than the other women. If she can be saved then so can can we.

I love the gold leaf in the background of this painting, scored in lines radiating out from the holy pair so that, wherever you stand, the light catches it in a different way. I'd love to see this painting lit only by candles and see what it looks like in flickering candlelight.

The final painting on that wall is a small 'Dormition of the Virgin' that also features Jesus Christ at his mother's 'funeral' (although that's not quite right). The Jesus figure is holding a boy so, perhaps, he's meant to represent God the Father and the Son?  I'm also not sure why Mary's body seems elongated, perhaps in preparation for her ascent into heaven. I'll need to check this out and it may be explained in the catalogue.

The reliquaries are presented in glass cases in a semi-cicircular area of arches, almost like cloisters or arches in a sacristy, so we see the reliquaries and also the back of each panel. The frames were built around the panels and we don't, now, know what the original frames looked like but I liked what I saw. From left to right, there are two reliquaries, a drawing of Saint Jerome, another panel showing the 'Dormition of the Virgin' and then the further two reliquaries.

The first reliquary shows two scenes, the Annunciation and the Adoration of the Magi. Underneath is a sort of 'predella' with the Virgin and child surrounded by female saints and, underneath that, is a small strip in gold and green with some of the words from 'Ave Maria'. This reliquary glows.

At the very top of the reliquary we see God the Father surrounded by angels all in blue sending his spirit to the Virgin as Gabriel explains what's happening. The Virgin and Angels are on a carpet with pelican designs, a symbol of the death of Christ to come, so, even at this early stage, Christ's fate is sealed. Between them is a vase with lillies, the symbol of purity often seen in paintings showing this scene. Underneath this we see what happens nine months later as the Magi come to worship the new king.

This 'Adoration of the Magi' is my new favourite depiction of the scene. Mary holds out the child to the oldest of the Magi who removes his crown as he crouches down to kiss the foot of the new king while the other two Magi stand and bow. I like their retinue who don't seem to understand what is happening in front of them and, instead, chat to each other, or, perhaps, tell each other to be quiet. Who knows? The man at the back seems to be having trouble with his camel. Only one of the men seems to be looking towards the scene in front of him, the others all looking elsewhere, missing the significance of what's happening. Gorgeous colours and composition and don't forget the story.

The next reliquary is the 'Coronation of the Virgin' with the familiar scene, just on a smaller scale with it's gorgeous range of colours. The 'predella' shows Mary and Joseph adoring the Child surrounded by angels all dressed in blue. This is quite striking and really stands out with the angels all dressed in the same way.

At the front of the scene we once again have Mary Magdalene with her unruly hair streaming down her back, but most noticeable is the figure of St Thomas Aquinas looking out at the viewer. He's holding his Bible and looking at us. Another character looking out at us is St Peter in the front row of saints to the left hand side. Why are these two looking at us? I have no idea but presume there is a link between them somewhere. Maybe it's a kind of 'read your Bible if you want to get into Heaven' kind of message?

Next to this reliquary is a small drawing in ink of St Jerome. It's only a few inches tall and is quite faded but the Fra still manages to bring some expression to the face and his voluminous robes.

Next to this is another panel showing the 'Dormition of the Virgin', about a decade earlier than the other Dormition panel and a lot busier with people gathered round trying to help as we do at times of stress, and not always for the best. Above we see the angels gathering to welcome the Virgin into Heaven, with Christ in the centre. I like how most of the men are shown as being old - this is not the young Virgin who gave birth to their Lord, the years have passed and they're all older now but their devotion remains.

The next work is the reliquary bought by Isabella Stewart Gardner and was the first painting by Fra Angelico to come to America. It's usually hung in the Palace (as her house is now called, attached to the exhibition centre) in a rather odd place on the side of a fireplace so it would be easy to miss unless you know it's there. I found the place it normally hangs because I'm nosy. Apparently it's part of her will endowing the museum that none of the paintings can be removed other than for short exhibitions in her own museum and where they're hung can't even be changed. She decided where everything would be seen to best effect amongst her astonishing collection. This panel shows two scenes, the Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin as she ascends to Heaven.

We see Christ at the very top of the panel, identified as Christ since he has the cross of the resurrection in his halo, waiting to welcome his mother into Heaven. A rather ethereal Mary is ascending towards Heaven surrounded by angels and leaving her earthly body behind in the bottom scene. Once again, the Dormition scene includes the risen Christ carrying a young boy, presumably himself before he grew into his godhood. This is the painting that inspired other American museums to start trying to acquire paintings by Fra Angelico so is quite important in that respect.

Since it's the Gardner Museum's own painting then the gift shop has lots of products for sale based on it - prints, glasses cases, bookmarks, fridge magnets and more. It's also the face of the exhibition and I saw an advert for the exhibition using this image on the side of a Green Line underground train.

The final reliquary is a simple Virgin and Child and the good Fra had painted many Virgin and Child's by the time he produced this one. Called 'Madonna della Stella' (Virgin of the Star) it really catches the eye with it's deep, deep blue robe and simple composition. The very simplicity of the piece is what makes it so gorgeous, the simple colour palette and the gleaming gold-leaf background highlighting the figure of the Virgin with her child. And just look at those angels on either side the Virgin, they're marvellous and fully rendered. I think my favourite is the top left angel in the pale lilac robe.

And just look at how that baby is nuzzling into his mother's cheek, a lovely scene of maternal affection. I also like the way the gold leaf has been tooled to produce rays of light emanating from the holy pair. This is another work I'd love to see by candle-light.

The reliquaries are all presented in glass boxes so you can also see the back of the works and see how the frames were built around the paintings. The back of the panel for the Dormition and Ascension was the most interesting with the pattern on the back and the shape being obvious. I like seeing the back of paintings, you never know what you might see. And, of course, remember that none of these frames are the originals.

This is a fascinating exhibition and if you're in Boston in the next couple of months then I'd certainly recommend a visit. There are a series of events and talks associated with the exhibition and I was lucky enough to catch a talk from one of the Museum experts on my second visit (yes, I went twice).

After seeing the exhibition - which was why I was there - I went to wander round the Palace, the name now used for Gardner's house and museum, and found a range of fascinating stuff, including a Giotto sitting on the top of  a desk. But that's a blog for another day.

Thank you Gardner Museum for such a great exhibition about Fra Angelico, I thoroughly enjoyed my visits.