Fra Angelico 10/12

On the 18th of each month I'm posting a painting by Fra Angelico that I've seen to celebrate his feast day. For October I've chosen 'The Last Judgement' altarpiece from the Gemaldegalerie in Berlin that I saw a month or so ago for the first time.

It would benefit from a cleaning which would make it sparkle and gleam like the version in Rome but it's still an astonishing sight just as it is. In particular, I liked the ranks of angels in the painting.

The middle panel of the altarpiece shows Christ in judgement while the panels on either side show angels escorting the blessed to Heaven and, on the other, sinners in various punishments in hell. I'm quite partial to the angels in the left-hand panel performing a stately dance with the blessed friars and monks being danced towards Heaven.

The Dominicans dominate in terms of numbers in the painting, as they would with the good Fra being a Dominican himself, as they move through paradise towards the golden Heaven above. The angels' robes are gorgeous  and their wings are multicoloured (as are all angel wings, as the Fra would know). They also brighten up the rather dull robes of the friars and monks.

I'd love to know enough about the flora at the time to know which flowers are shown in paradise - they will be real flowers and will, no doubt, have a meaning like purity or wisdom or something.

The other group of angels I particularly like are those at the bottom left of the main panel, greeting the blessed and the saved and leading them towards the angels dancing to Heaven. I like the intimacy of these angels with their arms around the saved, cuddling them, escorting them almost as equals towards Heaven.  I think this is lovely and something I've not seen in paintings by other artists.

The Fra was inventing new ways to depict traditional subjects that had been painted loads of times - and he will have seen loads of versions of the Last Judgement in Florence - and trying to come up with a new way of showing them, a human way to better engage the viewer. On that final day I wouldn't want to stand aghast at the sight of angels, I'd want them to welcome me with open arms and that's what the Fra is doing here.

It really is an astonishing paint8ing when you start looking at the details and start wondering about it. If you ever get to Berlin then you could do a lot worse than go to the Gemaldegalerie and see this glorious altarpiece and the other amazing works in the gallery.

Fra Angelico in the Gemaldegalerie, Berlin

The Gemaldegalerie (the paintings gallery) in Berlin includes a great 'Last Judgement' triptych by Fra Angelico. The Gemaldegalerie is part of the Kulturforum complex of museums and galleries just off Potsdamer Strasse (beyond Potsdamer Platz) behind the Philharmonic concert hall and that might explain why it wasn't terribly busy when we went. It's not on the beaten track and you need to know that it's there to find it. Luckily, I wanted to see the Fra Angelico painting so I knew where it was.

The 'Last Judgement' is a triptych of panels hung with three predella panels of the life of St Francis. I don't think there's any link between them other than they're all by Fra Angelico (who was a Dominican rather than a Franciscan).

I suspect linking the the two works is more about saving wall space than artistic merit since the 'Last Judgement' seems to focus on Dominican colours. The downside of hanging them together is that it means the 'Last Judgement' is hung higher than it would be normally and I'd rather it was lower to make sure I could see all of it properly. On the other hand, seeing all these panels together is pretty great! Mind you, it also pointed out that the 'Last Judgement' could do with a clean to free the colours compared to the predella scenes. More of that later.

The central panel shows Christ in Heaven surrounded by seraphim making his judgement, with apostles and angels on either side of him. Below, we see humanity being divided into those who merit heaven and those destined for hell.

The wings of the central panel show heaven and hell, with angels leading the blessed to heaven and demons punishing those destined for hell. If you look closely you can see that the Fra names the circles of hell, or possibly the sins of the sinners, in each of the small scenes set in hell. The devil sits in the centre eating humanity in a hell of our own creating - he's already eaten quite a few of us from his size. These scenes show different circles and punishments of hell, presumably based on Dante. I prefer the angels' stately dance towards heaven.

Something I really like about the central panel is the way that the angels cuddle and hug humanity and then direct them towards heaven. I'm a fan of the angel that dives down from heaven to save a mortal. All of the arms round each other is a  really nice touch and not one I've seen in paintings by other artists (but I might simply have missed it). That is something we should aim for - angels are welcoming the good into heaven and that's something we should aim for.  Isn't that how you'd want to be welcomed into heaven, with a cuddle?

This section of the painting really made me wish this triptych had been cleaned - just look at all those reds, pinks and blues, and imagine how vivid they'd be if they were cleaned. It would shine with colours and with the gold leaf in the background. One day it'll be this painting's turn to be cleaned and I'll be back on the plane to Berlin to see it.

Of course, as well as the path to heaven this painting includes the path to hell. The main panel shows people being divided into those who should go to heaven and those whose destination is hell and one of the panels shows hell.

We see a bloated satan and his devils inflicting pain on the damned. If you look closely you can see the names in Latin of the circles of hell or the names of the sin above each group of sinners. That's Fra Angelico's writing, that is. I suspect the circles of hell are named after Dante but I don't about that for sure. I'd rather be dancing with the angels with the angels that be naked and roasting in hell. The message works for me.

I mention that the panels would benefit from cleaning and the reason I say so is that a similar panel painting is in Rome and it has been cleaned and it looks so much more vibrant. I saw it earlier this year and here it is in all it's glory. Just imagine the glorious colours of the Berlin 'Last Judgement' if it was cleaned to this standard.

I'm not too sure what the predella panels are trying to show but we see Saints Francis and Dominic together, the death of St Francis and then St Francis speaking to his followers. This suggest there might be other predella scenes to fill in the gaps in the life of St Francis but it's interesting that a Dominican friar painted a life of their great rival of the Franciscans. I suspect there's a story behind this that I'm not aware of.

If you're lucky enough to be in the area then please make sure you visit the Gemaldegalerie since it has a great collection of paintings and is hung excellently.  Not just to see the Fra (although that is mandatory) but to see so many other great paintings, many of which you'll be familiar with but have never seen the original.