Fra Angelico, The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs and The Dominican Blessed, about 1424-25. The National Gallery, London. This week I reach the end of my exploration of the Fra Angelico exhibition in Florence, looking at his Students and Successors on Monday, 3 November at 6pm. This will include popping back into theContinue reading “260 – Saints, Martyrs, and Saints in waiting (More of the ‘More things’)”
Category Archives: Mendicants
259 – There are more things in Heaven and Earth…
Fra Angelico, The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs, about 1423-4. The National Gallery, London. So far I have discussed most of what can be seen in the glorious Fra Angelico exhibition/s in Florence, covering the first room in San Marco and most rooms in the Palazzo Strozzi. However, if you manage to getContinue reading “259 – There are more things in Heaven and Earth…”
253 – A vision, closer than you think
Carlo Crivelli, The Vision of the Blessed Gabriele, probably about 1489. The National Gallery, London. One of the most dramatic vistas I’ve ever seen in a museum is new – and it is one of the splendours of the new hang of the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery in London. Indeed, I’ve been usingContinue reading “253 – A vision, closer than you think”
239 – Saint Christina of Bolsena!
Luca Signorelli, Virgin and Child with Saints, 1515. The National Gallery, London. This Monday, 13 January I will be talking about the National Gallery’s superb, small-scale exhibition Parmigianino: The Vision of Saint Jerome, expanding on what is on display with reference to the superb and thoroughly researched catalogue. Earlier this week, while talking about theContinue reading “239 – Saint Christina of Bolsena!”
Saint Francis, re-framed
Giovanni Bellini, St Francis in the Desert, c. 1476-78, Frick Collection, New York. The National Gallery’s exhibition, Saint Francis of Assisi, which I will talk about this Monday, 19 June at 6pm, is refreshingly beautiful. It includes a superb and eclectic choice of objects which are beautifully hung and expertly curated to tell a clear storyContinue reading “Saint Francis, re-framed”
197 – Lavinia, Mary and Margaret
Lavinia Fontana, The Holy Family with Saints Margaret and Francis, 1578. Davis Museum at Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA. It is very rare that a museum can present an exhibition of the work of an artist who is not only very good, but also relatively unknown – especially when they lived in the 16th Century. ButContinue reading “197 – Lavinia, Mary and Margaret”
159 – Michelangelo, holding a candle…
Michelangelo Buonarroti, Angel, 1494-5. San Domenico, Bologna. You would think that no one could hold a candle to Michelangelo – but everyone has to start somewhere, and the young sculptor must have learnt from someone. Indeed, today’s work is an example of the young genius responding – directly and overtly – to someone else’s work,Continue reading “159 – Michelangelo, holding a candle…”
114 – Giotto in Assisi
Giotto, The Institution of the Crib at Greccio, 1297-1300, Upper Church, San Francesco, Assisi. I’m thinking about Giotto again for a number of different reasons. The first is that Giotto is, quite simply, always worth thinking about. The second is that I am about to embark on a short course, a series of three lecturesContinue reading “114 – Giotto in Assisi”
Day 99 – Paradise
Giovanni di Paolo, Paradise, 1445, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Since yesterday, nothing drastic has happened – and so I give you a vision of Paradise, the rabbits, more numerous since the days of Adam and Eve, still nibbling peaceably at the grass. I don’t know about you, but back in the middle of March IContinue reading “Day 99 – Paradise”
Day 74 – Pentecost
Suor Plautilla Nelli, Pentecost, 1554, San Domenico, Perugia. Today is Pentecost, fifty days after the Resurrection, and ten days after the Ascension. According to the Acts of the Apostles, 2: 1-4: And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound fromContinue reading “Day 74 – Pentecost”
dr richard stemp 