No record is extant of his first visit to Foligno, but in the church of
St. Dominic at Cortona we may still admire a triptych with the Virgin
and four Saints; an Annunciation; and two "predelle"; one of which is
said to have belonged to the picture of St. Dominic, as the scenes
relate to the life of that Saint, and the other with some stories of the
Virgin, to the Annunciation mentioned above.
[Illustration: THE RESURRECTION OF CARDINAL DE' CECCANI'S NEPHEW.]
To the story of St. Dominic (which had already been treated in a
masterly manner by Fra Guglielmo, in the "arca" at Bologna, and by
Traini in his picture at Pisa), Fra Angelico has, in some scenes,
given a fuller development, but with less dramatic sentiment; exactly
the good and bad points which are more clearly shown in his other
works. The "predella", divided into seven parts, represents the birth
of Saint Dominic; the dream of Pope Honorius III., to whom the Saint
appears in act of steadying the falling church; the meeting of the
Saint with St. Francis; the confirmation of his rule by means of the
Virgin; the visits of St. Peter and St. Paul; the dispute with
heretics; the resurrection of the nephew of Cardinal de' Ceccani; the
supper of the Saint and his brethren; and lastly his death.
[Illustration: DEATH OF ST. DOMINIC.]
The scene of the resurrection of the young Napoleon, nephew of
Cardinal Stefano de' Ceccani, had been already powerfully depicted by
Traini; in Angelico's hands it comes out restrained and cold, the acts
of amazement in the devotees present at the miracle, who raise their
hands in astonishment, are too conventional: and it is precisely in
the intermingling of these gestures of sorrow for the death, and
wonder for the revivication, that the Pisan artist has brought out his
best effects. As we have before pointed out, the calm spirit of Fra
Angelico avoided realistic representation; his figures always suggest
love, faith and resignation, but are never agitated; like the soul of
their author, they are incapable of violent action; therefore when
these should be drawn, the representation falls below reality. We
shall see instances of this in other works of his.
[Illustration: THE ANNUNCIATION. (Church of Gesu, Cortona.)]
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