Fra Angelico’s Frescoes: Dissolving Materiality Through Contemplation

The depicted scenes from the life of Christ were meant to inspire meditation, prayer, and devotion in the Dominican monks.

Fresco of the "Baptism of Christ," circa 1437–1446, by Fra Angelico in cell 24 at the Dominican convent of San Marco, Florence. Public Domain

In San Marco Convent in Florence, Italy, art helped mediate Dominican monks’ communion with the spiritual realm. In communal spaces and in their private dormitories, friars would meditate on frescoes depicting scenes from the life of Christ. As a monk’s spiritual contemplation deepened, frescoes of increasing complexity became available for his contemplation.

San Marco is a Dominican complex comprising a church and convent. It’s known for having been home to the preacher Girolamo Savonarola. It’s also known for housing Fra Angelico’s mystical frescoes and the tomb of Renaissance humanist Pico della Mirandola. Initially a Vallombrosian monastery that passed to the Sylvestrine monks, the complex was given to the Dominican order in the early 15th century.