Category: Fra Angelico’s Paintings

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Fra Angelico’s Four Reliquaries for the Church of Santa Maria Novella – Part 4 of the “Heaven on Earth” Exhibition

Deacon Paul O. Iacono

Today’s post is Part 4 in my series that began on May 16, 2018 concerning the recently concluded exhibition of extraordinary egg tempera paintings by the Dominican friar Beato Fra Angelico. The exhibition was held at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts during the Spring of 2018 and was entitled Fra Angelico – Heaven on Earth. Nathaniel Silver, Associate Curator of the Collection for this exhibition, includes in his book, Fra Angelico – Heaven on Earth, articles by eleven scholars. Each paper is a quality contribution to scholarship. There is one article authored by Chiara Pidatella, entitled “The Provenance of … Continue reading Fra Angelico’s Four Reliquaries for the Church of Santa Maria Novella – Part 4 of the “Heaven on Earth” Exhibition

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Fra Angelico and the Armadio degli Argenti – Part 3 of the “Heaven on Earth” Exhibition

Deacon Paul O. Iacono

Today’s post is Part 3 in my series that began on May 16, 2018 concerning the recently concluded exhibition of extraordinary egg tempera paintings by Fra Angelico. The exhibition was held at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts and entitled Fra Angelico – Heaven on Earth. Today’s  painting concerns a major piece of the exhibition – the Armadio degli Argenti.  The four panels of which the Gardner Museum only showed one is also known as the “Silver Chest.” It was commissioned in 1450 and completed in 1452, three years before Fra Angelico’s death. This panel (123 x 160 cm) … Continue reading Fra Angelico and the Armadio degli Argenti – Part 3 of the “Heaven on Earth” Exhibition

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Fra Angelico – “Heaven on Earth” Exhibition – Part 2 – Ascension, Pentecost, the Last Judgement

Deacon Paul O. Iacono

I hope you had a blessed Feast of Pentecost! Please read Part 1 of “Fra Angelico – Heaven on Earth” (posted here on May 16, 2018) in order to receive a proper introduction to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s extraordinary exhibition that, unfortunately, closed this weekend.. As you moved into the gallery that exhibited this once in a lifetime collection of Fra Angelico paintings you first saw the beautiful painting entitled The Ascension of Christ, The Last Judgement, and Pentecost (the Corsini Triptych). It is painted in egg tempera with gold leaf on a wood panel. Fra Angelico painted it … Continue reading Fra Angelico – “Heaven on Earth” Exhibition – Part 2 – Ascension, Pentecost, the Last Judgement

Art, Art Education, Artists, Assumption of Mary, Beauty, Beauty built on Gospel Values, Catholic Art, Catholic Education, Catholic Spirituality, Catholicism, Christianity, Education, Evangelization, Faith, Fra Angelico, Fra Angelico's Paintings, Gospel Reflections, Hope, Mary, Mary - Our Blessed Mother, Motherhood, New Evangelization, New Evangelization of the Catholic Church, Religion, Religious Art, Renaissance Art, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholic Beliefs, Roman Catholicism, sacred, Sacred Art, Sacred Artists, Sacred Images, Spirituality, The Blessed Virgin Mary, Uncategorized2 Comments

Fra Angelico – The “Heaven on Earth” Exhibition – Part 1

Deacon Paul O. Iacono

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts is the only venue in America for the extraordinary “Fra Angelico: Heaven on Earth” exhibition. This amazing collection of reliquaries which express the life of the Virgin Mary, and other paintings of the greatest painter of the Early Renaissance, will be on display until this Sunday May 20th, 2018. Earlier incorrect media reports had the last day as May 28th. I will be posting my photos of the Gardner Museum’s exhibit starting with this post and continuing on through the upcoming weeks and months. The exhibit consists of more than just the … Continue reading Fra Angelico – The “Heaven on Earth” Exhibition – Part 1

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The Nativity of Mary – Our Blessed Mother

Deacon Paul O. Iacono

On September 8th the Church celebrates the feast of the birthday of Mary, our Blessed Mother. Tradition tells us that Mary was the daughter of Saints Joachim and Anne. She was betrothed to and later married Joseph, a respected Jewish carpenter from Nazareth. Little is known of Mary’s life other than the references to her in the Gospels. She attended the wedding feast at Cana, was present at Jesus’ crucifixion, and was with the Apostles at the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. St. Andrew of Crete puts this feast day, celebrated since the 5th century, in perspective for us … Continue reading The Nativity of Mary – Our Blessed Mother

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The Assumption of Mary

Deacon Paul O. Iacono

St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans (8:30), sets that stage for this great solemnity: “Those God predestined He likewise called; those He called He also justified; and those He justified He in turn glorified.” Today we celebrate the solemnity of the Assumption/Dormition of Mary. This is an ancient celebration documented as occurring as early as the 400’s, probably soon after the Council of Ephesus in 431 declared Mary the Theotokos: the Mother of God. In a homily on the solemnity of the Assumption, Pope John Paul II used  John 14:3 as a Scriptural foundation for understanding the dogma of the Assumption … Continue reading The Assumption of Mary

Catholic Art, Catholicism, Fra Angelico, Fra Angelico's Paintings, Images of the Infant Jesus, Roman Catholic, Sacred Images, Uncategorized2 Comments

Fra Angelico and Your Mission as a Sacred Artist

Deacon Paul O. Iacono

The following is a homily that I gave during the Inaugural Mass of the Fra Angelico Institute for the Sacred Arts which occurred on Friday October 28, 2011 at St. Francis of Assisi Church (Diocese of Providence) in Wakefield, Rhode Island USA. The Institute can be contacted at frainstitute@cox.net  for membership information. We are on Facebook at Fra Angelico Institute for the Sacred Arts. Tonight’s inaugural Mass of the Fra Angelico Institute for the Sacred Arts falls on the feast day of two Apostles – Saints Simon and Jude Thaddeus. The Gospel for today’s feast, speaks of how Jesus called the disciples … Continue reading Fra Angelico and Your Mission as a Sacred Artist

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Sacred Artists Must Be Empty Vessels

Deacon Paul O. Iacono

In this morning’s Gospel St. Luke is clear that Jesus is carefully listening to the argument that breaks out among His disciples as to who is the greatest among them. One translation has St. Luke saying, “He perceives the thoughts in their hearts.”  It would be prudent to say that we are all psychologically and theologically hardwired to look for approval. King David wrote of this in the Psalms when he said:  “You have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with honor and glory.”  David recognized the fact that we are something special in the grand scheme … Continue reading Sacred Artists Must Be Empty Vessels

Catholic Art, Fra Angelico's Paintings, Gospel Reflections, Iconography, Mary, Orthodox Art, Sacred Iconography, Sacred Images, The Blessed Virgin Mary, The Coronation of Mary, The Queenship of Mary, Uncategorized4 Comments

The Eternal Now and the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Deacon Paul O. Iacono

Today is the memorial of the Coronation of our Blessed Mother. Sacred icons and images have expressed the Queenship and Coronation of the Holy Theotokos – the Mother of God – for at least 1500 years. The icon The Virgin Salus Populi Romani, a 5th century icon, displayed in the Church of Saint Mary Major in Rome, and seen below, shows the Blessed Mother dressed in typical first century Middle Eastern garb as she holds her Son who gives a blessing. This icon reputed to be a copy of one that was painted by St. Luke the evangelist who tradition states … Continue reading The Eternal Now and the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Catholic Art, Fra Angelico's Paintings, Sacred Art Guild, Sacred Iconography, Sacred Images8 Comments

Fra Angelico’s Beautiful Image of St. Lawrence

Deacon Paul O. Iacono

Fra Angelico painted (fresco) this image between 1447 – 1449. It is found in the Vatican. It is approximately 9 by 7 feet and portrays the deacon, St. Lawrence, distributing the Church’s monies to the poor of Rome. St. Lawrence is wearing a beautiful rose colored dalmatic A dalmatic is the outer garment that is worn over an alb, stole, and cincture.  The dalmatic represents the deacon’s service to his bishop. It is only worn during the celebration of Holy Mass. St. Lawrence was martyred on August 10, 257. If you are interested in a more detailed review of the history of St. Lawrence  please refer … Continue reading Fra Angelico’s Beautiful Image of St. Lawrence