Renaissance master Fra Angelico (about 1395–1455) transformed Western art with
pioneering images, rethinking popular compositions and investing traditional
Christian subjects with new meaning. His altarpieces and frescoes set new
standards for quality and ingenuity, securing his place in history. With the
intellect of a Dominican theologian, the technical facility of Florence’s
finest craftsmen and the business acumen of its shrewdest merchants, he forged
the future of painting in Italy and beyond.
The exhibition reunites for the first time Fra Angelico’s
four reliquaries for Santa Maria Novella (1424-34; Isabella Stewart Gardner
Museum and Museo di San Marco, Florence). Together they cover key episodes in
the life of the Virgin Mary and capture in miniature some of his most important
compositional innovations. Assembled at the Gardner with exceptional examples
of Angelico’s narrative paintings from collections in Europe and the United
States, Heaven on Earth explores his celebrated talents as a storyteller and
the artistic contributions that shaped a new ideal of painting in Florence.
Heaven on Earth reunites the Gardner's magnificent
Fra Angelico
(Italian, about 1400-1455), The Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin,
1424-1434. Tempera with oil glazes and gold on panel, 85.7 x 45.1 cm (33
3/4 x 17 3/4 in.) Assumption and Dormition of the Virgin,
acquired by Isabella in 1899 and the first Fra Angelico to reach the
United States,
with its three companions from the Museo di San Marco,
Florence: –
The Annunciation and Adoration of the Magi,
The Coronation of the
Virgin,
and The Madonna della Stella – reside in Florence. Newly
restored to their Renaissance splendor thanks to a special collaboration
with the Museo di San Marco, the reliquaries reveal Angelico’s mastery
of materials and genius for narrative composition.
Unprecedented loans for this exhibition include the three
extraordinary reliquaries (Museo di San Marco, Florence)
a magnificent
altarpiece of Paradise (Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence)
and the
jewel-like Corsini Triptych (Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica in Palazzo
Corsini, Rome).
Also restored for this exhibition is the altarpiece of
The Entombment of Christ (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.),
which is on display to the public for the first time in over 40 years at
the Gardner Museum.
Conceived as a set of jewel-like reliquaries for the
Florentine church of Santa Maria Novella, they tell the story of the
Virgin Mary's life.
Accompanying the exhibition at the Isabella Stewart Gardner
Museum, Boston, this catalogue explores one of the most important artists of
the Renaissance
