Giacobbe Giusti, FRA ANGELICO: Heaven on Earth, ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM, BOSTON
‘Fra Angelico: Heaven on Earth’ Review: Pictures Fit for a Pope
An exhibition reunites four exquisite reliquaries related to the life of the Virgin Mary, painted by Fra Angelico and not seen together for over 200 years.
Boston
The paintings of Fra Angelico (c. 1400-1455) are easy to walk by. They tend to be small, and viewed from more than a few feet away they look like a lot of other 13th-, 14th- and early 15th-century paintings: devoted to religious subjects, covered in large swaths of gold with blue and red accents. Move closer, though, and you will see some of the most refined, subtle and sophisticated paintings ever made. It is hard to believe, but paintings of this era were long known as “primitive” and considered inferior to the High Renaissance works of Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael.
Fra Angelico: Heaven on Earth
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Through May 20
https://www.gardnermuseum.org/calendar/exhibition/fra-angelico
https://www.wsj.com/articles/fra-angelico-heaven-on-earth-review-pictures-fit-for-a-pope-1519418536
Giacobbe Giusti 