A Dominican monastery, whose 42 cells, cloister, and chapel hall were frescoed (??) by Fra Angelico and his pals. The ceilings are very ornate. Walking up the steps to the second floor, you are immediately greeted by The Annunciation: Mary demure but as if she expected it, the angel with bright, bright wings. The two rooms on the right have paintings made like windows. In the first, Christ with a Crusader flag (red cross on white) charging into a cave, waling in on the door that has fallen to crush something gray-brown and insect-ish. A group of halo’d people are crowding towards him from a tunnel, and on the left, two more Terrible Things cower from the light. (Cross-discipline reference to Plato, anyone?)
The rest of the rooms have scenes of the crucifixion—Mary just looks like she is having stomach pains. She is always very old when he is crucified, but as soon as he is in Heaven and blessing people, she becomes young again. And at the crucifixion she’s always being splattered with blood.
How nice—they’ve included names on the haloes so as to avoid confusion. Are the angels’ wings tagged, do you think?
Friday, December 30, 2005
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