San Marco is the name of religious complex in Florence, Italy. Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest It comprises a church and a convent. A convent is a community of Priests religious brothers religious sisters or Nuns or the building used by the community particularly in the Roman Catholic Church The convent, which is now a museum, has three claims to fame: during the 15th century it was home to two famous Dominicans, the painter Fra Angelico and the preacher, Girolamo Savonarola. A museum is a "permanent institution in the service of society and of its development open to the public which acquires conserves researches communicates and exhibits the The Order of Preachers ( Latin: Ordo Praedicatorum) after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is Fra Angelico (c 1395 &ndash February 18 1455) born Guido di Pietro, was an Early Italian Renaissance painter referred to in Vasari Girolamo Savonarola ( September 21, 1452 &ndash May 23, 1498) was an Italian Dominican priest and leader of Florence from Also housed at the convent is a famous collection of manuscripts in a library built by Michelozzo. Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi (1396 - 1472 was an Italian Architect and sculptor.

The present convent occupies the site where a Vallombrosan monastery existed in the 12th century, which later passed to Benedictine monks of the Silvestrine line. The Vallumbrosan Order (or Vallombrosians) is a Roman Catholic religious order technically a Benedictine congregation, which derives its name from the In 1435 the Benedictines were replaced by Dominicans from Fiesole. Benedictine refers to the Spirituality and Consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in Fiesole is a town and Comune of the Province of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a famously scenic height above Two years later, they appealed to Cosimo de' Medici the Elder, who lived nearby in the family palace, now known as the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, to fund the renovation of the entire complex. Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici (September 27 1389 &ndash August 1 1464 was the first of the Medici political dynasty de facto rulers of The Palazzo Medici, also called the Palazzo Medici Riccardi for the later family that acquired and expanded it is a Renaissance Palace located in The works were entrusted to Michelozzo. Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi (1396 - 1472 was an Italian Architect and sculptor. Each cell of the monks cloister and many other walls were decorated by Fra Angelico in collaboration with others, including Benozzo Gozzoli. Fra Angelico (c 1395 &ndash February 18 1455) born Guido di Pietro, was an Early Italian Renaissance painter referred to in Vasari Benozzo Gozzoli (c 1421 &ndash 1497 was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence Cosimo de' Medici had a cell at the convent for his personal retreat. The term retreat has several related meanings all of which have in common the notion of safety or temporarily removing oneself from one's usual environment in order to become immersed

San Marco is famous as the seat of Girolamo Savonarola's discourses during his short spiritual rule in Florence in the late 15th century. Girolamo Savonarola ( September 21, 1452 &ndash May 23, 1498) was an Italian Dominican priest and leader of Florence from

Contents 1 Church 2 Convent 3 Fra Angelico at San Marco 4 Iconography and Devotion in the Art 5 Devotion: Principles And Convictions of the Dominican Order 6 Notes 7 External links

Church

The church was consecrated in 1443, in the presence of Pope Eugene IV. Pope Eugene IV (1383 &ndash February 23, 1447) born Gabriele Condulmer, was Pope from March 3, 1431, to his death It has a single nave with side chapels designed in the late 16th century by Giambologna, and housing paintings from the 16th–17th centuries. Giambologna, born as Jean Boulogne, also known as Giovanni Da Bologna and Giovanni Bologna ( 1529 - August 13 1608) was In the late 17th century the tribune and the carved ceiling were also realized. A further renovation was carried on in 1678 by Pier Francesco Silvani. Pier Francesco Silvani (1620-1685 was an Italian architect and designer active during the Baroque period in Florence and other sites in Tuscany The façade, in Neo-Classical style, was built in 1777–1778. Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century both as a reaction against the Rococo

Among the artworks, the most ancient is a 14th century crucifix in the counter-façade. The crucifix on the high altar is by Angelico (1425-1428). In the first altar to the right is St. Thomas Praying by Santi di Tito from 1593, while on the second altar is a Madonna with Saints by Fra Bartolomeo. Santi di Tito (1536 - 1602 or 1603 was an Italian painter of Late- Mannerist or proto- Baroque style what is sometimes referred to as Contra-Maniera Fra Bartolomeo or Fra Bartolommeo ( di Pagholo) ( March 28, 1472 &ndash October 6, 1517) also known as Baccio della

Giambologna completed the Cappella di Sant'Antonino (also known as Salviati Chapel) in May 1589. Giambologna, born as Jean Boulogne, also known as Giovanni Da Bologna and Giovanni Bologna ( 1529 - August 13 1608) was The Salviati family had been linked by marriage to the Medici (Pope Leo XI was the son of Francesca Salviati, the daughter of Giacomo Salviati and Lucrezia de' Medici. Pope Leo XI ( June 2, 1535 &ndash April 27, 1605) born Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici, was Pope from April 1 The interior was decorated in fresco with a Translation and Funeral of St. Antonino Perozzi by Domenico Passignano. Domenico Passignano (born Cresti or Crespi (1559 - 1636 was an Italian painter of a late- Renaissance or Contra- Maniera style that emerged in The dome of the chapel is by Bernardino Poccetti, also author of frescoes in the Sacrament Chapel. Bernardino Poccetti, also known as Barbatelli, ( 26 August, 1548 - 10 October, 1612) was an Italian Mannerist painter and The latter also has canvases by Santi di Tito, Crespi, Francesco Morandini, Jacopo da Empoli, and Francesco Curradi. Santi di Tito (1536 - 1602 or 1603 was an Italian painter of Late- Mannerist or proto- Baroque style what is sometimes referred to as Contra-Maniera Francesco Morandini (c 1544 - 1597 was an Italian painter active in Florence, working in a Mannerist style Jacopo da Empoli ( 30 April 1551 - 30 September, 1640) was an Italian late- mannerist painter Francesco Curradi (* Firenze, November 15 1570 † 1661 was an Italian painter of the style described as Contra-Maniera or Counter-

Significant figures buried in San Marco include Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and the poet Angelo Poliziano. Count Giovanni Pico della Mirandola ( February 24, 1463 - November 17, 1494) was an Italian Renaissance Philosopher. Angelo Ambrogini, best known as Poliziano ( July 14, 1454 &ndash September 24, 1494) was a Florentine Classical

Convent

Michelozzo built for Cosimo de' Medici a sober, though comfortable, Renaissance edifice, including the elegant cloister and, above all, the Library, which, under the reign of Lorenzo il Magnifico became one of the favourite meeting points for Florentine humanists such as Poliziano and Pico della Mirandola, who could conveniently consult here texts in Latin and Greek language. Lorenzo de' Medici (January 1 1449 &ndash 9 April 1492 was an Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance Count Giovanni Pico della Mirandola ( February 24, 1463 - November 17, 1494) was an Italian Renaissance Philosopher.

The convent was stripped from the Dominicans in 1808, during the Napoleonic Wars, and again in 1866, when it became a possession of the state. The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815 involved Napoleon's French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions Year 1866 ( MDCCCLXVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common

The convent is now home to the Museo Nazionale di San Marco. The entrance to the museum is from the so-called Cloister of St. Antoninus, frescoed by Bernardino Poccetti in the 16th-17th century. Bernardino Poccetti, also known as Barbatelli, ( 26 August, 1548 - 10 October, 1612) was an Italian Mannerist painter and

The museum houses the major collection of works by Fra Angelico. Panel paintings included the Deposition executed for Palla Strozzi, the Altarpiece of San Marco commissioned by the Medici in 1440, and a tabernacle (1433-1434) executed in collaboration with Lorenzo Ghiberti. The Deposition from the Cross is a painting of the Deposition of Christ by the Italian Renaissance master Fra Angelico, executed between Palla di Onorio Strozzi ( 1372 - May 8, 1462) was an Italian banker politician writer philosopher and philologist Lorenzo Ghiberti (born Lorenzo di Bartolo) (1378 &ndash December 1, 1455) was an Italian artist of the early Renaissance best known There are also a great number of small frescoes by Angelico and his assistants in the monastic cells and a number of larger frescoes including the much-reproduced Annunciation. His masterwork is the complex Crucifixion in the Capitular Hall, finished in 1442.

Main article: Fra Angelico

The museum exhibits works by other artists including Domenico Ghirlandaio, a reduced scale version of the Last Supper in the church of Ognissanti; Alesso Baldovinetti, Giovanni Antonio Sogliani and Fra Bartolomeo. Fra Angelico (c 1395 &ndash February 18 1455) born Guido di Pietro, was an Early Italian Renaissance painter referred to in Vasari Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449 &ndash January 11, 1494) was a renowned Florentine Renaissance painter a contemporary of Botticelli Alesso Baldovinetti ( October 14, 1427 — August 29, 1499) was an Italian early Renaissance painter Giovanni Antonio Sogliani (1492 -1544 was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in Florence. Fra Bartolomeo or Fra Bartolommeo ( di Pagholo) ( March 28, 1472 &ndash October 6, 1517) also known as Baccio della The cells where Girolamo Savonarola lived can also be visited.

Fra Angelico at San Marco

The San Marco monastery and Fra Angelico

The San Marco monastery in Florence, Italy housed devotional art that aided in Dominican prayer and meditation. San Marco is one of the six sestieri of Venice, lying in the heart of the city The Order of Preachers ( Latin: Ordo Praedicatorum) after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is The building was originally a Sylvestrine monastery that was then taken over and expanded in 1438 by Cosimo de’Medici. He commissioned Fra Angelico, a devout Dominican friar and innovative Florentine painter, to adorn the monastery. Fra Angelico (c 1395 &ndash February 18 1455) born Guido di Pietro, was an Early Italian Renaissance painter referred to in Vasari A Friar is a member of one of the Mendicant orders. Friars and monks Friars differ from Monks in that they are called to a life of poverty in service With the help of his fellow Dominican assistants, he painted forty-three frescoes that acted as a spiritual guide to life in their community. Fresco (plural either frescos or frescoes) is any of several related Painting types done on Plaster on walls or These men were more inspired disciples than titled artists, yet created a sanctuary with great artistry, skillful composition and jewel-tone colors that formed peacefulness and shed an incredible luminescence. ^[1][2][3]

Inspiration from the architecture

The new spaciousness of the building, planned and sculpted by Michelozzo di Bortolommeo allowed Fra Angelico’s paintings to portray the sacredness of Christ. Christ is the English term for the Greek ( Khristós) meaning "the anointed " The building has two floors; the first was open to the public, and the second was secluded for monastic vows, so most of the artwork was done solely for the study of the monks. The artwork depicted scenes from the New Testament with additional Dominican saints and reformers for examination and exposure to reinforce the strong order. ^[4][5][6] Fra Angelico painted frescoes in the cloisters and every room, surrounding even the sacrisity, chapter room and library. Each inhabitant had his own room for prayer and meditation with his own fresco. Dominicans were the first and only to use images to this extent for these purposes. A hall of seven adjacent cells was for the novices; these were the most uniform, all with white ground and a depiction of St. Dominic worshipping the cross. The only difference was in the Saint’s gestures, which were changed based on different theological texts. In another hall there were twenty frescoes painted for the clerics. These were more interesting, possibly more distracting, paintings of Christ or Mary with historical references and various saints. Two were specifically for Cosimo de’Medici’s separated quarter, which also served as the special guest room. Medici and his family played a predominant and pious role in these two. Aside from the categorical, was the altarpiece; Fra Angelico created the first high altar of the renaissance at San Marco to invoke a sense of cult and reverence. ^{[7][8][9][10]}

The big picture

As the high altar continues tradition, the other pieces are innovative, acting as both mirrors and windows to students and educators alike. Fra Angelico transformed San Marco monastery to have a sense of devotion through art by projecting new ideas of artistic naturalism at a monumental scale. ^[11][12]

Iconography and Devotion in the Art

The San Marco Altarpiece

In the San Marco Altarpiece, Angelico painted the scene of the Virgin Mary and Christ centered amongst different Saints. ^[13] Two Saints create a perspective through their gazes. ^[14] On the right, Saint Dominic looks to Angelico’s Heaven towards the painting’s vanishing point drawing the viewer into the divine scene. Saint Dominic (Domingo also known as Dominic of Osma, often called Dominic de Guzmán and Domingo de Guzmán Garcés (1170 &ndash August 6 Cosmos, on the left, holds a mirror-like gaze separating the painting and the viewer. Through the lines of perspective from Saint Dominic, the viewer is drawn into the heavenly scene, while Cosmos establishes the separation of the viewer and the Divine.

Angelico mirrored the architecture of each particular cell within the painting. In doing this, he made the holy painting part of the cell, allowing the ideal depiction of the Divine to be as close as possible to the Dominican Order. Within the painting, Angelico makes reference to practices of the Dominican Mass. ^[15]Like the sub deacon and deacon who knelt while helping the Dominican priest during Mass, the Saints kneel in the altarpiece. The same way the priest stands in the center of the altar during Mass to reenact the sacrifice of Christ; a centered etching of the crucified Christ leads the viewer’s eyes to Mary holding Jesus. The saints who surround the Virgin and child may represent the Dominican Congregation.

Scholars think that Angelico delved even deeper to incorporate the art and devotion of the San Marco Monastery through certain choices he made within the composition of the renowned Altarpiece. To create the mirror effect, he focused on the surface of the work by painting fictitious curtains in the upper corners of the altarpiece. ^[16] He created the mirror of the real world within the painting but also allowed the viewer a window into the Heavenly ideal. Through glaze, pax, and rich colors, particularly reds and greens, Angelico was able to portray God's Indescribable majesty. Thus, faith was tangible but still a higher power to attain.

Saint Dominic Before the Crucifix

Most of the cells’ frescoes contain at least one identifiable person from monastic history, either Saint Dominic, Saint Thomas Aquinas, or Peter Martyr. Saint Peter of Verona, OP also known as Saint Peter Martyr (1206 &ndash April 6, 1252) was a 13th century Dominican preacher Together they represent the central values that distinguished the Dominicans. Saint Dominic stood for a holy life dedicated to poverty, preaching, and monastic contemplation; Saint Thomas Aquinas represented the single-minded dedication to the primacy of study; Peter Martyr stood for the willingness to suffer martyrdom for the sake of orthodoxy. The gestures of the models indicate that Fra Angelico intended the paintings to remind the friars to transform morally through the rigorous though prayerful study of Scripture was to follow the process of interior transformation experienced by the Founder. This transformation was to result, therefore, in the readiness to preach. ^[17]

In Saint Dominic Before the Crucifix, Angelico presented a more naturalistic image of Jesus, a higher power closer to the image of the worldly man. ^[18] While this piece is the largest fresco in the cloister on the first floor, it is simple much like the lives of the devout Dominican monks. The priest is shown in profile with little emotion in austere garb, but his rich relationship to Christ is explicitly clear through his devout gesture and posture. ^[19]

The Saints’ presence in the biblical and apocryphal scenes in the San Marco frescoes were the starting point for a mnemonic process whereby the friar’s meditation helped him to study sacred texts in preparation for preaching. A mnemonic device (nəˈmɒnɪk is a Memory aid Commonly met mnemonics are often verbal something such as a very short poem or a special word used to help a person remember The Dominican Saints’ gestures in the frescoes constituted a didactic pictorial language in which they would be the “verbs” of the paintings, telling the viewer how to imitate the model. ^[20] This was made possible by a fully illustrated Dominican prayer manual, entitled De modo orandi, which linked the purpose of each gesture to a specific Dominican manner or mode of prayer. ^[21]

The De modo orandi rested on the belief that specific states of mystical consciousness can be stimulated by deliberately assuming bodily postures. In order to achieve the various states of spirit through which Saint Dominic prepared himself to preach, the friar was encouraged to imitate the saint’s gestures as he was praying. The artist thus depicted gestures or actions used by Saint Dominic to provoke nine inner states:^[22]

Attitude	Gesture
1) Reverence	Deep bow from waist
2) Humility	Prostration
3) Penitence	Flagellation
4) Compassion	Repeated genuflexion
5) Meditation	Standing upright, hands before chest
6) Imploring divine	Standing, arms outstretched
7) Ecstasy	Standing, arms held directly overhead
8) Recollection	Reading
9) Enthusiasm for preaching	Conversation

2) Humility - Prostration	3) Penitence - Flagellation	4) Compassion - Repeated genuflexion	6) Imploring divine - Arms outstretched
8) Recollection - Reading

A common typology of Fra Angelico’s frescoes within the novices’ cells depicted Saint Dominic before the Crucifix (cells 15-22). In these frescoes, Saint Dominic is the main subject matter rather than Christ. These frescoes are only tangentially connected with a biblical event because they do not show the Crucifixion but the Crucifix, therefore, Saint Dominic does not witness an action so much as respond to an object. Crucifixion (from Latin crucifixio, noun of process crucifixio, from perfect passive participle crucifixus, fixed to a cross from A crucifix (from Latin cruci fixus meaning "(one fixed to a cross" is a cross with a representation of Jesus ' body or corpus Whatever narrative content there may be must have Saint Dominic and not Christ as the agent. This emphasizes Fra Angelico’s association of this major image with those cell frescoes intended to strengthen the formation of young men in Dominican consciousness through private meditation. Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the conditioned "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness This strict conformity from cell to cell suggests that Fra Angelico decided that variety would have to come in details and not in broader matters of composition and pose. In Saint Dominic Before the Crucifix (Cell 20), Dominic is bare to the waist and flagellating himself as described in the third mode. In Cell 15, Saint Dominic looks up at the Crucifix and raises his hands towards it, palms joined – a gesture intended to lead to ecstasy. ^[23]

The Annunciation

One of the most famous frescoes by Fra Angelico, the Annunciation, which still greets the visitor at the top of the staircase leading to the dormitories, depicts a subject frequently painted by the artist with few variations. The architecture of the loggia reflects the creations that Michelozzo was constructing on the floor below. Loggia is the name given to an Architectural feature originally of Italian design which is often a gallery or Corridor generally on the ground The aim is to represent only the bare image of Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary, giving weight to movement and to the spiritual concentration of the figures. The reality of The Annunciation, the imaginative space it occupies, is precisely on the threshold that separates what is empirical from what may be ascertained only subjectively. The former is the domain of the scenes, the latter of the mind. Angelico used the sense of sight to gain access to the beholder’s imagination, so that the image might mediate the beholders’ inner and outer selves. ^[24]

Annunciation

Fra Angelico’s use of light and perspective in the Annunciation to carve out architectural space, combines with the relationship of the painting to the surrounding architecture to give it its sense of “reality. ” For this reason, one may overlook the ways Angelico denied reality. The scale of the figures is immense compared to that of the architecture. Moreover, the Virgin Mary interrupts the light by casting a shadow, yet the Archangel Gabriel, who is a disembodied spirit, casts no shadow. ^[25]

In the Annunciation, the Virgin Mary is shown in an attitude indicating submission. Much like in the cells depicting Saint Dominic watching the Crucifix, the Annunciation not only illustrates what is in biblical text, but what is in the preacher’s imagination as well. The De modo orandi indicates that the gestures of their hands crossed before their chests suggest the friars’ meditation of Angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary. ^[26]

Devotion: Principles And Convictions of the Dominican Order

As followers of Saint Dominic, the Dominicans of the San Marco monastery lived by the maxims of Veritas (Truth), Laudare, Benedicere, Praedicare (to praise, to bless, and to preach), and Contemplare et Contemplata Allis Tradere(to contemplate and pass on the fruits of contemplation). They dedicated their lives to praising God and preaching His virtues. Through prayer, adoration, meditation, and contemplation, the Dominicans devoted themselves to blessing God. ^[27]

Saint Dominic advised the Dominicans to preach with the intention of defending the faith and enlightening minds with God’s words. In preaching, the monks aimed to carry out the responsibility that Christ bestowed upon his apostles. They strived to imitate the first apostles who left behind all their possessions and property in order to offer themselves entirely to prayer and professing the word of God. Dominicans of the San Marco monastery committed themselves to being learned, disciplined and poor. ^[28] Fra Angelico, who embodied these Dominican principles, had no possessions or property of his own, and turned over all of his artistic profits to his order. ^[29]

Still today, throughout the world, disciples of the Dominican Order dedicate themselves to declaring the word of God for the salvation of souls. ^[30] The San Marco monastery still serves as an educational edifice, now standing as a public museum to Florence.

Notes

External links

• San Marco, Florence is at coordinates 43°46′42″N 11°15′31″E / 43.778445, 11.258545 (San Marco, Florence)Coordinates: 43°46′42″N 11°15′31″E / 43.778445, 11.258545 (San Marco, Florence)

A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system.

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