How Fra Angelico and Signorelli Saw the End of the World

Gilbert, Creighton (Professor Emeritus of the History of Art, Yale University, USA)

ISBN 10: 0271021403 / ISBN 13: 9780271021409

Published by Pennsylvania State University Press, 2001

About this Item

Creighton Gilbert's study of the frescoes of the Cappella Nuova in the cathedral of Orvieto explains the commissioning, iconography and structure of this extraordinary cycle of paintings, begun by Fra Angelico in the early 1400s and completed a half-century later by Luca Signorelli. Num Pages: 200 pages, 95 b/w illus. BIC Classification: 1DST; 3H; ACND; AFC; AGB. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational; (UP) Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly; (UU) Undergraduate. Dimension: 279 x 216 x 19. Weight in Grams: 912. . 2001. Illustrated. hardcover. . . . .

Seller Inventory # V9780271021409

Bibliographic Details

• Title: How Fra Angelico and Signorelli Saw the End of the World
• Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0271021403
• ISBN 13: 9780271021409
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

The frescoes of the Cappella Nuova in the Cathedral of Orvieto have fascinated visitors from Michelangelo to Freud and Czeław Miłosz because of their dramatic portrayal of the end of the world and the Last Judgment. Creighton Gilbert’s study draws on previously overlooked documents to explain the commissioning of this extraordinary cycle of paintings, begun by Fra Angelico in the early 1400s and completed a half-century later by Luca Signorelli. In contrast to most other art historians, who ascribe the iconographic and formal structure of the paintings to Signorelli, Gilbert contends that his predecessor, Fra Angelico, devised the entire program of decoration. Gilbert also situates the cycle in the contexts of liturgical practice, humanistic studies, and the rich body of texts and images shaping the Renaissance conception of the coming of the Antichrist and the world’s final moments.

How Fra Angelico and Signorelli Saw the End of the World examines every element in the Cappella Nuova’s architecture and complex decoration, which not only represents the coming of the Antichrist, the end of the world, and the Last Judgment but also, on a high dado, features portraits of Dante and other poets, scenes from their texts, and sinuous grotesque ornament. Although Dante’s likeness has long been recognized, Gilbert is the first scholar to establish that his great epic, The Divine Comedy, exerted a profound influence on the Chapel’s iconographic program.

About the Author

Creighton Gilbert is Professor Emeritus of the History of Art, Yale University. He has served as Editor-in-Chief of the Art Bulletin and has published numerous books, including Caravaggio and His Two Cardinals (Penn State, 1995) and Michelangelo On and Off the Sistine Chapel (1994).