San Domenico Altarpiece (1423-24)
by Fra ANGELICO

Fra Angelico executed three altarpieces for the church and convent of San Domenico in Florence. They not only demonstrate his mastery in the 1420s but are suffused with Dominican ideals, most notably the veneration of Christ and Mary.

The San Domenico Altarpiece was the first painting that Angelico painted for the church, it was followed by the Annunciation and the Coronation of the Virgin. The Altarpiece represents the Virgin and Child surrounded by angels and flanked by four saints: Thomas Aquinas, the Order's greatest scholar; Barnabus, patron saint of Barnaba degli Agli, benefactor of the convent, to whom the church was jointly dedicated; Dominic, founder of the Order; and Peter Martyr, the Order's first martyr and most eloquent preacher. originally conceived as a triptych, it was united into a single panel and its background repainted by the artist Lorenzo di Credi in 1501, when the church was modernized.

Preview Picture Data File Info Comment
San Domenico Altarpiece
1423-24
Tempera and gold on panel, 212 x 237 cm
San Domenico, Fiesole

1200*890
True Color
194 Kb



San Domenico Altarpiece (detail)
1423-24
Tempera and gold on panel
San Domenico, Fiesole

888*1400
True Color
204 Kb



San Domenico Altarpiece (detail)
1423-24
Tempera and gold on panel
San Domenico, Fiesole

700*1407
True Color
147 Kb



San Domenico Altarpiece (detail)
1423-24
Tempera on wood, 212 x 237 cm (entire triptych)
San Domenico, Fiesole

750*1215
True Color
175 Kb



San Domenico Altarpiece (detail)
1423-24
Tempera on wood
San Domenico, Fiesole

1035*1200
True Color
206 Kb



Predella of the San Domenico Altarpiece
1423-24
Tempera and gold on panel, 32 x 244 cm
National Gallery, London

2410*350
True Color
221 Kb



Predella of the San Domenico Altarpiece (detail)
1423-24
Tempera and gold on panel, 32 x 63,5 cm
National Gallery, London

800*538
True Color
213 Kb



St Nicholas of Bari
1423-24
Tempera on wood
Private collection

475*1400
True Color
122 Kb



St Michael
1423-24
Tempera on wood
Private collection

475*1400
True Color
130 Kb



St Mark
1423-24
Tempera on wood
Musée Condé, Chantilly

474*1400
True Color
124 Kb



St Matthew
1423-24
Tempera on wood
Musée Condé, Chantilly

475*1400
True Color
145 Kb



A Bishop Saint
c. 1425
Tempera and gold on panel, diameter 15 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

800*826
True Color
146 Kb




Summary of paintings by Fra Angelico
Altarpieces
San Domenico | Prado | Linaioli | Last Judgment | Annunciation
Cortona Triptych | Perugia | San Marco | Trinità | Various
Frescoes
Convent of San Marco: cells, others | Cappella Niccolina
Other works
Armadio degli Argenti | Various panels | Miscellaneous