Fra Angelico altarpiece under restoration
LIGHT MODE
DARK MODE
Get 1 year from 27.50 €

Digital and paper subscriptions available worldwide

Subscribe now

Fra Angelico altarpiece under restoration

The restoration will be funded by the Friends of Florence foundation.

bookmark
Thu 21 May 2020 9:34 AM

The San Marco Museum has begun restoration on one of its most famous treasures, the Bosco ai Frati altarpiece by Fra Angelico.

 

 

With Florence’s museums and galleries preparing to reopen, the San Marco complex has lost no time in moving the altarpiece to the laboratory where it will be restored by Lucia Biondi. The restoration will be funded by the Friends of Florence foundation and overseen by Angelo Tartuferi, the museum’s director.

 

 

 

The Bosco ai Frati altarpiece by Fra Angelico

 

 

The altarpiece’s restoration is only the first act in a complete refurbishment of the museum’s hospice, which was used to house the monks and succour pilgrims. It now contains the world’s most important collection of paintings by Fra Angelico, the Dominican friar-painter who decorated the dormitory cells with frescoes.

 

 

The Bosco ai Frati altarpiece measures 175 by 175 cm and was painted around 1450 on the commission of Cosimo de’ Medici, who intended it for the Franciscan convent of San Bonaventura di Bosco ai Frati. It depicts an enthroned Madonna and child with saints, including St. Francis and St. Peter Martyr. The classical columns in the background hearken back to Fra Angelico’s time in Rome, where a few years before he had frescoed the Niccoline Chapel in the Vatican.

Related articles

NEWS

Why choose a professional travel agent

Fiavet Toscana travel agents’ association shares guidelines to ensure a safe and enjoyable vacation. With the advent of the internet, it has become increasingly easy to organize a trip independently ...

NEWS

Biological air quality checks underway at Florence Cathedral

Lichens are being used to analyze micro-organisms in the air.

NEWS

The perfume industry comes to Florence for Pitti Fragranze

Big business in the world of scent is ongoing this weekend at the Stazione Leopolda.

LIGHT MODE
DARK MODE