Fiesole Altarpiece

The Fiesole Altarpiece is a painting by the Italian early Renaissance master Fra Angelico, executed around 1424–1425. It is housed in the Convent of San Domenico, Fiesole, central Italy. The background was repainted by Lorenzo di Credi in 1501. History The altarpiece is among the earliest known works by Fra Angelico. It was originally commissioned for the high altar in the convent's church, but was later moved to a side altar where it is currently visible. In 1501 Lorenzo di Credi repainted the background, which was probably gilded, with a more modern landscape featuring a throne with baldachin, trompe-l'oeil reliefs and two landscapes between pillars. The Gothic cusps were also eliminated in that occasion. Description The work is a Maestà, a Madonna enthroned, a theme particularly fashionable in Florentine art at the time. The central group with the Madonna and Child is surrounded by eight adoring angels depicted in smaller size. The saints Thomas Aquinas, Barnabas, Dominic and Peter of Verona are at the sides: these were three saints of the Dominican Order (the same owning the convent) and the namesake of Barnaba degli Agli, a Florentine man who had donated 6,000 florins for the convent's restoration and enlargement.