A Reflection on Attunement and Contemplation Through the Art of Fra Angelico
Bl. Fra Angelico's Feast Day featuring Saint Dominic Adoring the Crucifixion
If I was forced to pick a favorite artist from among so many worthy contenders, it would be Fra Angelico, because he was able to visually communicate an intensely faith filled interior life of prayer with a unique accessible eloquence.
In fact, I can trace the beginning of my love for art and prayer and faith formation to an unassuming little Dominican monastery in Florence frescoed by Fra Angelico over 500 years ago. I have been fortunate to visit this monastery of San Marco many times since that first defining moment in 1993 and will share a few of my old photos from one of my favorite images suited for this liturgical season.
On his feast day today, considering that it falls on the First Sunday of Lent this year, I wanted to bring attention to just one element that characterizes, at least for me, his most compelling artistic skill: The ability to visually zero in on a state of contemplative stillness with Christ, by being deeply present and receptive to the Grace of the moment. It’s not only the perfect artistic schema for a monastic setting, but also very fitting for our own interior life, especially as we begin Lent.
Pretty much the first image that one sees upon entering the San Marco Monastery in Florence is a fresco of Saint Dominic Adoring the Crucifixion at the end of a colonnade in a very peaceful garden cloister seen here below.Â
What’s most impressive to me is that even though we are looking at the Crucifixion, the sensation one feels is not the typical chaos and noise of what is often portrayed in movies or other dramatic paintings. There is instead a profound sense of quiet submission from the Son of God who looks fully surrendered and in peace, the counterweight of which is matched by the intense reception of costly Mercy through the pained yet sober eyes of St. Dominic at the foot of the Cross. It is as if nothing else is happening in the universe but St. Dominic’s reception of the outpouring of Salvation, literally dripping down the wood of the Cross. Dominic is drinking it all in with his eyes, absorbed with a focus and awe that both inspires and pricks our conscience. Â
This is the posture of prayer that we all seek, to be so attuned and receptive to the Grace being poured out in us at any given moment, that we allow nothing else to distract us lest we carelessly lose even a single drop of Mercy that Christ has prepared for us. Â
Fra Angelico intentionally strips away any distractions from the scene to help us more clearly see how one is to look on Christ Crucified in the model of their founder, St. Dominic. Dominic’s entire posture is oriented in humility, kneeling before the Cross, but his sober and piercing eyes are the most revealing of his love for Christ. The way Fra Angelico painted St. Dominic’s eyes also reveals something of his own spiritual life and how he must have looked on the Crucifixion in prayer. It was said that Blessed Angelico was often observed weeping while painting the crucified Christ.
This simple fresco at the end of a corridor, not even in a chapel, can serve as both a model and a gauge for us on how we go about our day, and particularly our prayer times.Â
Let’s allow these images to act as springboard for prayer as Fra Angelico intended. How focused and receptive are we on Christ pouring out His graces on us at any given moment? Do we let ourselves be distracted by the noise of the world and take our eyes off Him and what He is trying to give us?   Â
Take some time to internalize Christ’s calm and loving gaze upon Dominic who also represents us. Jesus is willingly surrendered, pouring Himself out to us with patient love, longing to reconcile us with the Father. All barriers are removed. All that He is asking is wholehearted receptivity.Â
Look at Dominic’s posture, kneeling in humility with his arms embracing the wood of the Cross as if he is longing to carry it himself. His hands are empty but for the Cross. This is spiritual poverty. What are our hands, our hearts, currently grasping? Are we willing to let go of all distractions and embrace Christ alone?
Now focus on Dominic’s eyes. They reveal both a heart and mind intently united to the sacrificial offering of Christ, and a longing to accompany Him in His agony. How comfortable are we in accompanying Christ as He works to redeem us from all the big, or even little sins we commit each day? If we were more attuned to the cost of His forgiveness that He lovingly and without hesitation bestows on us repeatedly each day, how might our daily life look different?
Self-Reflection:
What feelings or thoughts come up when looking at how St. Dominic’s eyes are portrayed beholding Christ Crucified? Is there any resistance to resting in that level of solitude and silence? Is there perhaps a sense of missing out on something that could be distracting us from fixing our eyes on Christ alone? Might that be something to surrender this Lenten season? Â
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Photography and text by Renata Grzan Wieczorek. All Rights Reserved. Visit my About page for more information on usage.
Simply beautiful, Renata, both your words and the fresco. I have always loved this one of Fra Angelico's, and had my niece take a photo of the original, which I saw long ago, so that I could blow it up at home. Thank you for the close-ups of Jesus on the cross, and of St. Dominic's eyes. A very good mediation for this first week of Lent.