San Marco Convent A Place of Dominican Reform

Conspiracy of Art and Architecture
In the Formation of Preachers
At San Marco Convent
Florence
•
Francesco Rosselli e databile attorno al 1472
Patron
Cosimo the Elder
Prior
St. Antoninus O.P.
Architect
Michelozzo
Artist
Fra Angelico
“ ... everything connected with the lives of friars in
community – including their art – is ... oriented at once
toward towards two goals. The first is the obligation to
preach, and this obligation unites the group; the second is
the goal of guaranteeing the individual within the group
the maximum freedom possible to seek his own path. . . .
The first goal is found in the themes of Fra Angelico’s
frescoes in the chapter room, refectory, and so on; the
second and more personal one is reflected in the cell
frescoes.” ( Hood, “Fra Angelico at San Marco: Art and the
Liturgy of Cloistered Life,” 111)
The Crucifixion scene in the
chapter room, with its profusion of
reformer saints on the right and
patrimony of distinctive
Dominicans, the O.P.’s “long grey
line, at the base, overarched by the
prophets, expresses the Dominican
community of San Marco’s
historical ideals.
“In Dominic’s vision the ideal preachers is what
we might call an eloquent contemplative. For
Dominic and the early fathers of the order,
effective preaching was the fruit of a
transformed life – a life, as it were, refined by
the gregarious hazards of community on the one
hand, and by the solitude of prayerful study on
the other. As the primary method of preparing to
preach, study became the central domestic
activity of a Dominican community. In a
Dominican convent, therefore, the dormitory
was as important in the lives of preachers as the
refectory or chapter room or even the choir of
the church.” (Hood, “Fra Angelico at San Marco:
Art and the Liturgy of Cloistered Life,” 119)
The seventh mode was when he was
praying standing upright towards
heaven as straight as an arrow shot
from a bow, with his raised and
joined hands extended strongly over
his head. . . . And it is believed that
his grace was then increased and he
was carried away and implored God
for gifts and graces for the Order.
[see cell 15]
The nine modes of prayer – de modo orandi
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Reverence: deep bow from waist
Humility: prostration
Penitence: flagellation
Compassion: repeated genuflexion
Meditation: standing upright, hands before chest
Imploring divine aid: standing, arms outstretched
Ecstasy: standing, arms held directly overhead
Recollection: reading
Enthusiasm for preaching: conversation
Conspiracy of Art and Architecture
In the Formation of Preachers
At San Marco Convent