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February 18

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Saint of the day:

Saint Fra Angelico


Patron Saint of Artists

Saint Fra Angelico's Story 

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Fra Angelico was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance who combined the life of a devout friar with that of an accomplished painter. He was called Angelico (Italian for "angelic") and Beato (Italian for "blessed") because the paintings he did were of calm, religious subjects and because of his extraordinary personal piety. Originally named Guido di Pietro, Angelico was born in Vicchio, Tuscany. He entered a Dominican convent in Fiesole in 1418 and about 1425 became a friar using the name Giovanni da Fiesole. Although his teacher is unknown, he apparently began his career as an illuminator of missals and other religious books. He began to paint altarpieces and other panels; among his important early works are the MADONNA OF THE STAR (1428?-1433, San Marco, Florence) and CHRIST IN GLORY SURROUNDED BY SAINTS AND ANGELS (National Gallery, London), which depicts more than 250 distinct figures. Among other works of that period are two of the CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN (San Marco and Louvre, Paris) and THE DEPOSITION and THE LAST JUDGMENT (San Marco). His mature style is first seen in the MADONNA OF THE LINEN WEAVERS (1433, San Marco), which features a border with 12 music-making angels. In 1436 the Dominicans of Fiesole moved to the convent of San Marco in Florence, which had recently been rebuilt by Michelozzo. Angelico, sometimes aided by assistants, painted many frescoes for the cloister, chapter house, and entrances to the 20 cells on the upper corridors. The most impressive of these are THE CRUCIFIXION, CHRIST AS A PILGRIM, AND TRANSFIGURATION. His altarpiece for San Marco (1439) is one of the first representations of what is known as a Sacred Conversation: the Madonna flanked by angels and saints who seem to share a common space. In 1445 Angelico was summoned to Rome by Pope Eugenius IV to paint frescoes for the now destroyed Chapel of the Sacrament in the Vatican. In 1447, with his pupil Benozzo Gozzoli, he painted frescoes for the chapel of Pope Nicholas in the Vatican, are SCENES FROM THE LIVES OF SAINTS STEPHEN AND LAWRENCE (1447-1449), probably painted from his designs by assistants. From 1449-1452 Angelico was prior of his convent in Fiesole. He died in the Dominican convent in Rome on March 18, 1455. Angelico combined the influence of the elegantly decorative Gothic style of Gentile da Fabriano with the more realistic style of such Renaissance masters as the painter Masaccio and the sculptors Donatello and Ghiberti, all of whom worked in Florence. Angelico was also aware of the theories of perspective proposed by Leon Battista Alberti. Angelico's representation of devout facial expressions and his use of color to heighten emotion are particularly effective. His skill in creating monumental figures, representing motion, and suggesting deep space through the use of linear perspective, especially in the Roman frescoes, mark him as one of the foremost painters of the Renaissance.
 

https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=478

http://saintsresource.com/fra-angelico

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fra_Angelico

 

Prayer:

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Visit:

Santa Maria sopra Minerva

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Art:

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Fra_Angelico_009.jpg

Recipe

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Art/Recipe....How about both!
Make it pretty!

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Flower Focaccia

Ingredients

  • 25 oz all-purpose flour

  • 25 oz lukewarm water

  • 1.5 teaspoons fine salt

  • 3 teaspoons instant dried yeast

  • 5 oz extra virgin olive oil, divided in half

 

Directions

  1. Line a large inch deep 30x40cm or 12x16inch tray with parchment. Dissolve the salt in water. Mix the salt water with the flour in a bowl and add the yeast and stir to mix. Knead with a dough hook for 5 minutes. It will be a very wet dough.

  2. Alternate overnight no knead focaccia: Pour the mixture into a bowl and cover and allow to rise overnight on the benchtop.

  3. Pour half of the olive oil onto the base of the prepared tin and spread to the sides with a brush. Pour the bread dough over the oil in the tray and spread to the sides with an angled spatula. If your dough springs back and won't stretch to the edges, let it rest for 5 minutes or more and then spread it out with the spatula. Brush with remaining oil with your fingers and press your fingers into the dough making dimples. The oil will hold the dimples. Cover with another larger tray and then a cloth. Allow to rise in a warm area for 1 hour.

  4. Preheat oven to 350 ºF. Make a pattern using your imagination. Bake for 25-30 minutes. If the focaccia isn't browning enough, increase heat to 400 ºF for the last 10 minutes.
     

~ The pink focaccia dough

  • To make the dough pink replace the water with beetroot and carrot juice. Use 3 beetroot and the rest carrot to make up a 30 oz bottle of juice. The pink color will darken somewhat but still stay vibrant.

  • Begin the face focaccia with the outline of the face. Use zucchini peel and sliced very thin lines of zucchini skin with a sharp paring knife to make the face.

  • Use the upturned bottoms of a bell pepper as flowers and use cookie cutters to cut out flower shapes in bell pepper. The hardest part was getting the full lips just right but just keep trimming with your paring knife and you'll get there!

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