The Bible in Pictures

The friars of San Marco passed this fresco every time they climbed the stairs to their cells. An open loggia, a garden behind a fence, two figures bowing to each other, and nothing else.

Fra Angelico was himself a Dominican friar of San Marco. He and his assistants painted a fresco in each of the cells and a few in the corridors, as aids to prayer and not as decoration. This one is the first thing a friar saw at the top of the stairs.

The wings are the only luxury in the picture: bands of colour like a rainbow.

The wings are the only luxury in the picture: bands of colour like a rainbow.

The inscription on the step speaks to the friar who passes: when you come before the image of the inviolate Virgin, take care not to forget to say an Ave.

The inscription on the step speaks to the friar who passes: when you come before the image of the inviolate Virgin, take care not to forget to say an Ave.