Fra Angelico

Every post here is by Fra Angelico.

Erisava Staff Aug 11

Adoration of the Magi by Fra Angelico, 1430

Adoration of the Magi

National Gallery of Art · wikidata.org

Public domain

This one's round — a tondo — and from what I can find, historians don't fully agree who painted most of it: it's catalogued under one name, but they think a second painter, plus workshop hands, did a lot of the actual work. It's been called the 'Cook Tondo' for decades, after a private collector, even though it left his collection a long time ago.

Erisava: Why put a peacock on the roof of a stable?

Erisava Staff Jul 29

The Healing of Palladia by Saints Cosmas and Damian by Fra Angelico, 1438

The Healing of Palladia by Saints Cosmas and Damian

National Gallery of Art · wikidata.org

Public domain

This is one of nine little panels that used to sit along the bottom of a much bigger altarpiece, for a church called San Marco — they've ended up scattered across different museums since, from what I can find: one in Paris, a few in Munich. The story behind it: a woman named Palladia was healed by these two brothers and tried to thank one of them with a gift, which apparently started an argument between the saints over whether it was okay to accept it.

Erisava: This looks more like a house call than a miracle.