Artwork
Copy after The Three Maries at the Sepulchre, Fra Angelico in the Museo di San Marco (Florence)
Copy after The Three Maries at the Sepulchre, Fra Angelico in the Museo di San Marco (Florence) is a watercolor work on paper by Fra Angelico. It is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
This 19th‑century watercolour reproduces a fragment of Fra Angelico’s frescoes from the cloister of the Convento di San Marco in Florence. Executed by the Austrian artist Eduard Kaiser, the work depicts three women positioned beside a stone sarcophagus, their garments rendered in delicate pink and blue tones against a plain, luminous background.
Subject & Meaning
The scene illustrates the biblical episode of the Three Marys at the tomb, a motif frequently employed by Fra Angelico to convey themes of devotion and resurrection. The figures’ solemn stance and the stark setting emphasize the contemplative atmosphere of the original monastic context.
Technique & Style
Kaiser employed transparent watercolour washes to emulate the fresco’s soft chromatic palette and subtle illumination. While the medium differs from the original tempera fresco, the copy preserves Fra Angelico’s characteristic balance of colour and light, translating the fresco’s spatial clarity into a more delicate, airy execution.
History & Provenance
Created for the Arundel Society, an organization founded in 1848 to disseminate reproductions of Renaissance masterpieces, the watercolour was later issued as a chromolithographic print in 1875 (Museum No. 27420). Eduard Kaiser (1820‑1895) was a noted Viennese illustrator who specialized in such scholarly reproductions.
Context
The Convento di San Marco, established in 1436 and designed by Michelozzo, was extensively frescoed by Fra Angelico in the 1440s. These decorations adorned both public cloister walkways and the monks’ dormitory, reflecting the artist’s role as a friar‑painter and his commitment to integrating art with daily monastic life.
Artist & collection
Artist
Fra Giovanni da Fiesole (born Guido di Pietro; c. 1395 – 18 February 1455), known posthumously as Fra Angelico ( FRAH an-JEL-ik-oh, Italian: ), was an Italian Dominican friar and painter active during the early…
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