FRA ANGELICO - "Virgin and Child with Sts Dominic and Thomas Aquinas" - Fresco - The Hermitage, St. Petersburg
Ah, a lovely painting by my favored Fra Angelico. The Virgin is beautiful. I love the soft drapery around the baby Jesus that only partly hide his wee private parts and the golden braid on Mary's cloak - though Thomas Aquinas looks a bit pained. Perhaps, he's simply serious.
A couple of the readings from the lectionary caught my attention.
Wis 7:7-14
Therefore I prayed, and understanding was given me;
I called on God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.
I preferred her to scepters and thrones,
and I accounted wealth as nothing in comparison with her.
Neither did I liken to her any priceless gem,
because all gold is but a little sand in her sight,
and silver will be accounted as clay before her.
I loved her more than health and beauty,
and I chose to have her rather than light,
because her radiance never ceases.
All good things came to me along with her,
and in her hands uncounted wealth.
I rejoiced in them all, because wisdom leads them;
but I did not know that she was their mother.
I learned without guile and I impart without grudging;
I do not hide her wealth,
for it is an unfailing treasure for mortals;
those who get it obtain friendship with God,
commended for the gifts that come from instruction.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
PRAYER
Almighty God, you have enriched your Church with the singular learning and holiness of your servant Thomas Aquinas: Enlighten us more and more, we pray, by the disciplined thinking and teaching of Christian scholars, and deepen our devotion by the example of saintly lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
For four years, I was schooled in Scholasticism by the Jesuits. Six semesters of philosophy classes were requirements for every graduate back in the day. Even then, Aristotle's arguments or "proofs" for the existence of God were not convincing to me. I'd had a course in logic before studying the "proofs", and, to me, the arguments did not hold up. I believed in God, but not because of Aristotle. I know that Scholasticism is out of fashion, but the great value of all the courses in pholosophy was that they taught me to think. And don't believe for one minute that I didn't understand that the ideas of philosophers whose views did not line up with Roman Catholic thinking were introduced in the classes, only to be immediately rebutted and thrown out.
Image from the Web Gallery of Art.
Interesting. Where did you attend college? I went to a community college that taught the more secular view in my philosophy courses and I loved the thoughts from that point of view because it taught me that my views on faith need no proofs because I am more a mystic in my thought and faith.
ReplyDeleteCiss, I attended Loyola University in New Orleans.
ReplyDeleteThomas also looks much thinner than his reported weight.
ReplyDeleteOrmonde, perhaps Thomas Aquinas persuaded God to send an angel to tell Fra Angelico, "Make Thomas Aquinas look good in the painting."
ReplyDeleteI love Fra Angelico. And late medieval-early Renaissance paintings generally.
ReplyDeleteCathy, have you ever been to the Convento di San Marco in Florence? The place is a little bit of heaven on earth.
ReplyDeleteHi Grandmere Mimi, I have been to Florence, and we did visit several places that had fabulous paintings and frescoes (which are all over Florence like a rash), but I can't remember if that was one. The woman we stayed with there told us that quite often in Florence people stripping paint off the walls of their home find artwork underneath, sometimes centuries old, but because there are strict rules governing the restoration of these things and no actual funding available to do it, people usually just quietly slap another coat of paint over the top again and don't tell anyone.
ReplyDeleteCathy, San Marco is the monastery where Fra Angelico (and Savonarola!) lived. He painted gorgeous frescos all over the monastery. Each monk's cell had a small fresco on the wall to aid in meditation. It's now a museum. It's near the Accademia, I believe.
ReplyDeleteImagine all the painted over treasures in Florence!
Having read your description I'm now sure I haven't been there. Bummer. Another visit to Florence one of these years is probably in order. Quite apart from anything else, they have damn good gelati in Florence.
ReplyDeleteAll the food in Florence was delicious. Northern Italian food is some of the best I've ever eaten.
ReplyDelete