After centuries of obscurity Fra Angelico’s Crucifixion fresco in the chapter house of the Convent of San Domenico in Fiesole has returned to public view, glowing with renewed color and detail. The result of a meticulous conservation effort led by restorers Cristiana Conti and Alessandra Popple, the project was made possible by Friends of Florence, with key support from donor Gerhard De Geer and the Belacqua medical group.
Painted around the early 1430s, the fresco is considered one of Angelico’s earliest monumental works, created before his better-known cycle at San Marco. For decades, this Crucifixion remained hidden behind layers of lime plaster applied as early as 1566, rediscovered only in 1880, and poorly restored in fits and starts over the 20th century. Until recently, its condition was precarious with extensive pigment loss, smoke damage and water infiltration threatening the entire surface.
This new intervention also revealed surprising aspects of the artist’s process. Conservators identified nine distinct days of painting, gold details executed on halos, and preparatory sketches in both sanguine and pouncing. Most remarkably, the unusual downward tilt of Christ’s head—rendered in an almost perspectival way—is found only in one other work by Fra Angelico, one of the cells in San Marco, which unfortunately is in a poor state of preservation.
