Madonna delle Ombre ‘Madonna of the Shadows’ (detail of Saint Dominic) by Fra Angelico (1450)
The figure of Saint Dominic from which this detail is taken forms part of a larger fresco known as the Madonna of the Shadows also featured in January. Appropriately, the founder of the Order of Preachers (as the Dominicans were known), Dominic stands in the place of honour on the right of the enthroned Virgin and Child, who are seated in the centre of the composition (which is not included in this detail). Dominic’s gaze is directed outward towards the friars who would have gathered to pray in front of the fresco. This visual address to the viewer establishes a psychological and spiritual bond in which the painted and real world momentarily intersect. This sense of shared space and time gets reinforced by the way Fra Angelico suggests the movement of light (and thus passage of time) through the play of light and shadows on Saint Dominic’s youthful face. Our gaze responds to his penetrating gaze as if he is inviting us to join him and the friars in prayer. Thus our meditation on this image becomes one with that of all those who have gone before us.
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