Crucifixion with the Virgin, Mary Magdalene and St. Dominic

Fra Angelico painted this fresco of the Crucifixion with the Virgin, Mary Magdalene and St Dominic in the Basilica di San Marco, Florence in the 1440s. The fresco’s reduced setting allows the viewer to focus on the grief and piety of the figures surrounding Christ, who is depicted in accordance with Christian doctrine. Painted in the early Renaissance, the work reflects a humanist desire to represent emotion, with the weeping figures of Mary and Mary Magdalene contrasting with the composure of St. Dominic. The fresco was commissioned by the Dominican friars of San Marco and, as such, it is also a didactic work for the brothers in the convent. Art historians would consider the Dominican order, the influence of the early Renaissance and the patronage of the church, to understand this fresco in a broader social and institutional context.