Bosco ai Frati Altarpiece 1450

The Bosco ai Frati Altarpiece was painted in Florence, Italy, by Fra Angelico, sometime in the mid-fifteenth century. As with most altarpieces, it was commissioned by a religious institution, in this case the Franciscan friars. Altarpieces had an important public function during this period: they served as visual aids, helping to communicate the key tenets of Christian doctrine to a largely illiterate population. Here, we see the Virgin Mary enthroned with the Christ Child, surrounded by saints, angels, and other religious figures. This arrangement reflects the hierarchical structure of the Church, with the Virgin Mary occupying the central position. However, the naturalistic rendering of figures, and the classical architectural elements that make up the background, reveal the growing influence of humanism in Florentine culture. Careful research into primary source documents, like contracts between artists and their patrons, can help us understand the economic and social conditions that shaped artistic production in Renaissance Florence.