Encyclopedia of the Renaissance and the Reformation

(Bozica Vekic) #1

from Pavia, but is famous for his association with the
MAJOLICAworks of Gubbio, where he was based from



  1. He held a monopoly in a distinctive ruby glaze,
    which is one of the most characteristic products of the
    Gubbio potteries.


Andrewes, Lancelot (1555–1626) English preacher and
theologian
The son of a London merchant, Andrewes received an aca-
demic education. After taking holy orders (1580) he rose
steadily in the Church through his learning (he is reported
to have mastered 15 languages) and his exceptional qual-
ities as a preacher. Under James I, at whose court he regu-
larly preached on Church feast days, he became
succesively bishop of Chichester (1605), of Ely (1609),
and of Winchester (1619). He played a prominent role in
the Hampton Court Conference (1604) at which it was de-
cided to produce a new English version of the Bible; when
the Authorized (King James) Version was published
(1611), Andrewes’s name headed the list of translators.
Apart from a controversy with Cardinal ROBERT BEL-
LARMINEconcerning the oath of allegiance imposed after
the Gunpowder Plot (1605), Andrewes published little in
his lifetime, and his two most famous works, Ninety-six
Sermons (1629) and Preces Privatae (“Private Prayers”;
1648), were collected posthumously. Nonetheless, he had
a formative influence upon Anglican theology and was
renowned for his personal integrity as much as for his the-
ological scholarship.
Further reading: Nicholas Lossky, Lancelot Andrewes
the Preacher (1555–1626): The Origins of the Mystical The-
ology of the Church of England, transl. Andrew Louth (Ox-
ford, U.K.: Clarendon Press, 1991).


Anerio, Felice (c. 1560–1614) Italian composer
As a boy Anerio sang in the choirs of several major Roman
institutions, and his first known composition is music for
a Passion play (1582). He was maestro di cappella of the
English College in Rome (1584–85) and maestro of the
Vertuosa Compagnia dei Musici di Roma, a society
founded (1584) by leading Roman musicians. In 1594
Anerio succeeded PALESTRINAas composer to the papal
choir. He was also appointed maestro di cappella to Duke
Altaemps.
Most of Anerio’s earlier works are secular (madrigals
and canzonettes); his sacred works were written largely
during his period as papal composer. His Masses, psalms,
responsories, and motets are strongly influenced by
Palestrina’s style, but use some more progressive devices
such as frequent word repetitions to stress parts of the
text. While Felice Anerio’s roots lay firmly in the Palest-
rina tradition, his brother, Giovanni Francesco (1567–
1630), wrote in a distinctly baroque style and concen-
trated on the small-scale motet with continuo.


Angela Merici, St. (1474–1540) Italian religious, founder
of the Ursulines
She spent most of her life at Brescia, where she taught
young girls and cared for ill and needy women. On a
pilgrimage to the Holy Land (1524–25) she was smitten
with temporary blindness. Urged by visions, she founded
(1535) a religious community for women at Brescia which
she called after St. Ursula (see URSULINES) and of which
she became superior in 1537. She was canonized in 1807.

Angeli, Pietro Angelo (Pier Angelo Bargeo)
(1517–1596) Italian humanist poet
His alternative name derives from his birthplace of Barga,
near Lucca. Siriade (1591), a Latin epic on the crusader
conquest of Jerusalem, was drawn upon by TASSOfor the
Gerusalemme conquistata (see GERUSALEMME LIBERATA). Be-
sides his Latin verse, Angeli also wrote pastoral poetry in
Italian (Poesie amorose, 1589) and translated Sophocles’
Oedipus Rex into the vernacular.

Angelico, Fra (c. 1395/1400–1455) Italian painter
Fra Angelico, who was born at Vicchio di Mugello, north-
east of Florence, was known to his contemporaries by the
secular name Guido di Piero and by the religious name
Fra Giovanni da Fiesole. Vasari placed his birth about
1387, but reconsideration of documents points to a more
likely date of about 1395/1400. The difference of a decade
helps correct the older view of Fra Angelico as a painter in
the TRECENTOtradition, and instead places him in the van-
guard of artists working in the third and fourth decades of
the QUATTROCENTO.
He may have been trained by the miniaturist Battista
di Biagio Sanguigni and by the painter Ambrogio di
Baldese. A payment recorded to “Guido di Piero” in 1418
is evidence that the young artist was then still a layman; in
1423 his name appears as “Frate Giovanni di San
Domenico di Fiesole”. Thus he joined the Dominican
Order at its house of San Domenico in Fiesole between
1418 and 1423, perhaps inspired by the preaching of the
Dominican Fra Manfredi da Vercelli.
As a friar Angelico continued painting, operating a
workshop at San Domenico until about 1440, then trans-
ferring it to San Marco in Florence, as fresco decoration of
that convent was under way. Historical evidence indicates
that Angelico was highly regarded in his lifetime both as
an intellect and as a painter. Administrative capabilities
led to his appointment as substitute vicario at San
Domenico in 1435, and as sindicho at San Marco in 1443.
Tradition has it that Pope Eugenius IV, rejecting a number
of distinguished candidates for the vacant archbishopric of
Florence, offered it to Angelico, but that the artist was in-
strumental in securing the appointment of Fra (later St)
ANTONINOto that position in 1446. In a lost epitaph for
his tomb in Sta. Maria sopra Minerva, Rome, Angelico was
celebrated as “...consummate painter, who had no equal

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