“The Old Master, Unlearned”: Fra Beato Angelico in Russia in the Mid-19th Century (1840s-1860s)

<jats:p>The article concerns the perception of the work and personality of Fra Angelico in Russia, where in the 1840s-1860s he became the most popular pre-Raphaelite painter. Passion for Fra Angelico affected artists, critics, writers and poets. Fyodor Chizhov wrote an article about the artist and played a special role in the perception of Fra Angelico; he believed that Fra Angelico was closest to the Russian Orthodox tradition. Owing to Chizhov and the circle of Slavophiles, especially Matvey Bibikov and Apollon Grigoriev, Fra Angelico became a peculiar symbol in Russia, a bearer of the idea of higher spirituality and religious sincerity. Echoes of Fra Beato’s enthusiastic worship, which developed in the mid-19th century, resound in the poetry of A. Blok and N. Gumilev.</jats:p>