Fra Angelico, 'Blessing Redeemer', about 1423

In this small, pointed panel, Jesus Christ blesses us with his raised right hand. His left hand holds an open book. We can read the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. In the Christian Bible, God declares: ‘I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end’ (Book of Revelation 1:8). This signifies that Christ exists beyond time itself.

Jesus hovers in the clouds against a brilliant golden background. The reddish-brown ground clay, or bole, shows through the scratched surface. Nonetheless, we feel that light radiates in all directions. Rays like sunbeams stream outwards, creating a divine glow around Jesus’s figure. He wears dark red robes that fold heavily around his seated form. His golden locks fall in gentle waves down to his shoulders. A circular halo marks his sacred status. Partially faded red marks form the ends of a cross and allude to the Passion. The white pages of his open book contrast sharply with the rich colours surrounding him. They also make the black letters stand out.

X-ray photographs reveal the panel’s structure and give evidence of removed decorative mouldings along its top edges. This clearly indicates that the painting formed the central pinnacle of an altarpiece, rather than being part of a smaller work. Together with two panels showing an Adoring Angel (Galleria Sabauda, Turin), it may have crowned Fra Angelico’s altarpiece for the church of San Domenico in Fiesole, Italy. The bottom section, or predella, from this altarpiece is in the National Gallery. The painting technique in the pinnacle panel is simpler than in the predella scenes below. This may be because it sat so high up that worshippers could barely see the fine details from the church’s nave.

The panel is in poor condition today, but microscopic analysis shows that Christ’s robe was originally dark red with a green lining. The clouds underneath him glowed with blue and grey colours. Even in its damaged state, this small panel demonstrates Fra Angelico’s ability to combine spiritual devotion with artistic skill.

This work entered the Royal Collection in the nineteenth century. Queen Victoria purchased it for £50 before March 1854. This was a significant sum for such a small panel at the time. By 1876, archival records show it hanging in the State Visitors’ Dressing Room at Buckingham Palace. It was catalogued as number 238. The painting’s journey from a medieval Italian church to the heart of the British monarchy demonstrates how Renaissance art continued to captivate collectors centuries after its creation.

Fra Angelico painted this work when religious art served as both decoration and devotion. Medieval viewers would have gazed up at this blessing Christ during Mass. They saw in his raised hand a promise of salvation. Today, we can appreciate both its spiritual significance and its role in art history as part of one of the finest altarpieces of the early Renaissance.