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Secondary sourcePainting1442

Saint Thomas Aquinas

Fra Angelico · 1442

A fresco by Fra Angelico showing Thomas Aquinas holding his Summa Theologiae, painted for fellow Dominican friars to see in their cloister.

This fresco shows how Aquinas's own Dominican order presented him to friars as the author of the Summa Theologiae.

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Fresco of a haloed saint in a black cloak over a white robe, holding an open book with a radiant star on his chest, set within a dark arched niche. A red-winged angel appears at upper right and a partial figure at left edge.
Fra Angelico, Saint Thomas Aquinas, 1442. Museum of San Marco, Florence.

About this source

What it is

This fresco was painted by Fra Angelico in 1442 for the Antoninus cloister at the Museum of San Marco in Florence. It shows a haloed friar in a black cloak holding an open book, with a star on his chest and an angel appearing above.

Why it matters

The curator's note explains this painting shows how Dominican friars themselves wanted to present their great teacher to the young friars living in the convent. The open book is identified as his famous work, the Summa Theologiae, showing how closely his image was tied to his writing within his own religious order.

Look closer

  • Why would the Dominicans want this image in a space used daily by friars?
  • What does showing him with his book, rather than other objects, suggest about what mattered most to his order?
  • What might be missing from this devotional image about his life as a real person?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Saint Thomas Aquinas on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Title page of a 1596 Venice edition printed by Iuntas, with Latin text announcing two indexes to the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas, and a central ornate oval emblem with a fleur-de-lis and the letters L and A.Book

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Pange Lingua Gloriosi Corporis Mysterium

Thomas Aquinas · 1263

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Thomas Aquinas Refuses the Archbishopric of Naples

1610

Painted altarpiece panel with a gold background. Christ is enthroned at the top within a pointed arch. Below, four evangelist-like figures hold open books. A central monk in black habit holds an open book inscribed with text, surrounded by a dark circle with golden rays. Figures in red and black robes flank him, and a crowd of people with halos and a kneeling figure appear at the bottom.Painting

Secondary source

Triumph of Saint Thomas Aquinas

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