Aet. 48, to an art and literary critic who was an occasional subject-matter expert and copy editor for George Moore. Her new book was Fra Angelico (Catholic Truth Society, 1900).
Quoting Vasari on page 24-25:
“Giovanni was a man of simple and blameless life; he shunned the world, and he led a life of such purity and holiness and served the poor with such fervent zeal that I believe his soul must now be in heaven. He painted incessantly, but he would never paint other than sacred subjects. He might have amassed a fortune, but he scorned to do so, saying that true riches consisted simply in being content with little…. He might have enjoyed dignities both within and without his convent, but he refused, saying that his sole ambition was to escape hell and win heaven…. Humane and temperate, he led a chaste life, avoiding the snares of the world, and he was wont to declare that peace and quiet were essential to the pursuit of art, that he who illustrates the acts of Christ should live in His presence. He was never known to indulge in anger against his brethren, a most rare virtue, and one that seems almost unattainable; and he never admonished his friends save with a smile. If he received an order for a painting, he would first consult the wishes of his superior; permission once granted, he was always ready to perform his part. In a word, this father, whose loss can never be sufficiently mourned, was always modest and humble in all his actions, and in his pictures tender and pious. No one, so well as he, knew how to confer upon saints the air and semblance of real sanctity. He never retouched or altered anything he had once finished, but left it as it was, believing it to be the will of God that it should be so.”
George wrote a self-expressive appreciation of Ruysdael in “The Louvre Revisited – II.“
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