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Fra Angelico was born sometime between 1386 and 1400 as Guido di Pietro in Vicchio near Fiesole in Tuscany. Other names Angelico's are il Beato Angelico ("the blessed angelic"), Fra Giovanni da Fiesole ("Brother John of Fiesole") and Il Beato ("the blessed") - in fact, in 1982 he was beatified as Beatus Ioannes Faesulanus, cognomento Angelicus ("blessed Giovanni of Fiesole, called Angelico") by Pope John Paul II and declared patron saint of Christian artists. He is considered one of the most important painters of the early Renaissance and of Christian motifs in general.
When Guido di Pietro first joined a religious brotherhood on 17 October 1417, he was already working as a painter. In 1418 he painted murals in the Santo Stefano del Ponte. The oldest document that lists di Pietro as Fra Giovanni and brother of the Dominican Order dates from 1423.
Fra Angelico was trained as an illustrator of books, but he also left behind numerous frescoes, other murals and altarpieces. Among the most famous paintings of his extensive oeuvre are The Precursors of Christ with Saints and Martyrs, Noli me tangere (named after a biblical passage: "Do not touch me" - Jn 20:17) and The Last Judgement.
Fra Angelico was born sometime between 1386 and 1400 as Guido di Pietro in Vicchio near Fiesole in Tuscany. Other names Angelico's are il Beato Angelico ("the blessed angelic"), Fra Giovanni da Fiesole ("Brother John of Fiesole") and Il Beato ("the blessed") - in fact, in 1982 he was beatified as Beatus Ioannes Faesulanus, cognomento Angelicus ("blessed Giovanni of Fiesole, called Angelico") by Pope John Paul II and declared patron saint of Christian artists. He is considered one of the most important painters of the early Renaissance and of Christian motifs in general.
When Guido di Pietro first joined a religious brotherhood on 17 October 1417, he was already working as a painter. In 1418 he painted murals in the Santo Stefano del Ponte. The oldest document that lists di Pietro as Fra Giovanni and brother of the Dominican Order dates from 1423.
Fra Angelico was trained as an illustrator of books, but he also left behind numerous frescoes, other murals and altarpieces. Among the most famous paintings of his extensive oeuvre are The Precursors of Christ with Saints and Martyrs, Noli me tangere (named after a biblical passage: "Do not touch me" - Jn 20:17) and The Last Judgement.