Fra Angelico

 The tomb of Blessed John of Fiesole is located in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome. John, born Guido di Pietro in the Republic of Florence around 1395, was a Dominican friar and a painter of the early Renaissance. The earliest recorded document of the Blessed John dates to 1417, when he joined a religious confraternity or guild at the Carmine Church. A few years later he took the name Giovanni (John) when he entered the Dominican order. To his contemporaries, he was known as Fra Giovanni (Friar John) and Fra Giovanni Angelico (Angelic Brother John). In modern Italian he is called Beato Angelico (Blessed Angelic One). In English, he is commonly known as Fra Angelico, meaning "Angelic Friar."

Fra Angelico's initial training was probably as an illuminator.  He earned his reputation as an artist primarily for the series of frescoes he made for his own friary, San Marco, in Florence. He also worked in Rome and other cities. All of known work is of religious subjects. It is said that he never handled a brush without prayer, and he wept when painting a crucifixion. 

Although he was well known for his gifts as an artist and was commissioned by bishops and Popes, he remained a humble Dominican Friar and led a devout and ascetic life according to his vocation. Fra Angelico died in 1455 while staying at a Dominican convent in Rome. He was probably there on an order to work on Pope Nicholas' chapel. He was Beatified in 1982 by Pope St. John Paul II. His feast day is February 18.

Fra Angelico, Beato Angelico, pray for us!