Known in Italy as il Beato Angelico, he was known to his contemporaries as Fra Giovanni da Fiesole.Within his lifetime or shortly thereafter he was also called Il Beato, in reference to his skills in painting religious subjects.
-Fra Angelico - An Early Italian Renaissance painter 1395-1455
About Fra Angelico: The Italian Artist, Fra Angelico was born Guido di Pietro at Rupecanina, in the Tuscan area of Mugello,and died in Rome in 1455. Fra Angelico initially received training as an illuminator, possibly working with his older brother Benedetto who was also a Dominican. His illumination tutor is unknown.From 1408 to 1418 he was at the Dominican Convent of Cortona where he painted frescoes, now destroyed, in the Dominican Church and may have been assistant to or follower of Gherardo Starnina.