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Fra Angelico (c. 1395 – February 18, 1455), born Guido di Pietro, was an
Early Italian Renaissance painter, referred to in Vasari's Lives of the
Artists as having "a rare and perfect talent".
Known in Italy as il Beato Angelico, he was known to his contemporaries
as Fra Giovanni da Fiesole (Brother John from Fiesole). In Giorgio
Vasari's Lives of the Artists, written prior to 1555, he was already
known as Fra Giovanni Angelico (Brother Giovanni the Angelic One).Within
his lifetime or shortly thereafter he was also called Il Beato (the
Blessed), in reference to his skills in painting religious subjects. In
1982 Pope John Paul II conferred beatification,[4] in recognition of the
holiness of his life, thereby making this title official. Fiesole is
sometimes misinterpreted as being part of his formal name, but it was
merely the name of the town where he took his vows, used by
contemporaries to separate him from other Fra Giovannis. He is listed in
the Roman Martyrology as Beatus Ioannes Faesulanus, cognomento
Angelicus—"Blessed Giovanni of Fiesole, nicknamed Angelico". |
