Fra Angelico

He had several important charges in the convents he lived in but this did not limit his art which very soon became famous. Apart from the lineal connection superficially there may seem little to link the humble priest with his sweetly pretty Madonnas and timeless Crucifixions to the dynamic expressions of Michelangelo's larger-than-life creations. Thus the more gold leaf it displayed the more it spoke to the patron's glory.

He is listed in the Roman Martyrology as Beatus Ioannes Faesulanus cognomento Angelicus—"Blessed Giovanni of Fiesole known as 'the Angelic' ". In modern Italian he is called il Beato Angelico (Blessed Angelic One); the common English name Fra Angelico means the "Angelic friar". He was known to contemporaries as Fra Giovanni da Fiesole (Brother John of Fiesole) and Fra Giovanni Angelico (Angelic Brother John).