Fra Angelico (Born 1400) was a Dominican friar and painter. He was born in Florence, Italy where he was also brought up. He’s considered one of the best fresco painters of the century. In 1420 he entered a monastery the San Domenico at Fiesole where he stayed for two years. He painted manuscripts and altarpieces. His early masterpiece was the Linaiuoli Altarpiece. He also painted many famous frescoes at a chapel in the Vatican and the monastery of San Marco in Florence. Fra Angelico was one of the greatest painters of the 15th-century who worked within the framework of the early Renaissance style embodying reflecting a strong Classical influence and a serene religious attitude. A great number of works that he executed during his career are frescoes and altarpieces created for the priory of San Marco and the church in Florence while he was in residence there.
At Fiesole, Fra Angelico was probably influenced by Giovanni Dominici’s teachings. Dominici was was the militant leader of the reformed Dominicans. The artist was also influenced by St. Antoninus Pierozzi, another friar who may have consolidated Angelico’s faith. It is believed that Antoninus also may have inspired some of Fra Angelico’s art. According to the biographer and painter Vasari Giorgio, Fra Angelico was trained by Lorenzo Monaco, the greatest miniaturist and painter of the Gothic tradition. Fra Angelico exerted a significant influence on his followers and in Florence as a whole. Fra Angelico art has found its way into many collections and galleries around the world.
