Bl. Giovanni of Fiesole is known throughout the world by another name: Fra Angelico. He is a famous artist, whose works are studied and appreciate by many, even those who are not Catholic. This great artist, however, came from humble beginnings.
We don’t know much about his childhood, so we will start his story when he was around 20 years old and entered the Dominican convent in the town of Fiesole. When he entered, he took the name Fra Giovanni. In Italy, the members of religious orders are given the title “Fra” which means brother. Giovanni is an Italian name which is the equivalent of the English “John”, so he is sometimes known of Bl. John of Fiesole.
In the convent, Giovanni began his work as an artist by painting images in religious books. Making beautiful books filled with illustrations and letters written in an elaborate manner was a common task for monks at this time. Working on these illuminated manuscripts, as they are called, almost certainly opened Giovanni’s eyes as to how he could use his skill as a painter to bring glory to God.
Moving to a larger canvas, Giovanni was given the opportunity to paint parts of his convent. It is believed that one of his first paintings was part of an altar. Sadly, this, along with many of his other works, have not survived to today, but we are blessed to be able to reflect on those which have.
Giovanni began to become a well known artist and was invited to paint the walls and chapels of many monasteries in Italy. He was also invited by the Pope to come paint two churches and part of the Pope’s offices in Rome. Only one of these churches still exists today.
The largest collection of his work can be found at the Convent of San Marco in Florence. Giovanni was one of the first monks to move into the new convent and was given the task to decorate the walls in such a way to encourage the monks to prayer and reflection. Giovanni painted images inside of every cell (the room a monk slept in). These images often included a painted figure of a religious man or woman praying; this was to encourage the brothers to imagine being in the image. Here you can see an example of one of these images. This depicts Mary, St. John, and two other women mourning over the body of Jesus after the crucifixion. You also see St. Dominic observing this scene, encouraging the brother in this cell to put himself into this moment.
Giovanni’s paintings were so beautiful that his brother monks claimed he painted like an angel and give him the nickname Fra Angelico or Brother Angelic. This is the name which museums use most often in identifying his art.
Giovanni was a humble man, even as he gained fame for his art. He prayed before painting to ask God to bless his work and to bless those who would later meditate on it. He painted to bring glory to God, not to himself. The Pope asked him to become the Archbishop of Florence, Italy, but Giovanni turned down this role, as he wished to continue his simple life of prayer and painting. Eventually, he did accept the role of prior (leader) of the convent in Fiesole.