Editing Fra Angelico (section)

===Early life, 1395–1436===
Fra Angelico was born Guido di Pietro in the hamlet of [[Vicchio di Mugello|Rupecanina]]<!--THIS IS THE CORRECT PLACE, A FRAZIONE OF VICCHIO--><ref>{{cite web
  | title =Comune di Vicchio (Firenze), La terra natale di Giotto e del Beato Angelico 
  | publisher = zoomedia
  | url =http://www.zoomedia.it/Vicchio/HistoryVic.html
  | access-date = 2007-09-28 }}</ref> in the [[Tuscany|Tuscan]] area of [[Mugello region|Mugello]] near [[Fiesole]], not far from [[Florence]], towards the end of the 14th century. Nothing is known of his parents. He was baptised Guido. The earliest recorded document concerning Fra Angelico dates from 17 October 1417, when he joined a religious confraternity or guild at the [[Our Lady of Mount Carmel|Carmine]] Church, still under the name Guido di Pietro.  This record indicates that he was already a painter, as is evident from two records of payment to Guido di Pietro in January and February 1418, for work done in the church of Santo Stefano del Ponte.<ref>Werner Cohn, ''Il Beato Angelico e Battista di Biagio Sanguigni.'' Revista d'Arte, V, (1955): 207–221.</ref>  The first record of Angelico as a friar dates from 1423, the first reference to Fra Giovanni (Friar John), following the custom of those entering one of the older [[religious order (Catholic)|religious order]]s of taking a new name.<ref>Stefano Orlandi,  ''Beato Angelico; Monographia Storica della Vita e delle Opere con Un'Appendice di Nuovi Documenti Inediti.''  Florence: Leo S. Olschki Editore, 1964.</ref>  He was a member of the [[Convent of San Domenico, Fiesole|convent of Fiesole]]. The [[Dominican Order]] is one of the medieval [[mendicant Orders]]. Mendicants generally lived not from the income of estates but from begging or donations. [[Fra]], a contraction of ''frater'' (Latin for 'brother'), is a conventional title for a mendicant friar.

According to Vasari, Fra Angelico's initial training was as an [[Illuminated manuscripts|illuminator]], possibly working with his older brother [[Benedetto da Fiesole|Benedetto]], also a Dominican and an illuminator. The former Dominican convent of [[San Marco, Florence|San Marco]] in Florence, now a state museum, holds several manuscripts thought to be entirely or partly by his hand.<ref name=Vasari/> The painter [[Lorenzo Monaco]] may have contributed to his art training; the influence of the [[Sienese school]] is discernible in his work. He trained also with master Varricho in Milan{{sfn|Rossetti|1911|pp=6–7}} Despite quite a few moves of the [[convent]]s where he lived, this did little to constrain his artistic output, which rapidly acquired a reputation.  According to [[Vasari]], his first paintings were an [[altarpiece]] and a painted screen for the [[Carthusians|Charterhouse (Carthusian monastery)]] of [[Florence Charterhouse|Florence]]. Nothing remains of these today.<ref name=Vasari/>

From 1408 to 1418, Fra Angelico was at the [[San Domenico, Cortona|Dominican friary of Cortona]], where he painted frescoes, mostly now destroyed, in the Dominican Church, and may have been assistant to [[Gherardo Starnina]] or a follower of his.<ref>{{cite web
 |title       = Gherardo Starnina
 |work        = Artists
 |publisher   = [[Getty Center]]
 |url         = http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artMakerDetails?maker=1188
 |access-date  = 2007-09-28
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20070926215032/http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artMakerDetails?maker=1188
 |archive-date = 2007-09-26
}}Getty Education[]</ref> Between 1418 and 1436 he was back in Fiesole, where he executed a number of frescoes for the church and the [[Fiesole Altarpiece]]. This was allowed to deteriorate, but has since been restored. A predella of the altarpiece remains intact and is conserved in the [[National Gallery, London]]; a great example of Fra Angelico's genius. It shows Christ in Glory surrounded by more than 250 figures, including beatified Dominicans. This period saw the painting of some of his masterpieces, including a version of  ''[[Madonna of Humility (Fra Angelico)|The Madonna of Humility]]''. This is well preserved and the property of the [[Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum]], on loan to the [[Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya|MNAC]] of Barcelona. Also completed at this time were an [[Annunciation (Fra Angelico, Madrid)|''Annunciation'']] and a ''Madonna of the Pomegranate'', at the [[Museo del Prado|Prado Museum]].