Angelico, Fra

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Angelico, Fra (c.1400–55) ( Guido di Pietro) Florentine painter and Dominican friar. Angelico and his assistants painted a cycle of some 50 devotional frescos in the friary of San Marco, Florence (c.1438–45). These pictures show great technical skill and are the key to Angelico's reputation as an artist of extraordinary sweetness and serenity. Despite being part of a strict order, Angelico stayed in touch with developments in contemporary Florentine art and later travelled widely on commissions. International Gothic influenced his early work but he also found great inspiration in representations of architectural perspective by Masaccio. His style showed a marked change towards narrative detail in frescos carried out for Pope Nicholas V's Vatican chapel (1447–50).

http://www.vatican.va/museums/index.htm; http://www.christusrex.org/www2/art/san_marco.htm; http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/collection/default.htm

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