ght no dignity and took no care but that of escaping hell and
drawing near to Paradise. And, of a truth, what dignity can be
compared to that which should be most coveted by all churchmen, nay,
by every man living, that, namely, which is found in God alone, and in
a life of virtuous labour?

"Fra Giovanni was kindly to all, and moderate in all his habits,
living temperately, and holding himself entirely apart from the snares
of the world. He used frequently to say, that he who practised the art
of painting had need of quiet, and should live without cares or
anxious thoughts; adding, that he who would do the work of Christ
should perpetually remain with Christ. He was never seen to display
anger among the brethren of his order; a thing which appears to me
most extraordinary, nay, almost incredible; if he admonished his
friends, it was with gentleness and a quiet smile; and to those who
sought his works, he would reply with the utmost cordiality, that
they had but to obtain the assent of the prior, when he would
assuredly not fail to do what they desired. In fine, this
never-sufficiently-to-be-lauded father was most humble, modest, and
excellent in all his words and works; in his painting he gave evidence
of piety and devotion, as well as of ability, and the saints that he
painted have more the air and expression of sanctity than have those
of any other master."[10]

Fra Giovanni Angelico, whose worldly name was Guido or Guidolino
(little Guy), was born in the year 1387; his father was named Piero
(surname not known) of Vicchio in the Mugello;--that pleasant valley
which boasts of having given birth to Giotto.

Vasari asserts that Guido's brother Benedetto, a miniaturist, was also
very clever in a larger style of painting, but the researches of
Milanesi quite refute this opinion, and show that Benedetto did
nothing more than copy choral books, and that he continued this kind
of work till his death.[11]

"The most ancient chronicles of the convent of St. Mark and St.
Dominic at Fiesole," writes Milanesi when registering the death of Fra
Benedetto brother of Angelico, in the year 1448, "remark simply that
he was a very good writer, and that he wrote and annotated the choral
books of St. Mark and some of those of St. Dominic." We have only the
evidence in Vasari and the "Annali del Convento di San Marco," written
after his Lives of the Painters to prove that he was a miniaturist.[12]

In these Annals it is added, with