Fra Giovanni Angelico (1395 - 1455), better known as Fra Angelico (the "Angelic Brother") was a famous 15th-century painter-frater in Florence during the Italian Renaissance. His life was described in Giorgio Vasari's Le Vite (Dutch: The Lives). Among his best-known works are the frescoes he created in the San Marco convent in Florence. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1982. His feast day falls on 18 February, and Madonna and Child is an ancient theme. A religious theme originating in the Byzantine Empire, the scene has been painted for years. Many icon painters, Renaissance painters and also the Flemish primitives have depicted this theme.
