Fra Angelico

Born Guido di Pietro around 1395, he took vows as a Dominican friar and painted under the name Fra Giovanni da Fiesole. Working in early Renaissance Florence, he created a series of frescoes for the convent of San Marco with backing from Cosimo de' Medici, including the San Marco Altarpiece and the Deposition of Christ. He painted exclusively religious subjects but pioneered the era's signature moves: linear perspective, attention to depth and form, a break from late medieval conventions. He later worked in Rome under Popes Eugene IV and Nicholas V. He died on 18 February 1455. Five centuries…