He also painted a picture for the high altar of S. Domenico of
Fiesole, but this has been retouched by other masters and injured;
but other pictures there by him have been better preserved, and
there are a number of little figures in celestial glory, which are
so beautiful that they seem really in Paradise, and no one who sees
them can ever weary of looking at them. But beyond all that Fra
Giovanni ever did is a painting in the same church of the Coronation
of the Virgin in the midst of a choir of angels and an infinite
number of saints, which it gives one a wonderful pleasure to look
at, for it seems as if blessed spirits could look no otherwise in
heaven, at least if they had bodies, and they are all so lifelike
and so sweet; and the whole colouring also of the work seems to be
from the hand of a saint or an angel, so that it was with good
reason that he was always called Fra Giovanni Angelico.
By so many works the name of Fra Giovanni became famous in all
Italy, and Pope Nicholas V sent for him, and made him paint the
chapel of the palace where the Pope hears mass, and also illuminate
some books, which are most beautiful. And because Fra Giovanni
seemed to the Pope, as he was indeed, a man of most holy life, quiet
and modest, when the archbishopric of Florence fell vacant he
adjudged him worthy of the rank; but the friar, hearing of it,
prayed his Holiness to give it to another, because he did not feel
himself apt at governing men, and said that his order had another
friar, loving to the poor, learned, skilled in government, and
Godfearing, whom the dignity would much better become than it would
him. The Pope hearing this, and perceiving that what he said was
true, granted him the favour, and so Fra Antonino, of the order of
Preaching Friars, was made Archbishop of Florence, a man of such
holiness that he was canonised by Adrian VI. in our days. And this
great goodness of Fra Giovanni was in truth a rare thing, thus to
give up a dignity and honour offered him to one whom in sincerity of
heart he judged more worthy of it than himself. And would to God
that all religious men would spend their time as this truly
angelical father did, in the service of God and to the benefit of
the world and their neighbours. Fra Giovanni was a simple man and
most holy in his habits, and one day when Pope Nicholas V desired
him to dine with him, he had scruples of conscience about eating
meat without his prior's leave, not considering the Pope's
authority. He would not follow the ways of the world, but lived
purely and holily, and was a great friend of the poor. He painted
constantly, and would never represent anything but the saints. He
might have been rich, but did not care about it, saying that true
riches are nothing else than being content with little. He might
have governed many, and would not, saying it was less troublesome to
obey, and one was less liable to err in obeying. It was in his power
to hold dignities among the friars and elsewhere, but he did not
esteem them, airming that he sought no other dignity than to escape
hell and attain to Paradise. He was most kind and sober, keeping
himself free from all worldly ties, often saying that he who
practised art had need of quiet and to be able to live without
cares, and that he who represents the things of Christ should always
live with Christ. He was never seen in anger by the friars, which is
a great thing, and seems to me almost impossible to believe; and he
had a way of admonishing his friends with smiles. To those who
sought his works he would answer, that they must content the prior,
and then he would not fail. To sum up, this father, who can never be
enough praised, was in all his works and words most humble and
modest, and in his paintings facile and devout; and the saints whom
he painted have more the air and likeness of saints than those of
any one else. It was his habit never to retouch or alter any of his
paintings, but to leave them as they came the first time, believing,
as he said, that such was the will of God. Some say he would never
take up his pencil until he had first made supplication, and he
never made a crucifix but he was bathed in tears.
