"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 more historical truth, that although Angelico "might have conveniently lived in the world, and besides his own possessions might have gained any income he chose, with the art for which he was famous even in his youth, yet, for his own satisfaction and peace, being by nature steady and good, and chiefly also for the salvation of his soul he preferred to take the vows in the order of the Preaching monks."[13] This happened in 1407.