On the slopes of the smiling hill of Fiesole the foundations of a new convent were being laid by Giovanni Dominici, the great preacher and reformer, who wished in this new monastery to give a model to all the cloistered orders which at the close of the preceding century had greatly fallen from their ancient observances. St. Antonino was among the first to embrace this reform, and after two years Guidolino and his brother followed his example, choosing the robes of St. Dominic. On being received by the Dominicans they were sent to Cortona, where St. Antonino and others already resided, there being as yet no novitiate at the Fiesole convent. In 1408 they took the irrevocable vows, but it cannot be ascertained whether they still remained at Cortona, or returned at once to their own convent at Fiesole. If the latter, the two brothers must have been involved in the vicissitudes of the Fiesolan convent, which, refusing to acknowledge Pope Alexander V. (who was elected by the Council of Pisa 1409), entered into a fierce contest with the archbishop of Florence. The convent was abandoned by its inmates who fled to Foligno to avoid the rule of Fra Tommaso da Fermo, General of the Order, who had sworn obedience to the new Pope. They were received as guests at Foligno by Ugolino de' Trinci, lord of the city, and Federigo Frezzi, author of the _Quadriregio_. Here they passed five years, being treated with great benevolence by their brethren, nor did they leave until driven away by the plague in 1414, when they again took shelter at Cortona where they remained till 1418. When Guidolino entered the convent and took the name of Giovanni, he must have been already expert in art; for the vicissitudes which followed could certainly not have facilitated the study of painting. In fact his works which remain at Cortona are in so youthful a style, and bear the imprint of such freshness as to remove all doubt on this generally accepted assertion. While staying at Foligno, the Fiesolan refugees propagated that severe form of life and strict observance which Giovanni Dominici had taught in his convent at Fiesole, and brother Giovanni again began his artistic work, for painting was to him like prayer, i. e. his usual way of raising his mind and heart to God. Unfortunately few of these first works have been preserved, but from those few we are assured that he studied in Florence, from which school alone he could have appropriated the noble manner impressed on all his works; and that those who perceive an Umbrian influence in his art, are very far from the truth.