He is first recorded as a painter in 1417, and at about the same time became a novice at the Friary of San Domenico at Fiesole near Florence, where he mainly lived, eventually becoming Prior. 'Christ Glorified in the Court of Heaven' is the predella from an altarpiece made for the Friary.

By about 1430 Fra Angelico had been influenced by the work of early pioneers of the Renaissance in Florence, particularly the sculpture of Ghiberti. He used new realism and impression of volume to define figures, as well as linear perspective to define space in his own more contemplative art.

Fra Angelico is most famous for the frescoes he painted after 1436 in the Dominican friary of San Marco in Florence, whose rebuilding was supported by Cosimo de Medici.