People who knew him when he was older called him Fra Giovanni da Fiesole ( Brother John from Fiesole ) . When Giorgio Vasari wrote about him in Lives of the Artists , in the 1500s , he was already known as Fra Giovanni Angelico ( Brother Giovanni who is like an Angel ) . He was known to his contemporaries as Fra Giovanni da Fiesole ( Brother John from Fiesole ) and by Vasari as Fra Giovanni Angelico ( Brother John the Angelic One ) .