Filippo Lippi | |
|---|---|
 Self-portrait of Fra' Filippo Lippi (1452) | |
| Born | Filippo Lippi c. 1406 |
| Died | 8 October 1469(1469-10-08) (aged 62–63) |
| Other names | Lippo Lippi |
| Known for | Painting,fresco innovative naturalism |
| Notable work | Madonna and Child Enthroned,Annunciation |
| Movement | Early Renaissance |
Filippo LippiO.Carm. (c. 1406 – 8 October 1469), also known asLippo Lippi, was anItalian Renaissance painter of theQuattrocento (fifteenth century) and aCarmelite priest. He was anearly Renaissance master of a painting workshop, who taught many painters.Sandro Botticelli andFrancesco di Pesello (called Pesellino) were among his most distinguished pupils.[1] His son,Filippino Lippi, also studied under him and assisted in some late works.
Lippi was born inFlorence in 1406 to Tommaso, a butcher, and his wife. He was orphaned when he was two years old and sent to live with his aunt,[2] Mona Lapaccia.[citation needed] Because she was too poor to rear him, she placed him in the neighboringCarmelite convent when he was eight years old. There, he started his education. In 1420, he was admitted to thenovitiate of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, known commonly as theCarmelites, at thepriory ofSanta Maria del Carmine in Florence, takingreligious vows in the Order the following year, at the age of sixteen. He wasordained as apriest in approximately 1425 and remained in residence at the priory until 1432.[2]
Giorgio Vasari, the firstart historian of the Renaissance, writes in hisLives of the Artists that "while he was in his noviciate and under the discipline of the grammar master, did nothing but cover his books with drawings of figures, until at last theprior determined to give him every help in learning to paint. The[Brancacci] chapel in the [church of Santa Maria del] Carmine had been recently painted byMasaccio, and being most beautiful, pleased Fra Filippo greatly, and he used to go there."[3] Later "he painted a pope confirming the rule of the Carmelites and other pictures so much in Masaccio's style thatmany said that the spirit of Masaccio had entered into Fra Filippo.[4] Lippi's early work indeed, notably theTarquinia Madonna (Palazzo Barberini, Rome) shows the influence of Masaccio.[5]
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In 1432, Filippo Lippi quit the monastery, although he was not released from his vows. In a letter dated 1439 he describes himself as the poorest friar of Florence, charged with the maintenance of six marriageable nieces.[7]
According to Vasari, Lippi then went on to visitAncona andNaples, where he was captured byBarbary pirates and kept as a slave. Reportedly, his skill in portrait-sketching helped to eventually release him.[8] Louis Gillet, writing for theCatholic Encyclopedia, considers this account and other details reported about Lippi, as "assuredly nothing but a romance".[2]
With Lippi's return to Florence in 1432, his paintings had become popular, warranting the support of theMedici family, who commissioned theAnnunciation and theSeven Saints.Cosimo de' Medici had to imprison him in order to compel him to work, and even then the painter escaped by a rope made of his sheets. His escapades threw him into financial difficulties from which he did not hesitate to extricate himself by forgery.[2] His life included many similar tales of lawsuits, complaints, broken promises, and scandal.[5]
In 1441, Lippi painted the altarpiece of theCoronation of the Virgin for the nuns ofSant'Ambrogio. The painting shows the Virgin being crowned among angels and saints, including many Bernardine monks. One of these, placed to the right, is a half-length figure originally thought to be a self-portrait of Lippi, pointed out by the inscriptionis perfecit opus upon an angel's scroll.[1] Later, it was believed instead to be a portrait of the benefactor who commissioned the painting.[9] The painting was celebrated inRobert Browning's poem "Fra Lippo Lippi" (1855).
In 1452, Lippi was appointedchaplain to the nuns at the Monastery ofSanta Maria Maddalena inFlorence.
Fra Filippo is recorded as living inPrato (near Florence) in June 1456 to paint frescoes in the choir of the cathedral. In 1458, while engaged in this work, he set about creating a painting for the monastery chapel of Santa Margherita in that city, where he metLucrezia Buti, a beautiful boarder ornovice of the Order and the daughter of the Florentines Caterina Ciacchi and Francesco Buti. Lippi asked that she might be permitted to sit for the figure of the Madonna (or perhaps Saint Margaret). Lippi engaged in sexual relations with her and abducted her to his own house. She remained there despite efforts by the nuns to reclaim her.[citation needed] This relationship resulted in their son Filippino Lippi in 1457, who became a famous painter following his father,[7] as well as a daughter, Alessandra, in 1465. Lucrezia is thought to be the model for many of Filippo Lippi's paintings of the Madonna, as well as forSalome in one of his monumental works.
In 1457, he was appointedcommendatoryRector (Rettore commendatario) ofSan Quirico [it] inLegnaia, from which institutions he occasionally made considerable profits. Despite these profits, Lippi struggled to escape poverty throughout his life.
The close of Lippi's life was spent atSpoleto, where he had been commissioned to paint scenes from theLife of the Virgin for the apse ofthe cathedral. His son, Filippino, served as workshopadjuvant in the construction. In the semidome of the apse is theCoronation of the Virgin, with angels, sibyls, and prophets. This series, which is not wholly equal to the one at Prato, was completed after Lippi's death by assistants under his fellow Carmelite,Fra Diamante.
Lippi died in Spoleto, on or about 8 October 1469. The mode of his death is a matter of dispute. It has been said that the pope granted Lippi a dispensation to marry Lucrezia, but before the permission arrived Lippi had been poisoned by indignant relatives of Lucrezia or, in another version, by relatives of someone who had replaced her in the painter's affections.[7]
The frescoes in the choir ofthe cathedral of Prato, which depict thestories of Saint Stephen and Saint John the Baptist on the two main facing walls, are considered Fra Filippo's most important and monumental works, particularly the figure of Salome dancing, which has clear affinities with later works bySandro Botticelli, his pupil, andFilippino Lippi, his son, as well as the scene showing the ceremonial mourning over Stephen's corpse. This latter is believed to contain a portrait of the painter, but there are various opinions as to which is the exact figure. The figure of the dancing Salome in the scene of the Feast of Herod is believed to be a portrait of Lucrezia. On the end wall of the choir are SaintJohn Gualbert and Saint Alberto, while the vault has monumental representations of the four evangelists.[7]
For Germiniano Inghirami of Prato he painted theDeath of Saint Bernard. His principal altarpiece in this city is a Nativity in the refectory of San Domenico: the Christ child on the ground adored by the Virgin and Joseph, between Saints George and Dominic, in a rocky landscape, with the shepherds playing and six angels in the sky. AVision of Saint Bernard is held in theNational Gallery, London.
In the Uffizi is a fine painting of the Virgin, also called"Lippina", adoring the infant Christ, who is held by two angels. The model for the Virgin is Lucrezia. A sometime lecturer at the gallery, the art historian Rocky Ruggiero identifies the painting as "one of the most beautiful paintings of the Italian Renaissance" and asserts that arguably, Lippi "is the first Italian painter with a true sensibility for feminine beauty".[10]
The painting of theVirgin and Child with an Angel also in the Uffizi is ascribed to Lippi, but that is disputed.[1][11]
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Filippo Lippi died in 1469 while working on the frescoes of scenes from theLife of the Virgin (1467–1469) in the apse ofSpoleto Cathedral. The frescoes show the Annunciation, the Funeral of the Virgin, the Adoration of the Christ Child, and the Coronation of the Virgin.[11] A group of bystanders depicted at the funeral includes a self-portrait of Lippi and his helpers,Fra Diamante andPier Matteo d'Amelia, together with his son Filippino. Lippi was buried on the right side of the transept, with a monument commissioned byLorenzo de' Medici.[12]
Francesco di Pesello (called Pesellino) andSandro Botticelli were among his most distinguished pupils who participated in his workshop.[1]
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Rossetti, William Michael (1911). "Lippis.v. Fra Filippo Lippi". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 741–742.
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