 The
City | Famous
People | Filippino Lippi,
painter (1457-1504) |
| Filippino Lippi was born in Prato,
son of the painter Filippo Lippi and Lucrezia Buti.
His education as a painter began when he was very young:
he helped his father with the frescos of the Chapel
of Spoleto. It is know from documents, that he worked
as an apprentice in Botticelli's workshop. This famous
Italian painter had a great influence on Filippino Lippi's
first artworks: the three "Madonne" of Berlin, London
and Washington, the "Tobia", the three "Archangels"
of Turin and the Stories of Ester. Amongst his early
works, is also the beautiful panel painting representing
Saint Lucy, with a sweet and melancholy face, that is
today kept in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Prato.
Botticelli moved to Rome in 1481, leaving Filippino
with the responsibility of completing the frescoes by
Masaccio in the Brancacci Chapel al Carmine, in Florence.
He completed the fresco representing Saint Peter who
cures the child, and made one representing the Imprisonment,
and another representing the Liberation and Saint Peter's
death. It was here that Filippino, drew newer and deep
inspirations from Masaccio. He exceeded the model of
Botticelli: he gave his figures structural ampleness
and plastic solidity, and a more solemn calmness to
their attitudes. Between 1485 and 1489 his more valuable
paintings were completed: amongst these, the most memorable
are, the Madonna on the throne with four Saints (which
is today kept in the "Uffizi" in Florence), and the
Apparition of the Virgin to Saint Bernard in the Fiorentina
Abbey. It is in these and in the other contemporary
paintings, that Filippino Lippi demonstrated that he
had finished his learning and had developed both his
own expression and style. Besides Botticelli and Masaccio,
Filippino was also inspired by Verrocchio: this is apparent
in some of his representations of the Madonna and the
child Jesus, in the rocky sceneries and in the draperies.
There are also signs of influences taken from the numerous
Flemish paintings, that were appearing in Florence during
those years (such as the polyptych by Ugo van der, which
arrived in Florence in 1475; and is today kept in the
"Uffizi"). Filippino moved to Rome, where he stayed
for four years. These years were dense of new experiences
and very important for his stylistic evolution. In this
city he discovered the Roman and the Classical painting
tradition (the influences are evident in the Stories
of the Virgin and of Saint Thomas, which are frescoed
on Carafa Chapel in Santa Maria sopra Minerva). This
fresco shows more grandeur and monumentality than the
previous; the characters are represented in various
poses and their movements are underlined.The drapes
are now more evident and unreal; in fact the painter,
now free from the rules of the Florentine tradition,
could follow his taste for the eccentric and fanciful
decorations. He copied the decoration "a grottesca",
that he found in some of the Roman ruins. He used these
in a number of his drawings and several paintings. When
he returned to Florence in 1493, he had many works commissioned,
that testify his mature style. We should mention the
principal one: the Adoration of the three Kings, which
is today kept in the Uffizi. Here we can see both the
Roman tradition and the influence of Leonardo and of
Signorelli, who were the major Florentine painters in
those years. Many elements, though, seem to overcome
the Mannerism style of the 16th century. Other late
works include the Meeting of Giovacchino with Anna,
in the Copenaghen Museum; and the marvellous "Tabernacolo
del Canto al Mercatale a Prato"(1498), which it seems,
reverts back to aspects of his early style (the calm
characters and the simple and archaic position of the
figures). In 1502, the members of the town council and
the "Gonfaloniere" of the Municipality of Prato, asked
him to paint a panel representing a Madonna with Saints
Steven and Johannes. |
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