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Fra Filippo Lippi (1406-1469) was born in Florence, Italy, during the early Renaissance. His parents passed away when he was young and at the age of eight he was placed in the monastery of Santa Maria del Carmine. When he was 15, he became a Carmelite monk and was also trained as a painter. In 1432 he left Florence, but returned five years later. The same year as his return, the Medici family commissioned him to produce several religious works. Lippi's early art works were influenced by Masaccio, which can be noted in the three dimensional figures and his use of perspective. An example is Reform of the Carmelite Rule.
In 1442, Lippi became a rector of a church in Legnaia. Unfortunately, his position was overshadowed by a love affair with a nun. Her name was Lucrezia Buti. Normally Lippi would be unable to marry her because he was a monk, but the Pope released him from his vows so he could do so. They were married in 1461 and afterwards Lucrezia gave birth to a child, Filippino, who was to be a famous Florentine artist like his father. Lippi's home, second to Florence, was Prato. He painted altarpieces and frescoes there, including the cathedral choir, but left in 1467 for Spoleto. He had received another commission there from the Medici family. In these paintings, Lippi concentrated on the human aspects in the scenes, thus losing some of the inspiration he gained from Masaccio. His new style was very decorative; it combined the Gothic with 'mysterious, receding backgrounds' and subtle lighting techniques. This style influenced Sandro Botticelli. These paintings ended up being Lippi's final works. He died in Spoleto in 1469, between October 8 and 10 (there is more than one documented date). His oeuvre includes Coronation of the Virgin and Madonna and Child.
He is said to have been so amorous that when he saw a woman that pleased him he would have given all his possessions to have her, and if he could not succeed in this he quieted the flame of his love by painting her portrait.
-Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Painters (1568)
A fine way to paint soul, by painting body
So ill, the eye can't stop there, must go
further
And can't fare worse!...
If you get simple beauty and nought else,
You get about the best thing God invents:
That's somewhat: and you'll find the soul
you have missed
Within yourself, when you return him thanks.
-Robert Browning, 'Fra Lippo Lippi' (1855)
Madonna and Child
Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence
The Annunciation
1440
Martelli Chapel, San Lorenzo, Italy
Madonna in the Forest
1460
Staatliche Museen, Berlin
Madonna with Child and Two Angels
1464
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Coronation of the Virgin
1466-1469
Spoleto Cathedral
Spoleto, Italy
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