Filippino Lippi
1459-1504
Biography: Filiippino Lippi
Filippino Lippi was the son of Fra Filippo Lippi was born in 1459 in Plato, Italy. Filippino spent most of his life painting in different parts of Italy. He spent is early life working in Tuscany, but than moved and continued to work in Florence. Fillippino received his earliest training from his father, Filippi, who was also an artist. Fillippino then went to an art workshop where he than began to be apprenticed by several artists. Filippino was very dedicated to his work and spent most of his time slaving over his paintings. Filippino traveled occasionally to places in Italy, such as Rome, because he was commissioned to create great frescoes on the ceilings of churches and chapels. Although he created several paintings on wood, Filippino usually painted frescoes, or paintings on fresh plaster, on the ceilings and walls of great religious buildings. He painted pieces such as "Adoration of the Magi", "Vision of St. Bernard", and "Adoration of a child". Idealism is shown in his paintings because he painted people in their perfect form. Classicism is also shown because of his very simplistic art style and elegance in his paintings. Filippino received patronage from many high ranking nobles, including Lorenzo de'Medici. Lorenzo commissioned him to work on frescoes in the villas of Poggio a Caiano and Spedaletto. Later in his life Filippino, began to teach a young apprentice named Sandro Botticelli. After living a long hard life, on April 18th in 1504 in Florence, Italy Filippino Lippi passed away.
Adoration of the Magi
The painting "Adoration of the Magi" was painted by Filippino in 1496. It is currently located in the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. It is considered among one of the greatest Florentine paintings and one of Filippino's greatest works. The painting is of Mary holding newborn baby Jesus outside of the manger. The three magi or "kings" surround the baby and many people flock to the manger to see the birth of Christ. I find this piece of art interesting because it shows how much religion impacted the culture at the time. It's also interesting to see how much detail was put into the master piece, and how well the painting portrays the important religious scene. Idealism is greatly shown in this piece because everyone is painted to perfection. No detail is not elegantly painted, creating a scene of flawless emotion. The beauty of Mary and Jesus are centered in the painting to show the importance of religion.
Works Cited
"Filippino Lippi." International Dictionary of Art and Artists. Gale, 1990. Biography in Context. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
Adoration of the Magi. Filipino Lippi. 1496. In ARTstor [database online]. December 3rd 2015. Available from ARTstor, Inc.,New York, New York
Vision of St. Bernard. Filipino Lippi. 1485-1490. In ARTstor [database online]. December 3rd 2015. Available from ARTstor, Inc.,New York, New York