Fra Filippo Lippi
1406-1459
Florentine Painter of the Early Renaissance
Stylistically influenced by the following painters - Masaccio, Sassetta and Fra Angelico
Cause of Death - He was poisoned by a jealous lover.
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About the Artist
Fra Filippo Lippi was born in Italy in 1406. His people were impoverished butchers and olive oil processors. Young Lippi was orphaned while still a small child and remanded to the care of his Aunt. Lippi was a difficult, unruly boy who wiled away his time thinking up pranks and hanging out with young ruffians. Overcome with disgust his caretaker handed him over to the good Friars at the local monastery. While at the monastery his creative talents were awakened and he sketched when not forced to be at prayer. With the encouragement of the older Friars, Lippi left the monastery but promised to retained his vow of celibacy and of poverty. He did neither. Lippi became an infamous carouser and libertine. According to Renaissance historian, Giorgio Vasari, "It is said that Fra Filippo was so lustful that he would give anything to enjoy a woman he wanted if he thought he could have his way; and if he couldn't buy what he wanted, then he would cool his passion by painting her portrait and reasoning with himself. His lust was so violent that when it took hold of him he could never concentrate on his work. Because of this, when he was doing something for Cosimo de' Medici, Cosimo had him locked in so he wouldn't wander off. After he had been confined for a few days, Fra Filippo's amorous, or rather animal, instincts drove him one night to seize a pair of scissors, make a rope from his own bedsheets, and escape through a window to pursue his own pleasures for days on end!"
Lippi made a conscious decision to create artworks that appealed to the illiterate peasant class as well as the ruling church hierarchy who looked for and found layers of meaning in his paintings. His paintings are overflowing with rich biblical symbolism and at the same time invite the viewer to uncover their own meaning and connection to the artwork.
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