Sunday, December 29, 2024

Fra Filippo Lippi - The Barbadori Altarpiece

I love the early renaissance which doesn’t get as much fanfare as its most celebrated superstars.

And among those are Filippo Lippi. He had a pretty scandalous life (as you’ll see below).

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The Barbadori Altarpiece by Filippo Lippi

The Barbadori Altarpiece by Filippo Lippi

Incredible altarpiece at the Louvre.

The Mother Mary (about to sit down?) with Christ at her side on their heavenly throne with ecclesiastical worthies.

Filippo Lippi channels Brunelleschi’s architectural style, complete with round arches and grey stone (pietra serena) which the latter was so fond off.

Dimensions and lines on the floor give us a sense of perspective.

St. Fridianus in richly embroidered robes.
The halo iconography in 3D.
Translucent silk around fingers with rings over glove.

Those angels are childlike. Playful and full of innocence.
Thick hair, calm - but also distracted.
Using fingers to lift robes, and wings of hawks?

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The Virgin with the Pomegranate by Filippino Lippi

The Virgin with the Pomegranate by Filippino Lippi

Filippino Lippi was the son of Fra Filippo Lippi and the much young nun Lucrezia Buti. He became one of the most distinguished Florentine artists of the Quattrocento.

The pomegranate motif foreshadows the fateful destiny of Christ.

Christ seems to twist his body as if hogging the fruit. Two angels chatting in the back?

Style similar to his father.

16 comments:

  1. You really seem to know your topic. It makes for informative and pleasurable reading. The baby seems pretty huge to me. I imagine that is deliberate to show something of his status?

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    1. Well, it's an altarpiece so would need to be seen from some distance too.

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  2. Human nature doesn't change, lol. There's a clear Botticelli influence in the son's painting. They were both students in his father's workshop apparently.

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    1. Yes, very true. They were both students indeed. :)

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  3. Yes, intriguing that he seems to be hogging the fruit. Maybe he was just ravenously hungry and fiercely guarding his bit of food?

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    1. Just being a normal baby. It was a radical humanist departure from the gothic/iconography baby christ of earlier times.

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  4. Fillipo Lippi was a great artist in the renaissance but often overlooked and unheard of in my experience.

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  5. Your description of the altarpiece at the Louvre is truly captivating. Filippo Lippi's work indeed evokes a sense of awe and reverence, with the depiction of the Mother Mary and Christ on their heavenly throne surrounded by ecclesiastical figures.

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  6. These paintings are lovely and pleasing to look at.
    Happy New Year Liam, and
    May your heart be light, your days be bright, and your year be just right.

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