Filippino Lippi Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Filippino Lippi
Self-portrait – detail from the Brancacci Chapel fresco The Dispute with Simon Magus (1481–1482), Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy
Born	Filippo Lippi c. (1457-04-15)15 April 1457 Prato, Republic of Florence
Died	18 April 1504(1504-04-18) (aged 47) Florence, Republic of Florence
Nationality	Italian
Education	Filippo Lippi
Known for	Painting, fresco
Notable work	Apparition of the Virgin to St. Bernard Adoration of the Magi
Movement	Italian Renaissance

Apparition of The Virgin to St. Bernard (1485–1487)

Allegory of Music (c. 1500), tempera on panel, 61 × 51 cm. Gemaldegalerie, Berlin, Germany

Mystic Wedding of St Catherine (1501) Basilica of San Domenico, Bologna, Italy

Filippino Lippi (born April 1457 – died April 18, 1504) was a famous Italian painter. He worked in Florence, Italy, during the Early Renaissance and the start of the High Renaissance. His art helped shape the look of paintings in his time.

Filippino's Early Life and Training
Important Art Projects
Later Works and Legacy
- Paintings from His Later Years
- His Final Work and Death
Major Works by Filippino Lippi
Images for kids
See also

Filippino's Early Life and Training

Filippino Lippi was born in 1457 in Prato, Tuscany. He was the son of the painter Fra Filippo Lippi and Lucrezia Buti. His sister, Alessandra, was born in 1465.

Learning from His Father

Filippino began learning to paint in his father's workshop. When his father died in 1469, Filippino was only twelve years old. He helped finish the frescoes, which are wall paintings, in the Cathedral in Spoleto. These frescoes showed "Histories of the Virgin."

Training with Botticelli

After his father's death, Filippino continued his training. He became a student of Botticelli, who had also been taught by Filippino's father. Records from 1472 show that Filippino was Botticelli's only assistant. They often worked together on paintings.

For example, they collaborated on panels for large chests called cassoni. These panels are now in museums around the world. It can sometimes be hard to tell their early Madonna and Child paintings apart.

Developing His Own Style

Filippino's first solo works looked a lot like Botticelli's. Some were even thought to be by an unknown "Friend of Botticelli." But between 1480 and 1485, Filippino's style became more unique.

His early works include:

Madonnas in Berlin, London, and Washington, D.C.
Journeys of Tobia in Turin.
Madonna of the Sea in Florence.
Histories of Ester.

Important Art Projects

Filippino Lippi worked on many important art projects. He often painted for powerful families and churches.

Decorating Lorenzo de' Medici's Villa

Filippino worked with other famous painters like Perugino, Ghirlandaio, and Botticelli. They decorated the villa of Lorenzo de' Medici at Spedaletto.

In 1482, he was asked to decorate a wall in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. However, this project was never started.

Finishing the Brancacci Chapel Frescoes

Around 1483–84, Filippino was asked to complete a very important project. He finished the frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel in the Santa Maria del Carmine di Firenze. These paintings had been left unfinished by the artist Masaccio when he died in 1428.

In this chapel, Filippino painted scenes from the Stories of Saint Peter. These included:

Quarrel with Simon Magus in face of Nero
Resurrection of the Son of Teophilus
Saint Peter Jailed
Liberation
Crucifixion of Saint Peter

You can see a self-portrait of Filippino at age twenty-five in the Disputation with Simon Magus fresco.

The Apparition of the Virgin to St. Bernard

Around 1485–1487, Filippino painted his most famous work. This was the altarpiece called Apparition of the Virgin to St. Bernard. It was made for Piero di Francesco del Pugliese and is now in the Badia Fiorentina, Florence.

This painting is known for its dream-like feel. It has long, graceful figures and a strange background of rocks and tree trunks that look almost human.

The Strozzi Chapel in Santa Maria Novella

In 1487, Filippo Strozzi asked Lippi to decorate his family's chapel. This was in the Santa Maria Novella church. Filippino worked on this project for a long time, finishing it in 1503, after Strozzi had died.

The frescoes in this chapel show a clash between Christianity and Paganism. This was a big topic in Florence at the time, especially with the influence of Girolamo Savonarola. Filippino showed ancient scenes with great detail. He created a mysterious and sometimes unsettling style, almost like a nightmare.

Work in Rome: The Carafa Chapel

In 1488, Lippi traveled to Rome. There, he decorated the family chapel in Santa Maria sopra Minerva for Cardinal Oliviero Carafa. These frescoes showed new ideas and his continued interest in ancient art. He finished this series by 1493.

Later Works and Legacy

Filippino returned to Florence between 1491 and 1494. He continued to create many important works.

Paintings from His Later Years

Some of his works from this period include:

Apparition of Christ to the Virgin (c. 1493, now in Munich).
Adoration of the Magi (1496, for the church of San Donato in Scopeto, now in the Uffizi).
Sacrifice of Laocoön (late 1400s, for Lorenzo de' Medici's villa).

He also worked outside Florence, in Pavia and Prato. In 1501, he painted the Mystic Wedding of St. Catherine for the Basilica of San Domenico in Bologna.

His Final Work and Death

Filippino Lippi's last painting was the Deposition for the Santissima Annunziata church in Florence. He died before he could finish it.

Filippino Lippi died on April 18, 1504, when he was 47 years old. He was so well-respected that all the art workshops in Florence closed on the day of his burial to honor him.

Major Works by Filippino Lippi

Madonna with Child, St. Anthony of Padua and a Friar (before 1480)
The Coronation of the Virgin (c. 1480)
Tobias and the Angel (c. 1480)
Three Angels with Young Tobias (1485)
Portrait of an Old Man (1485)
Self-portrait
Portrait of a Youth (c. 1485)
Signoria Altarpiece (Pala degli Otto) (1486)
Apparition of the Virgin to St. Bernard (1486)
Annunciation with St. Thomas and Cardinal Carafa (1488–1493)
Madonna with Child and Saints (c. 1488)
St. Jerome (1490s)
Apparition of Christ to the Virgin (c. 1493)
Adoration of the Magi (1496)
Madonna and Child with Saints (1498)
Allegory (c. 1498)
Allegory of Music (Erato) (c. 1500)
Crucifixion, c. 1501
Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine (c. 1501–1503)
Madonna and Child, St. Stefan and St. John the Baptist (1502–1503)
Deposition (1504, finished by Perugino in 1507)

Images for kids

The Coronation of the Virgin (detail) (c. 1480)
Tempera on panel, 90.2 × 223 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Annunciation with St. John the Baptist and St. Andrew, c. 1485
Apparition of the Virgin to St. Bernard (detail) (1486)
Oil on panel, 210 × 195 cm, Church of Badia, Florence
Apparition of the Virgin to St. Bernard (detail)
Apparition of the Virgin to St. Bernard (detail)
Apparition of Christ to the Virgin (c. 1493)
—Oil on panel, 156.1 × 146.7 cm, Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Angel (detail), Retábulo da Sala Degli Otto, Florence
Madonna with Child and Saints (c. 1488)
Oil on wood, Santo Spirito, Florence