Museo di Pittura murale
The Madonna with Child between St. Stephen and St. John the Baptist (1453) was the first altarpiece painted by Lippi for Prato; it was commissioned by a charitable organization called the Ceppo Nuovo, and was hung out of doors, over the well in the courtyard of Palazzo Datini, the headquarters of the association. The figures are monumental but expressive of a harmonious spirituality, set in the luminous, dilated atmosphere of the gold background that acquires profundity from the drape behind the Virgin, progressively drenched with light. At the feet of the throne, in the foreground but smaller (according to a "moral" perspective of medieval origin that established the proportions on the basis of the importance of the figures), are lively portraits of the founder of the organization, the celebrated merchant Francesco Datini (1325-1410) dressed in rich clothes and jewels, and the officers of the organization, presented by him to the Virgin.
The painting is, since 1858, in the Museo Civico of Prato, which is currently undertaking a huge restoration. The painting is temporarily displayed in the Wall Painting Museum of San Domenico, in the exhibition ‘Sacred Images-Immagini del Sacro’ together with other masterpieces of Filippo Lippi.

Another altarpiece has important ties with the romantic aspect of Fra Filippo's life: his Our Lady of the Assumption Giving Her Belt to St. Thomas, between St. Margaret (who is presenting the Abbess, Bartolomea Bovacchiesi) and Sts. Gregory, Augustine and the Archangel Rafael with Tobiolo (1456 circa). The work – as Vasari also reports – was commissioned by the monastery of Santa Margherita where Lippi had, in the meantime, been appointed chaplain. Here the painter met a nun, Lucrezia, the daughter of Francesco Buti, a Florentine silk merchant, “and she had a lovely grace and air”. He fell in love with her and eloped with her from the convent and, shortly thereafter – continues Vasari - “being so enamored of her many qualities, Fra Filippo got her with child and she, in due time, was delivered of a male infant who was named Filippo after his father and later became, like his father, an excellent, famed painter”.



The elopement, and their life together (in a house purchased in Prato as early as 1455) as well as the birth of Filippino, followed by a sister, was an enormous scandal and was tolerated only because of the great favor which Filippo enjoyed because of his artistic talent, as Vasari writes, “many things that were a blemish on his life were covered over by the extent of such great virtue”. All these events were the reason why the altarpiece of the Assumption was only started by Lippi, and was finished by his workshop, possibly by Fra Diamante (1430-1498) who was his main collaborator. Although the colors are badly deteriorated, the work still shows signs of its original beauty in the accurate, precious details of fabric and jewels, and in the grasses of the meadow. It is thought that the model for St. Margaret was Lucrezia Buti, and certainly the elegant figure represents Fra Filippo's feminine ideal, recognizable also in other works of the period. Another probable ideal image of Lucrezia with her baby Filippino is the enchanting Virgin with Child, with her lovely profile, in the altarpiece with the Natività, and Sts. George and Vincent Ferrer, painted for the convent of San Domenico around 1458 (acquired by the City Museum).



The altarpiece was extended during its execution with the addition of the two saints on the sides, and was clearly worked on by several collaborators at various times, but this takes nothing away from the effectiveness of the composition, immersed in a charming landscape. During the period that he worked in Prato, Lippi had a number of commissions for works of private devotion; there are some delightful examples – which can be seen in the exhibition The Treasures of the City – such as two almost identical tablets with the Annunciation and St.Julian, from about 1460, with their elegant, balanced composition in a setting with central perspective. The best (from the City Museum) is the work of Lippi and Fra Diamante, the other (from the Cathedral Museum) was probably painted by Domenico di Zanobi, a pupil of the artist.back >>



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