Filippino a Prato
While the fate of Lucrezia is uncertain (some say she returned to the convent, while others say she obtained a papal dispensation and was able to become the wife of Lippi), there is no question about the father's tender love for his son Filippino, whom he kept at his side until his death.
Placed under the tutelage of Fra Diamante, Filippino then collaborated with him in Spoleto and in Prato, before going on to work, in 1472 under Botticelli, his great master. The youth, who Vasari describes as “polite, affable and kind” also to eradicate the “mark (whatever it might be) left on him by his father”, quickly became famous for his style, which was nervous, animated and complex, rich in detail, in “archeological” citations and echoes of classical architecture, characterized by an elegant linearity, realistic portraiture, naturalistic accuracy. After completing the Brancacci Chapel (1484-88), Filippino began to paint a fresco for Lorenzo il Magnifico, around 1490, the Sacrifice of Laocoon – of which only fragments of the upper part remain – under the portico of the Villa at Poggio a Caiano, which was then under construction. back >>