| Barbadori Altarpiece | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Filippo Lippi |
| Year | 1438 |
| Medium | oil on panel |
| Dimensions | 208 cm× 244 cm(82 in× 96 in) |
| Location | Louvre, Paris |
The Barbadori Altarpiece is a painting by Filippo Lippi, dated to 1438 and housed in the Louvre Museum of Paris. It is a sacra conversazione that contains flow between each figure to depict a coronation. [1]
Gherardo di Bartolomeo Barbadori, who died childless in 1429, left his heritage to the Captains of Orsanmichele for the realization, in the church of Santo Spirito, of a chapel dedicated to Saint Fridianus. The chapel was built in the old sacristy of the church and in 1433 it was decided to place an altarpiece there. The work was commissioned to Filippo Lippi around 1437, and a letter from Piero de' Medici to Domenico Veneziano, dated 1 April 1438, mentions the altarpiece as having not been finished yet.
The painting remained in Santo Spirito until 1810, when it was disassembled and brought to France by the Napoleonic troops. After the 1815 restoration it was not given back.
The panel follows the traditional polyptych pattern of the time only in the upper part, which has arcades and columns. Also differently from previous works, Lippi painted the Virgin as standing, and made her the central point of the composition. The size and placement of the figures is to show hierarchical importance. [1]
The angel on the left pulling up his garment is inspired by Nanni di Banco's group of the "Quattro Coronati", a sculpture in a niche of Orsanmichele. Another element of innovation (introduced at the same time by Fra Angelico) was the lack of a gilded background, replaced by an architectural space with a window opening to hilly landscape, inspired to Flemish contemporary works. The shell-shaped niche in the background, a typical element of 15th century Florentine painting, and of Lippi in particular, is inspired by a niche in the Tribunale of the Mercanzie in Orsanmichele, designed by Donatello.
The kneeling saints are St. Augustine on the right and St. Fridianus on the left. On the far left is a self-portrait of Lippi, identified as the young monk behind the balustrade. [2]
The work was originally accompanied by a predella, which was returned to Florence after the fall of Napoleon and is now housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. It includes three panels depicting St. Fridianus Changing the Course of the Serchio , An Angel Foretells the Virgin Mary's Death to Her, with the Arrival of the Apostles and St Augustine's Vision of the Holy Spirit.
Predella of the Barbadori Altarpiece
Fra Angelico, O.P. was a Dominican friar and Italian Renaissance painter of the Early Renaissance, described by Giorgio Vasari in his Lives of the Artists as having "a rare and perfect talent". He earned his reputation primarily for the series of frescoes he made for his own friary, San Marco, in Florence, then worked in Rome and other cities. All his known work is of religious subjects.
Filippino Lippi was an Italian Renaissance painter mostly working in Florence, Italy during the later years of the Early Renaissance and first few years of the High Renaissance. He also worked in Rome for a period from 1488, and later in the Milan area and Bologna.
Domenico Veneziano was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance, active mostly in Perugia and Tuscany.
Benedetto Bonfigli was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Perugia, and part of the Umbria school of painters including Raphael and Perugino. He is also known as Buonfiglio. Influenced by the style of Domenico Veneziano, Benozzo Gozzoli, and Fra Angelico, Bonfigli primarily painted frescos for the church and was at one point employed in the Vatican. His best-preserved work is the Annunciation, but his masterpiece is the decoration of the chapel of the Palazzo dei Priori. Bonfigli specialized in gonfaloni, a Perugian style using banners painted on canvas or linen. Little is known of his personal life, but he was an esteemed painter in Perugia before Perugino, who is said to be his pupil.
Filippo Lippi, also known as Lippo Lippi, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Quattrocento and a Carmelite priest. He was an early Renaissance master of a painting workshop, who taught many painters. Sandro Botticelli and Francesco di Pesello were among his most distinguished pupils. His son, Filippino Lippi, also studied under him and assisted in some late works.
Raffaellino del Garbo (1466–1527) was a Florentine painter of the early Renaissance.
The Basilica di Santo Spirito is a church in Florence, Italy. Usually referred to simply as Santo Spirito, it is located in the Oltrarno quarter, facing the square with the same name. The interior of the building – internal length 97 m (318 ft) – is one of the preeminent examples of Renaissance architecture.
Florentine painting or the Florentine school refers to artists in, from, or influenced by the naturalistic style developed in Florence in the 14th century, largely through the efforts of Giotto di Bondone, and in the 15th century the leading school of Western painting. Some of the best known painters of the earlier Florentine School are Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Filippo Lippi, the Ghirlandaio family, Masolino, and Masaccio.
Neri di Bicci (1419–1491) was an Italian painter active in his native Florence. A prolific painter of mainly religious themes, he studied under his father, Bicci di Lorenzo, who had in turn studied under his father, Lorenzo di Bicci. The three thus formed a lineage of great painters that began with Neri's grandfather.
Jacopo del Sellaio (1441/42–1493) was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance, active in his native Florence. His real name was Jacopo di Arcangelo. He worked in an eclectic style based on those of Botticelli, Filippino Lippi, and Domenico Ghirlandaio. The nickname Sellaio derives from the profession of his father, a saddle maker.
The Coronation of the Virgin or Coronation of Mary is a subject in Christian art, especially popular in Italy in the 13th to 15th centuries, but continuing in popularity until the 18th century and beyond. Christ, sometimes accompanied by God the Father and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, places a crown on the head of Mary as Queen of Heaven. In early versions the setting is a Heaven imagined as an earthly court, staffed by saints and angels; in later versions Heaven is more often seen as in the sky, with the figures seated on clouds. The subject is also notable as one where the whole Christian Trinity is often shown together, sometimes in unusual ways. Crowned Virgins are also seen in Eastern Orthodox Christian icons, specifically in the Russian Orthodox church after the 18th century. Mary is sometimes shown, in both Eastern and Western Christian art, being crowned by one or two angels, but this is considered a different subject.
Biagio d’Antonio Tucci was an Italian Renaissance painter active in Florence, Faenza and Rome.
The Coronation of the Virgin is a painting of the Coronation of the Virgin by the Italian Renaissance master Filippo Lippi, in the Uffizi, Florence.
The Coronation of the Virgin is a painting by the Italian early Renaissance master Fra Angelico, executed around 1434–1435 in Fiesole (Florence). It is now in the Musée du Louvre of Paris, France. The artist executed another Coronation of the Virgin, now in the Uffizi in Florence.
The Annunciation is a painting by Fra Filippo Lippi hung in the Martelli Chapel in the left transept of the Basilica di San Lorenzo, Florence, Italy. There are several paintings by Lippi of this same name.
The Perugia Altarpiece is a painting by the Italian early Renaissance painter Fra Angelico, housed in the Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria of Perugia, Italy.
The Martinengo Altarpiece is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance painter Lorenzo Lotto, finished in 1516. It is housed in the church of Santi Bartolomeo e Stefano in Bergamo in northern Italy.
The Tabernacle of the Linaioli is a marble aedicula designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti, with paintings by Fra Angelico, dating to 1432–1433. It is housed in the National Museum of San Marco, Florence, Italy.
The Novitiate Altarpiece or Madonna and Child with Saints is a c.1440-1445 tempera on panel painting by Filippo Lippi, now in the Uffizi in Florence. A sacra conversazione, it originally had a predella painted by Pesellino centred on a Nativity. The main panel shows Cosmas and Damian either side of the Madonna and Child, whilst Francis of Assisi is shown at far left and Anthony of Padua at far right. On an architectural frieze above the figures are the Medici's heraldic balls.
The Pistoia Santa Trinità Altarpiece is a 1455-1460 egg tempera, tempera grassa and oil on wood painting, begun by Pesellino and completed by Fra Filippo Lippi and his workshop. The main panel of the work is today in the National Gallery in London.
