Share

Fra Filippo Lippi biography

2 photos

Quick Facts

  • NAME: Fra Filippo Lippi
  • OCCUPATION: Painter, Monk
  • DEATH DATE: c. 1406
  • PLACE OF BIRTH: Florence, Italy
  • PLACE OF DEATH: Spoleto, Italy
  • AKA: Lippo
more about Fra Filippo

Best Known For

Italian painter Fra Filippo Lippi painted frescoes in monasteries and cathedrals in the 1400s. His work is noted for its color and narrative quality.

Synopsis

Fra Filippo Lippi was born in Florence, Italy in 1406. He became a monk in 1421 and he, along with Masaccio, painted the Brancacci Chapel with frescoes. His work Madonna and Child and Annunciation have been noted for their mature, warm and narrative style. In 1456, he fled the convent with a nun, Lucrezia Buti. They married and Lippi returned to painting frescoes in Prato.

Contents

Profile

(born 1406, Florence—died Oct. 8/10, 1469, Spoleto, Papal States) Italian painter. In 1421 he became a Carmelite monk at Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence, where Masaccio was soon decorating the Brancacci Chapel with frescoes. Lippi himself painted frescoes in the church, much influenced by Masaccio's, then disappeared from the monastery in 1432. In 1434 he was in Padua, but in 1437 he returned to Florence under the protection of the Medici family and was commissioned to execute several works for convents and churches. His Madonna and Child (1437) and Annunciation ( 1442) show a maturing style characterized by warm colouring and attention to decorative effects. Later critics have recognized in Lippi a “narrative” spirit that reflected the life of his time and translated into everyday terms the ideals of the early Renaissance. In 1456, while painting in a convent in Prato, he fled with one of the nuns, Lucrezia Buti. The couple was later released from their individual vows and permitted to marry, and from that union was born the illustrious Filippino Lippi. The former friar returned often to Prato, and his frescoes in the cathedral there stand among his finest achievements.

Copyright © 1994-2011 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. For more information visit Britannica.com

ADVERTISEMENT

GetGlue

9383140 9383140
profile id: 9383140
profile name: Fra Filippo Lippi
profile occupation:
related profile id: 9383140
related profile name: Fra Filippo Lippi
related profile occupation:
related profile img: /imported/images/Biography/Images/Profiles/L/Fra-Filippo-Lippi-9383140-1-402.jpg
related profile URL: /people/fra-filippo-lippi-9383140
profile
pop
Your Connections

Sign in with Facebook to see how you and your friends are connected to famous icons.

specific profile connection
See More Bio Connections
Your Friends' Connections
specific friend connection
Profile Connections
    Show More Connections
    Included In These Groups

    See all related groups

    Celebrity Connections

    Show More Connections
    Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us!