Main content
Europe 1300 - 1800
Course: Europe 1300 - 1800 > Unit 3
Lesson 3: Painting in central Italy- Gentile da Fabriano, Adoration of the Magi
- Gentile da Fabriano, Adoration of the Magi
- Gentile da Fabriano, Adoration of the Magi (reframed)
- Masaccio, Virgin and Child Enthroned
- Masaccio, The Holy Trinity
- Masaccio, Holy Trinity
- Masaccio, Holy Trinity (quiz)
- Masaccio, The Tribute Money in the Brancacci Chapel
- Masaccio, The Tribute Money in the Brancacci Chapel
- Masaccio, Tribute Money (quiz)
- Masaccio, Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden
- Fra Angelico, The Annunciation (Prado)
- Fra Angelico, The Annunciation
- Fra Angelico's Annunciation (quiz)
- Uccello, The Battle of San Romano
- Fra Filippo Lippi, Madonna and Child with two Angels
- Lippi, Madonna and Child with Two Angels
- Lippi, Madonna and Child with two Angels (quiz)
- Fra Filippo Lippi, Madonna and Child
- Lippi, Portrait of a Man and Woman at a Casement
- Fra Filippo Lippi, The Adoration
- Benozzo Gozzoli, The Medici Palace Chapel frescoes
- Beyond the Madonna, an early image of enslaved people in Renaissance Florence
- Veneziano, St. Lucy Altarpiece
- Antonio Pollaiuolo, Battle of Ten Nudes
- Perugino, Christ Giving the Keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter
- Ghirlandaio, Birth of the Virgin
- Cassone with the Conquest of Trebizond
- Botticelli, Primavera
- A celebration of beauty and love: Botticelli's Birth of Venus
- Botticelli, Birth of Venus (quiz)
- Botticelli, Portrait of a Man with a Medal of Cosimo il Vecchio de’ Medici
- Portraits and fashion: Sandro Botticelli, Portrait of a Young Woman
- Napoleon's booty — Perugino's (gorgeous) Decemviri Altarpiece
- The Early Renaissance in Florence (including painting, sculpture and architecture) (quiz)
- Piero della Francesca, The Baptism of Christ
- Piero della Francesca, Baptism of Christ (quiz)
- Piero della Francesca’s Flagellation of Christ
- A Renaissance masterpiece nearly lost in war: Piero della Francesca, The Resurrection
- Piero della Francesca, Resurrection
- Piero della Francesca, Portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino
- Piero della Francesca, Portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino (quiz)
- Signorelli, The Damned Cast into Hell
- Martini, Architectural Veduta
© 2023 Khan AcademyTerms of usePrivacy PolicyCookie Notice
Lippi, Madonna and Child with Two Angels
In this painting by Fra Filippo Lippi, Madonna and Child with Two Angels—a variation on the Madonna and Child Enthroned (see Giotto or Cimabue) that artists have been painting for hundreds of years—halos virtually disappear.
Mary's hands are clasped in prayer, and both she and the Christ child appear lost in thought, but otherwise the figures have become so human that we almost feel as though we are looking at a portrait. The angels look especially playful, and the one in the foreground seems like he might giggle as he looks out at us.
The delicate swirls of transparent fabric that move around Mary's face and shoulders are a new decorative element that Lippi brings to Early Renaissance painting—something that will be important to his student, Botticelli. However, the modeling of Mary's form—from the bulk and solidity of her body to the careful folds of drapery around her lap—reveal Masaccio's influence.
###
The changing status of the artist
The changing status of the artist
Fra Filippo Lippi was an important painter after the death of Masaccio in 1428 (remember Masaccio dies at the youg age of 27). Here's a great story told by Vasari about Lippi, who was also a monk:
It is said that Fra Filippo was so lustful that he would give anything to enjoy a woman he wanted if he thought he could have his way, and if he couldn't buy what he wanted, then he would cool his passion by painting her portrait and reasoning with himself. His lust was so violent that when it took hold of him he could never concentrate on his work. Because of this, when he was doing something for Cosimo de' Medici, Cosimo had him locked in so he wouldn't wander off. After he had been confined for a few days, Fra Filippo's amorous, or rather animal, instincts drove him one night to seize a pair of scissors, make a rope from his own bedsheets, and escape through a window to pursue his own pleasures for days on end!
So Lippi runs away from his patron, "to pursue his own pleasures," but he HAD to run away, since Cosimo (his patron) had him locked up! Now, could you lock up Picasso and say "you must finish this painting by next week?" Of course not, art is not made that way—according to our contemporary understanding of art, artists need to be inspired; they can't be ordered to create, the way you would order a pizza or a birthday cake.
What Vasari's story is really about is a change in the status of the artist—and a related change in the way people are thinking about art. Art is beginning to be thought of not just as something made by a skilled worker, but something that comes from a "inspired" place—from someone who is especially gifted. According to the rest of the story, Cosimo de Medici (Lippi's patron) learned that artists need to be treated with respect—a sign of the changing status of the artist in the Renaissance—from skilled laborer to respected professional and intellectual.
Additional resources:
Want to join the conversation?
An additional resource is the poem by Robert Browning - Fra Lippo Lippi - which is found at http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/guide/176628#poem - along with explanatory material.(7 votes)
why were the angels painted as children?(2 votes)
I believe it is because angels were thought of as devoid of human lusts and vanities, such as sexual tendencies, bloodlust and war, etc; so they were innocent in that way. That innocence is portrayed by the child form, as children are often looked at as innocent being unaffected by the needs and lusts that plague adult humans.(6 votes)
Hi! I'm using this as a resource for a renaissance research paper that I am working on. I was wondering if the author and date of publication could be told to me. Thanks in advance!(2 votes)
Cite this page as: Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, "Fra Filippo Lippi, Madonna and Child with Two Angels," in Smarthistory, August 9, 2015, accessed February 10, 2019, https://smarthistory.org/lippi-madonna-and-child-with-two-angels/.(3 votes)
Is the landscape in the background of the painting a fictional setting or can/could it be found in Florence (or some other area)?(2 votes)
Fra Filippo Lippi was born in 1406 & Masaccio was born in 1401 and then Masaccio died at age twenty seven how old was Filppo Lippi when Masaccio died?It seem's like the two artist were both in there twenties.(1 vote)
Lippi, being born in 1406, was about 5 years younger than Masaccio and so would have been 22 when Masaccio died.(1 vote)
There is a typo in the word "young": "remember Masaccio dies at the youg age of 27".(0 votes)
Best posted in the Tips & Thanks section. You're right to point it out though.(1 vote)
- I see a bit of similarity between this Madonna and Child with Two Angels by Fra Filippo Lippi and Saint Justina of Padua by Bartolomeo Montagna (Bartolomeo Cincani), which was painted in the 1490s. Does anyone think Bartolomeo could have based Saint Justina off of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Madonna and Child with Two Angels?(0 votes)
Why was the painting commissioned by Cosimo de Medici?(0 votes)- Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org) states that, "The commission and the exact execution date of the painting are unknown. In 1457, Giovanni de’ Medici wished to gift a panel to the King of Naples and commissioned Fra Filippo to paint it" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_and_Child_(Lippi)).(0 votes)