Florentine school; called by Vasari the natural son of Fra Filippo Lippi by
Lucretia Buti, but perhaps an adopted son (C. & C). Vasari says he was a pupil
of Sandro Botticelli, but he was probably taught flrst by Fra Diamante. He
shows high power of expression and composition in the Vision of St. Bernard,
in the Badia, one of the most charming pictures in Florence, painted when he
was only about twenty years old. His style, though founded upon that of Fra
Filippo, is modified by the influence of Botticelli. Though he occupies a
lower place in the scale of art than Masaccio, as regards ability in
composition, verity, and individuality of type, he excels him in charm and
grace. He executed frescos in the Brancacci Chapel of the Carmine, Florence ;
in the Strozzi Chapel, S. M. Novella; and in the Caraffa Chapel, Minerva,
Rome. He also completed some frescos in the Brancacci Chapel left unfinished
by Masaccio at his death.
Those now attributed to him are: Adam and
Eve, Peter in Prison, Martyrdom of Peter, Liberation
of Peter. Among the best of his easel pictures are Madonna with
Saints (1485), Adoration of Magi (1496),
Uffizi, Florence; Death of Lucretia, Palazzo Pitti, ib.; Madonna and Angels,
Palazzo Corsini, ib.; Madonna with
Saints, S. Spirito, ib.; Altarpiece, S. Michele, Lucca; Christ appearing to
the Virgin, Resurrection, (1495),
Deposition from the Cross, Old Pinakothek, Munich; Madonna with
Saints, Adoration of Magi and St. Francis in Glory, National Gallery, London;
Madonna (2), Christ on the Cross, Berlin Museum ; St. Joachim and St. Ann,
Copenhagen Gallery; Madonna, Dresden Gallery.—C. & C., Italy, ii. 431; Vasari,
ed. Le Mon., v. 242; Seguier, 84; Burckhardt, 545; Ch. Blanc, JScole
florentine ; Dohme, 2i.; Lubke, Gesch. d. ital . Mall., i. 358.