So who was Fra Filippo Lippi? By most accounts the ordained Carmelite priest and painter did not lead an exemplary religious life.
He was born about 1406 and orphaned by the age of two, then sent to live with an aunt who later placed him in the care of a Carmelites when he was eight years old.
Ordained a priest in 1425, Lippi left the Carmelite monastery six years later to start his own painting workshop, but was still held to his vows.
In 1885 the English poet Robert Browning (1812-1889) penned a dramatic monologue about the wayward friar titled Fra Lippo Lippi. I recommend readers check out the audio version voiced by the American actor Paul Giamatti at the Poetry Foundation website where W. S. Di Piero sets the scene:
“It’s past midnight in Florence’s red-light district in the mid-15th century, and a man dressed as a monk has just been strong-armed by the police and questioned about his presence in such a place. Wait, he says, I can explain everything. “That’s where we find ourselves at the beginning of Browning’s “Fra Lippo Lippi.” What follows is a wild improvisation on assorted themes—lust, want, religion, art-making, and the nature of beauty. The good Fra Lippo—Carmelite Friar and in-house painter for Cosimo De’ Medici—does explain his presence, explains in fact pretty much his entire life and art, over the course of nearly 400 lines. He is, like other of Browning’s monologists, a world-class talker.”
My next post will deal with the self portrait of Lippi, in his painting of Seven Saints, and how it reveals some aspects of his colourful life.
“The Rubenshuis has recently lent the painting The Picture Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest by Willen van Haecht (1593–1637) to the Museo del Prado for a period of two years, until march of 2026.
“Painted in 1628, the painting shows the rulers of the Spanish Netherlands, Isabel Clara Eugenia and Albrecht of Austria, visiting the collection of the Antwerp merchant Cornelis van der Geest (1555-1638) in the company of many others, including Rubens.”
In this post I reveal more about Fra Filippo Lippi’s Seven Saints and how some 400 years later it partly inspired Henry Holiday’s painting of Dante and Beatrice.
I mentioned in previous posts the Seven Saints library and books narrative and also that Lippi applied double identities to some of the saints in the lineup.
Seven Saints, by Fra Filippo Lippi, National Gallery, London.
The saint on the extreme right is identified as St Peter of Verona, martyred by an assassin’s blade through his head. He can also be recognised as the artist himself, the Carmelite friar Filippo Lippi.
At the opposite end of the line-up is St Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan Order. The figure’s second identity is Francesco Zabarella (pictured), a bishop of Florence and Cardinal Deacon of the basilica in Rome dedicated to Cosmas and Damian, the twin saints seated either side of the central figure of John the Baptist.
Another theme in the painting is severance and separation. Some of the saints were beheaded, others had their heads cleaved (as Peter of Verona). Only St Francis kept his head intact, although the Franciscan Order did become divided after his death.
The tomb of Francesco Zabarella, Padua Cathedral.
Among his many writings, particularly on canon law, Francesco Zabarella produced an ecclesiastic-political treatise titled De Schismatic. Interestingly, sculpted at the feet of his tomb effigy in Padua Cathedral is a set of three books – a reference to the Trinity and unification, but can also be recognised as pointing to a time of the Papal Schism (1378-1417) when there were three claimants to the Papacy. The Papal schism ended at the Council of Constance on November 11, 1417, two months after the death of Zabarella who did much to promote and encourage unification among the fragmented Church.
The feature can also be considered as a “book end”. So here we can understand the St Francis figure at one end of the lineup, and the figure of St Peter Martyr at the other end and supporting a book, as “book ends” buttressing the wall of the Christian Church built on the blood of martyrs.
This also points to the time when St Francis was praying at the church of San Damiano (St Damian) and heard the voice of Jesus speaking to him from a crucifix: “Francis, go rebuild my Church which is falling down.”
References to the Seven Saints book-ends show up in Henry Holiday’s painting of Dante and Beatrice.
Dante and Beatrice, by Henry Holiday, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.
Dante, standing at the corner of the Ponte Santa Trinita in Florence, represents the dual figure of Fra Lippi and St Peter Martyr. Lippi’s figure is dressed in garments of two-tone green, as is the figure of Dante whose red cap is shaped as an axe to mirror the head of the martyred Peter. Dante’s brown footwear is also intended to match the colour of the Lippi figure. There is narrative associated with this feature which I will explain at another time. On the bridge corner are rectangular shapes carved into the wall which echo two similar shapes in the corner of the back rest behind Lippi. Another reminder of book-ends.
LeftL Henry Holiday at work. Right: Holiday’s rendition of Dante Alighieri.
Notice also the position and composition of Dante’s left hand and how a similar pose in a photograph of Henry Holiday for which I have no other detail other than his name. The reference to Ponte Santa Trinita is also reflected in the prominent beacon stand and its three-headed dragon feature. A similar feature appears in Botticelli’s Primavera.
Botticelli was an apprentice to Fra Filippo Lippi and it’s likely that the book-ends support feature inspired his famous painting of Venus who is depicted leaning and out of kilter, symbolic of the the Church at that time.
Venus, by Sandro Botticelli, Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
I pointed out in my previous post the barrel connection to Botticelli’s other famous painting, Primavera. But there is more to this section of Dante and Beatrice. The birds are a reference to the sermon St Francis gave to a flock of birds gathered in some trees.
Detail from Henry Holiday’s Dante and Beatrice
“My little sisters the birds, you owe much to God, your Creator, and you ought to sing his praise at all times and in all places, because he has given you liberty to fly about into all places; and though you neither spin nor sew, he has given you a twofold and a threefold clothing for yourselves and for your offspring. Two of all your species he sent into the Ark with Noah that you might not be lost to the world; besides which, he feeds you, though you neither sow nor reap. He has given you fountains and rivers to quench your thirst, mountains and valleys in which to take refuge, and trees in which to build your nests; your Creator loves you much, having favoured you with such bounties. Beware, my little sisters, of the sin of ingratitude, and study always to give praise to God.” Saint Francis of Assisi, 1220
I sense that Holiday was more than aware of these words by St Francis and have emphasised some parts of the passage to explain how Halliday seems to have expressed them in his painting.
“You neither spin nor sew…” and “twofold and threefold clothing” – not only a reference to the birds’ feathers, but emphasised by the silk and two-tone clothes worn by Dante, Beatrice and her friends.
“Two of all your species he sent into the Ark with Noah…” – The Ark is the barrel and its arc shape. Noah’s Ark also refers to the wooden chest known as the Ark of the Covenant, a description of which is written in the Book of Exodus, hence why the barrel, or Ark, is exiting at the left edge of the picture. “He took the covenant and put it into the ark, and put the poles on the ark, and set the mercy seat above the ark” (Exodus 40:20). The handles on the carrier supporting the barrel represent the poles, while the bird sitting on the top of the barrel is a reference to the seat of mercy.
“He feeds you…” – As seen by the birds feeding from the ground.
The two birds perched on the carrier handle may represent the birds, a raven and a dove, that Noah sent out to test if the Great Flood had receded. This is also pointer to the Great Flood of the River Arno in 1333 which devastated Florence when more than 3,000 people were killed. The Santa Trinita bridge collapsed except for one pier and an arch. The carrier section on which the two birds are perched is intended to represent the shape of a Tau Cross, another attribute of St Francis.
A wall plaque records the height of the 1333 flood of the River Arno.
For Henry Holiday, references to the Holy Trinity in the Dante and Beatrice painting are significant in another way.. He began his artistic career as a designer of stained glass, and his work is visible throughout Britain. He also fulfilled commissions for clients in the United States. The 17 stained-glass windows in the Lutheran church of the Holy Trinity in East 88th Street, New York, were all designed by Holiday and the artist’s only complete cycle of windows extant.
The Crucifixion stained-glass window, designed by Henry Holiday, in the Church of the Holy Trinity.
Fra Lippi’s Seven Saints was acquired by London’s National Gallery in 1861, some 20 years before Holiday began to start work on Dante and Beatrice.
This weekend I spent time researching more on Fra Lippi’s Seven Saints, a source used by Leonardo da Vinci for his Annunciation painting, and came across this work by the English artist Henry Holiday (1839-1927) titled Dante and Beatrice. It’s housed at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.
Dante and Beatrice, by Henry Holiday, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
“The painting is based on Dante Alighieri’s 1294 autobiographical workLa Vita Nuova which describes his love for Beatrice Portinari. Dante concealed his love by pretending to be attracted to other women. The painting depicts an incident when Beatrice, having heard gossip relating to this, refuses to speak to him. The event is shown as Beatrice (in a white dress) and two other women walk past Dante standing on the Santa Trinita Bridge in Florence. […] Holiday was anxious that the painting should be historically accurate and in 1881 travelled to Florence to carry out research. […] When Holiday died in 1927, he was described as ‘the last Pre-Raphaelite’. Many of Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s paintings, including Dante’s Dream, had as their subject the Italian poet Dante Alighieri, and this interest is the likely inspiration for Holiday’s painting.” (Wikipedia)
However, another inspiration was the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli. It is said that after Botticelli died in 1510, interest in the artist and his work waned and was virtually forgotten until renewed by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, founded in 1848.
While on his research visit to Florence, Holiday may have had the opportunity to seek out and closely study Botticelli’s paintings housed in the Uffizi Museum. So it should come as no surprise that Botticelli’s influence can be recognised in Holiday’s Dante and Beatrice – none more so than elements of Botticelli’s Primavera, the left half showing the Three Graces and the mythological figure generally identified as Mars. It is Mars who has turned away from the Three Graces, while in Holiday’s painting it is Dante who is ignored by the three women.
Primavera, by Sandro Botticelli, Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Compare the detail below of two of the women from both paintings. See how Holiday has matched the tilted head of the woman on the left. Another match is the woman’s hand resting on the shoulder. Then there is the rose paired with the brooch on the woman’s chest.
Matching pairs (above and below) from Primavera and Dante and Beatrice
But the clincher is the barrel placed at the left edge of Holiday’s painting. It’s a shout-out to Botticelli, a nickname given to the artist which means “little barrel”. Holiday adds a final touch by identifying some of the produce in the barrel, spring greens (perhaps lettuces) alongside lemons, and so pointing to the title of Botticelli’s painting, Primavera, translated from Italian as “Spring”. Instead of the oranges depicted in Primavera, Holiday has shown lemons.
Detail of the barrel in Holiday’s Dante and Beatrice painting.
There are other elements of Holiday’s painting which suggest he may also have known of the connection between Botticelli’s Primavera and Fra Filippo Lippi’s Seven Saints.
So if Leonardo da Vinci adapted elements from Fra LIppi’s Seven Saints painting for his own version of the Annunciation, then what source, if any, inspired the composition for Lippi’s saintly lineup?
Seven Saints by Fra Filippo Lippi, National Gallery, London
Mentioned in my previous post, was a comment by Nicholas Flory that the Seven Saints, originally housed in the Palazzo Medici, was possibly a doorway feature of the Medici family library.
A source that confirms the library connection and lends itself as the inspiration for Lippi’s composition is the basilica in Rome’s Forum dedicated to two of the figures featured in Lippi’s painting, saints Cosmas and Damian.
Originally a Roman temple, it was Christianised in 527 by pope Felix IV. The pope was then gifted with an adjacent building, the library of the Forum of Peace (Bibliotheca Pacis), and he amalgamated the two buildings to create a basilica dedicated to saints Cosmas and Damian.
Originally a Roman Temple, now the basilica dedicated to saints Cosimas and Damian.
The dome-shape caps worn by Cosmas and Damian are reminiscent of the dome covering the basilica’s circular vestibule, and the lunette arch of the painting’s frame.
The vault above the basilica’s apse is decorated with a sixth century mosaic depicting three figures either side of the Returning Christ. On the left, pope Felix IV, St Paul and St Damian; on the right, St Peter, St Cosmas and St Theodore – seven figures in total.
The apse of the basilica of Saints Cosimas and Damian
It is this parousia mosaic and the basilica’s library association that was the source of inspiration for Fra Lippi’s Seven Saints composition.
However, Lippi substituted five of the figures to represent saints associated with Florence and branches of the Medici family. The twins Cosmas and Damian were Arab physicians and the Medici name in Italian translates as ‘doctors’.
The seven figures are also a pointer to the seven branches of the Jewish Menorah, looted by the Romans when they destroyed Jerusalem’s Second Temple in AD 70. The Menorah and other Temple treasures were brought back to Rome and displayed in triumph. It is said that the Menorah was exhibited to the public in the Forum of Peace, which later became part of the basilica of Cosmas and Damian.
Rome’s Arch of Titus, constructed in AD 81, was referred to in a medieval guide book to the city as “the arch of the Seven Lamps of Titus and Vespasian”. Titus was the son of Vespasian and the Arch was built to commemorate the victory over the Jewish rebellion in Judaea. At the base of the arch is a relief depicting the Menorah carried in triumph.
Arch of Titus in Rome showing the Menorah
So the seven saints in Fra Lippi’s painting can also be viewed as branches of light that correspond to the learning and light provided by the books in the Medici library, in both a spiritual and secular sense – I.e. the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit*, and the seven Liberal Arts*.
Note the stance and clothing of the central figure of John the Baptist, the patron saint of Florence. John was the precursor of Jesus and so the figure represents both John and Jesus, twinned as the two brothers, Cosmas and Damian. The four other figures are also depicted as pairs and were given second identities by Fra Lippi.
* Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord. Seven Liberal Arts: Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric, Geometry, Arithmetic, Astronomy and Music.
• More on Fra Lippi’s Seven Saints in a future post.
This is yet another work by Fra Filippo Lippi which Leonardo da Vinci sourced for producing his painting of the Annunciation. It’s known as the Seven Saints and housed at the National Gallery, along with its companion painting, Lippi’s ‘London’ version of the Annunciation.
Here’s how the National Gallery identifies the seven saints:
“Lippi has used traditional symbols to identify each figure. The group is framed on either side by two saints dressed in the habits (uniform) of the religious orders to which they belonged. On the far left is Saint Francis, founder of the Franciscans in the thirteenth century. His meditation on the suffering of Christ was so profound that he himself developed the wounds of the Crucifixion; here they emit rays of heavenly light. Mirroring him is Saint Peter Martyr, the knife embedded in his skull a reminder of his death.
“The barefoot saint in the centre is Saint John the Baptist. He holds a slender cross, a reference to his prophecies about Christ and his ministries. He sits between Saints Cosmas and Damian; the little golden boxes on the ledge behind them are their medicine boxes, a reminder that they were doctors. Cosmas appears to be having a divine vision and raises his hands towards heaven, while Damian presses his palms together in prayer. Next to them are Saint Lawrence, on the left, and Saint Anthony Abbot, on the right. Saint Lawrence was burnt to death on a grill, which became his symbol – it rests against the bench by his side. Saint Anthony Abbot is shown as an old man with a wooden crook, because he lived as a hermit in the wilderness.”
What the Gallery’s notes do not reveal is that Lippi applied more than one identity to the saints identified as St Anthony Abbot and St Peter Martyr. Anthony is also depicted as St Jude (Thaddeus), while St Peter Martyr is a portrait of the artist himself, Fra Filippo Lippi.
In a Youtube video discussing the Lippi’s London Annunciation painting, Dr Nicholas Flory explains that both lunettes were originally housed in the Palazzo Medici, Florence, but as to exactly where there is no definite answer. He explains:
“The paintings were not included in the extensive inventory taken there in 1492. Since they were likely in the palace, however they simply have been in a room which was not included in the list of goods. Only one room omitted from the document seems suitable for such beautiful and impressive paintings: the family library. Perhaps Lippi’s ‘overdoors’ then were installed here as part of the room’s furnishings, possibly either side of a doorway but where they could have been seen by members of the family and their close associates.”
The suggestion that one or both lunettes were possibly housed in a Medici family library makes sense. The seven saints all feature in the Golden Legend (Legenda Aurea), a collection of the lives of saints compiled by Jacobus de Voraigne (c.1230 – 1298), an Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa. Notice the book under Lippi’s right arm. Could this refer to the Golden Legend and the source of reference for Lippi, and a book that was part of the Medici library? Observe also the seven saints are placed as a line of books sitting on a shelf. Another library reference is St Laurence (second from the left) a patron saint of librarians.
It is said that you cannot judge a book by its cover, but the clothing worn by the seven saints all reveal aspects of their lives, including Lippi himself.
C A T C H L I G H T 
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