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.

You can view both Lippi paintings in detail at these links.
Seven Saints
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.

More on this in a future post.