Fra Filippo Lippi, Seven Saints
Full title | Seven Saints |
---|---|
Artist | Fra Filippo Lippi |
Artist dates | born about 1406; died 1469 |
Series | Medici (Overdoor?) Panels |
Date made | about 1450-3 |
Medium and support | Egg tempera on wood |
Dimensions | 68 × 152.8 cm |
Acquisition credit | Bought, 1861 |
Inventory number | NG667 |
Location | Gallery D |
Collection | Main Collection |
Previous owners |
Seven saints – all patron saints of members of Florence’s ruling family, the Medici – talk and interact as though Lippi was painting an animated portrait of a group of historical figures.
On the far left is Saint Francis. His meditation on the suffering of Christ was so profound that he developed the wounds of the Crucifixion; here they emit rays of heavenly light. Furthest right is Saint Peter Martyr, the knife in his skull a reminder of how he was killed.
At the centre, Saint John the Baptist is seated between Saints Cosmas and Damian. The little golden boxes on the ledge behind these two are medicine boxes: they were doctors. Next to them are Saint Lawrence, to the left, and Saint Anthony Abbot, to the right. Saint Lawrence was burnt to death on a grill, which became his symbol – it rests against the bench by his side.
Seven saints talk and interact as though Lippi was painting an animated portrait of a group of historical figures. In fact, they all lived at a different times in history, and this gathering is purely imaginative. It might be intended to represent the saints gathered together in heaven, although they are shown in a wooded hillside.
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.
The painting and its pair came from the Palazzo Medici in Florence and the saints shown here have connections with members of the family. Saint John the Baptist, shown in the centre, represents Giovanni di Bicci, who had established the family’s wealth in the fourteenth century. Giovanni had four sons: Cosimo, Damiano, Antonio and Lorenzo, represented here by Saints Cosmas, Damian, Anthony Abbot and Lawrence. Cosimo’s sons Piero (later known as Piero the Gouty) and Giovanni are represented by Saint Peter Martyr and Saint John the Baptist (again); Piero’s father-in-law was called Francesco, which explains the presence of Saint Francis. Saint Lawrence might also have a connection to Cosimo’s grandson, born in 1449, who became known as ‘Lorenzo the Magnificent’. His other grandson, Giuliano, is not represented, though Saint Julian appears in another painting commissioned by the Medici. This suggests that our picture was made before Giuliano’s birth in 1453.
We don't know who exactly commissioned the panel. Piero the Gouty may have done so, to celebrate the birth of his son Lorenzo. Or it might have been ordered by Pierfrancesco di Lorenzo di Giovanni di Bicci, whose name saints Peter and Francis frame the composition.
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Medici (Overdoor?) Panels
These panels were made for a member of Florence’s ruling family, the Medici, and once hung in the Palazzo Medici. One panel shows the Annunciation (when the Virgin Mary was told she would conceive a son, Jesus Christ); the other, a gathering of patron saints of the Medici family. The panels are similar in size, scale and viewpoint, suggesting that they were designed as a pair, and were intended to hang where they could be viewed together.
They may have been placed over the doors of Piero de' Medici’s study – its ceiling was decorated with ceramic roundels representing the signs of the zodiac (and, therefore, the months). The Annunciation suits such a setting: its feast was celebrated on 25 March, the first day of the Florentine calendar year. Depicting Medici patron saints may have been a way to demonstrate the protection they offered to the city throughout the year.
These panels were made for a member of Florence’s ruling family, the Medici. They came from the Palazzo Riccardi, which had formerly been the Palazzo Medici. One panel shows the Annunciation, when the Virgin Mary was told she would conceive a son; the other, the patron saints of the Medici family.
They are similar in size, scale and viewpoint, suggesting that they were designed as a pair of pendants and were intended to hang where they could be viewed together. Their semi-circular shape is not necessarily original – they may have been designed as rectangles. The panels might have been made as bedheads, which were mainly rectangular; an example of a contemporary decorative bedhead can be seen in Giovanni di Paolo’s painting, The Birth of John the Baptist. But their good condition suggests that they may have been on display in a position where they would be less likely to suffer damage.
A probable location is high up over a door – just like Lippi’s image of the vision of Saint Bernard, which was also made for the Medici. They may have hung over the entrance to the Piero de‘ Medici’s study in the palace. Its ceiling was decorated with ceramic roundels (now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London) by Luca della Robbia, and representing the signs of the zodiac (and, therefore, the months of the year). The Annunciation would have been an appropriate subject: it was celebrated on 25 March, the first day of the Florentine calendar year. It has been suggested that the depiction of the Medici saints was intended to show the protection they offered to the city throughout the year.
We don’t know who exactly commissioned the panels, but The Annunciation includes a stone carving of an emblem used by Piero de Medici (1416–1469) from about 1447: feathers and a ring. Piero also had a particular devotion to an image of the Annunciation in a Florentine church, Santa Annunziata: we know that he commissioned a marble tabernacle for it sometime in the years around 1450.