Biography

Filippino Lippi's paintings reflect the combined influence of his father Fra Filippo Lippi and his master Sandro Botticelli. His figures are often almost overwhelmed by voluminous drapery, but are also animated through its fluttering folds. Born illegitimately in Prato, the young Filippino made his name as a painter around 1484 when he completed the fresco cycle begun by Masaccio in the Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence. He spent five years in Rome from 1488, working on frescoes and made detailed studies of classical remains which inspired the character of his later works in Florence.