Fra Filippo Lippi, Madonna and Child with two Angels,1460-1465
Fra Filippo Lippis Madonna and child with two angels has to be hands down my favorite Madonna and child paintings I've seen. He was a monk who was pardoned from his monk duties by Pope Leo X, because...well, he liked to invite nuns over to be his "models". After his freedom, he married a nun, Lucrezia Buti, who became the model for his madonna. The two had a two child together, which one could have potentially been the model for Christ.
Mary, who is in the foreground, has a very humanistic feel to her face and interacts with Christ, her son. The figure of Mary looks more lively and like a real woman, instead of Giotto's, or Duccio's and many other early renaissance interpretations of Mary and Child.
An angel in the foreground looks as if he could start giggling as the angels lift Christ. The second angel is tucked away under Christ's arm, which is such an odd placement for him to be. Christ again has a humanism aura to him. He looks and acts like a child instead of appearing as a baby with a grown man's head. Christ is reaching towards Mary as a child needling grabs at their mother. There's a faint golden halo around the baby's head, and being held up by angels to show his divinity.
Back to Mary's design, she has a small circle above her head, just as Christ has above his. Mary's tunic and headdress are both adorned with pearls, which connect her to the goddess Venus.
Mary's throne seems to be just a decorated arm of a chair instead of the big architectural thorns she's been presented on in past Madonna paintings. The chair and four figures are in front of the frame, so they seem more in the earthly realm.
Although the angle that's behind Christ seems like he could be positioned outside of the window. Which behind them in the window seems to be an atmospheric background, unlike the solid gold backgrounds of the past Madonnas.
Overall, with the earthly structures in the background, the frame in the mid-ground that brings you out of the painting, and the lively charismatics of the figures in the foreground, show the progression of the humanism thoughts of pulling away from religion and looking at nature and beauty in front of us.
I love this painting for many reasons. One of which being that I have children myself and can relate to the soothing feeling they give when holding, as displayed in the expression in her face. However, you can also view it as fright or sorrow. The use of lines is great, it makes for a clearer presentation and it has that two-dimensional look to it.
ReplyDeleteThat is true she does still contains the sorrowful expression that all Paintings of Mary have. she still knows it fate her son to die and that fear and sadness are plastered all over her youthful face. It must be so hard for a mother to know that your baby is fated to die.
DeleteFra Filippo Lippi, Madonna and Child with two Angels ,1460-1465
ReplyDeleteI love your taste in art. It totally mirrors my taste. My favorite part of this painting is Mary’s face. It is absolutely beautiful even to todays standards. I also like the way baby Jesus is looking at his mother. I run a childcare business and the painter captured the look of an infant toward his mother perfectly. The richness of the blue gown is devine and I just love the hair, halo and pearl on her forehead. This painting fits perfectly with the theme of this Renaissance assignment and I wish I would have picked it first. I wouldn’t have this in my home as it wouldn’t fit the look of my home but I would love to own any masterpiece. Can you imagine owning a Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci or Raphael? It just seems excessive even for the super wealthy no keep one for themselves. Such a gift and creative. I can’t wait to see what you pick next module.