II. FILIPPINO LIPPI (1457-1504), was the natural son of Fra Lippo Lippi and Lucrezia Buti, born at Prato. Losing his father at an early age, the boy was placed in charge of Fra Diamante. He studied under Sandro Botticelli. His powers developed early, for we find him an accomplished artist by 1480, when he was com missioned to paint an altarpiece, the "Vision of St. Bernard," for the Badia of Florence. Soon afterwards (c. 1482-90) he began work on the frescoes of the Brancacci chapel in the Carmine, com menced by Masolino and Masaccio many years before. He finished Masaccio's "Resurrection of the King's Son," and was the sole author of "Paul's Interview with Peter in Prison," the "Liberation. of Peter," the "Two Saints before the Proconsul" and the "Cruci fixion of Peter," modestly adapting his style to that of Masaccio. The portrait of his master Botticelli and those of various others are in this series. In 1485 he executed the great altarpiece of the "Virgin and Saints," now in the Uffizi gallery. Another of his leading works is the altarpiece for the Nerli chapel in S. Spirito the "Virgin Enthroned," with splendidly living portraits of Nerli and his wife and a fine landscape background.
In 1489 Filippino was in Rome, painting in the church of the Minerva, having first designed the monument for his father in the cathedral of Spoleto. Some of his principal frescoes in the Min erva in celebration of St. Thomas Aquinas are still extant. In
1496 Filippino painted the "Adoration of the Magi" now in the Uffizi. In 1498 he was at Prato; in 1502 he completed the fres coes in the Strozzi chapel, in the church of S. Maria Novella in Florence—"Drusiana Restored to Life by St. John the Evangel ist," "St. John in the Cauldron of Boiling Oil" and two subjects from the legend of St. Philip. These are somewhat lively and excited, full of ornate architecture and contrasting colours. The best reputed of his scholars was Raffaellino del Garbo.
Like his father, Filippino had a marked original genius for painting. The father displayed more of sentiment and candid sweetness of motive ; the son more of richness, variety and lively pictorial combination. He was admirable in all matters of decora tive adjunct, such as draperies, landscape backgrounds and acces sories. The National Gallery, London, possesses a good specimen of Filippino, the "Virgin and Child between Sts. Jerome and Dominic." A fine tondo representing the "Holy Family" is in Mrs. Warren's collection at Boston.
Crowe and Cavalcaselle, supplemented by the writings of Berenson, should be consulted as to this painter. An album of his works is in Newnes' Art-library, See also A. H. Layard, The Brancacci Chapel (Arundel Society, 1868), and B. Supino, Les deux Lippi (19°4).