Accademia in Florence: Domenico Ghirlandaio, Filippino Lippi and Don Silvestro Gherarducci

Filippino Lippi and Pietro Perugino

“Deposition from the Cross or Polyptych of the Annunziata”
Painting - Oil on Wood 1504-1507

Lippi and Perugino This work was commissioned by the friars of the Santissima Annuziata in Florence to form part of a large wooden altar, specifically for the high altar in the basilica of the Santissima Annunziata in Florence.

Filippino Lippi began the painting in 1504 and completed most of the upper part before his death.

As a result, Perugino was asked to complete the work, which he did in 1507, which explains the post-mortem collaboration between the two painters.

It is thought that Raphael, who was Perugino's pupil at the time, may have taken part in the work.

However, the work was very poorly received by the Florentines, who criticised Perugino for a lack of originality, as he had reused faces and attitudes that had already appeared in other works.

In short, for the Florentines, accustomed to the genius of Florence's painters, Perugino was already out of date and out of fashion!

Filippino Lippi

“Saint John the Baptist”
Painting - Oil on wood (136x56 cm) 1496

and

“Saint Mary Magdalene”
Painting - Oil on Wood (136x56 cm) 1496

These two paintings were part of an altarpiece in which a crucifixion with the Virgin Mary and Saint Francis occupied the centre. This central part was destroyed in Berlin in 1945.

Here we see Saint John the Baptist, emaciated after his penance in the desert, while Saint Mary Magdalene, emaciated, with tattered clothes, scattered hair and bare feet, shows all the signs of torment and spiritual suffering.

Don Silvestro dei Gherarducci

The painter Don Silvestro dei Gherarducci was a Camaldolese monk from the monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Florence.

Don Silvestro Gherarducci Gherarducci's Madonna of Humility, painted in tempera on wood between 1360 and 1365, was previously in the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova in Florence before being exhibited in the Accademia Gallery.

A “ Madonna of Humility ” is a representation of the Virgin usually seated on the floor on a cushion rather than on a throne.

In Italian it is called the “ Madona dell'Umiltà ”, a name related to the Latin root of the word “ Umiltà ” namely “ Humus ” which means “ earth ”.

This type of representation of the Virgin thus reflects the desire to show and celebrate one of her virtues, in this case her humility.

The Virgin Mary began to be depicted in this way from 1325 until the end of the late Gothic period.