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拍品专文
Filippino Lippi (c. 1457-1504), in whose orbit the artist of the present painting was certainly active, was the son and pupil of Fra Filippo Lippi (c. 1406-1459), and was taught also by his father's student, Sandro Botticelli. His paintings are characterized by an expressive linearity, and his ability to keep at the forefront of contemporary tastes won him numerous prestigious commissions from patrons including Lorenzo (il Magnifico) de'Medici and Filippo Strozzi. Filippino is perhaps best known for his extensive fresco cycle for the Strozzi Chapel in Santa Maria Novella, Florence. He was a prolific and talented draftsman and certainly ran his own studio at some point, though little is known about his pupils. Artists known to have been apprenticed to or at least influenced by Filippino include Raffaelino del Garbo, Vincenzo Frediani, and the anonymous author of the present work, the Master of Memphis.
Works given to the Master of Memphis, an as-yet unidentified assistant of Filippino, are grouped after a signal work in the collection of the Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis. Painted in tondo format, this work has in the past been considered a collaboration between Filippino and Raffaelino del Garbo; according to a 1962 opinion by Dr. Alfred Scharf, he believed the landscape and two shepherds to be the work of Filippino himself and the Saint Joseph and Saint John to be by Raffaelino. However, recent scholars, including Everett Fahy, Jonathan Nelson and Patrizia Zambrano, have all attributed this tender devotional image to the anonymous Master of Memphis. His paintings can be identified by the characteristically long and slender fingers and toes of his figures, their rather abrupt gestures and voluminous drapery, with numerous folds and pleats -- all traits evident in the present Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist and Shepherds.
There is a version of this composition, without the infant Saint John and slightly reduced in size (diameter 86 cm.), formerly on the art market in Naples in 1928, and the original composition may well derive from a now-lost sketch or painting by Filippino. We can also compare the figures of the shepherds conversing in the background to those in a tondo given to the Master of Memphis, in the collection of the Petit Palais, Avignon. In both instances, the artist uses the architectural ruins as a visual device, physically separating the earthly figures of the shepherds from the heavenly figures of the Madonna and Child, Saint Joseph, and Saint John.
In many respects this tondo is close to similar works given to Filippino himself, and thus also demonstrates the influence of Fra Filippo Lippi and Botticelli. There is a particular, obvious delight in the details of the landscape background that is typical of Filippino, with the descriptions of the tiny plants and grasses in the foreground, as well as the hazy blue mountains and towers of the town in the distance. The rustic shepherds, taken from Filippino, may ultimately derive from Hugo van der Goes's Portinari Altarpiece, which arrived in Florence in 1483 and proved a significant influence on the staffage of Filippino's paintings later in his career.
Works given to the Master of Memphis, an as-yet unidentified assistant of Filippino, are grouped after a signal work in the collection of the Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis. Painted in tondo format, this work has in the past been considered a collaboration between Filippino and Raffaelino del Garbo; according to a 1962 opinion by Dr. Alfred Scharf, he believed the landscape and two shepherds to be the work of Filippino himself and the Saint Joseph and Saint John to be by Raffaelino. However, recent scholars, including Everett Fahy, Jonathan Nelson and Patrizia Zambrano, have all attributed this tender devotional image to the anonymous Master of Memphis. His paintings can be identified by the characteristically long and slender fingers and toes of his figures, their rather abrupt gestures and voluminous drapery, with numerous folds and pleats -- all traits evident in the present Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist and Shepherds.
There is a version of this composition, without the infant Saint John and slightly reduced in size (diameter 86 cm.), formerly on the art market in Naples in 1928, and the original composition may well derive from a now-lost sketch or painting by Filippino. We can also compare the figures of the shepherds conversing in the background to those in a tondo given to the Master of Memphis, in the collection of the Petit Palais, Avignon. In both instances, the artist uses the architectural ruins as a visual device, physically separating the earthly figures of the shepherds from the heavenly figures of the Madonna and Child, Saint Joseph, and Saint John.
In many respects this tondo is close to similar works given to Filippino himself, and thus also demonstrates the influence of Fra Filippo Lippi and Botticelli. There is a particular, obvious delight in the details of the landscape background that is typical of Filippino, with the descriptions of the tiny plants and grasses in the foreground, as well as the hazy blue mountains and towers of the town in the distance. The rustic shepherds, taken from Filippino, may ultimately derive from Hugo van der Goes's Portinari Altarpiece, which arrived in Florence in 1483 and proved a significant influence on the staffage of Filippino's paintings later in his career.