BOTTICELLI AND FILIPPINO LIPPI
Sandro Botticelli (about 1445-1510) was among the most sought-after painters in his native Florence in the last three decades of the fifteenth century. A versatile and creative artist, he produced paintings of many types from large scale altarpieces and mythological scenes, to smaller devotional images and portraits. Filippino Lippi (about 1457-1504) was the son of Botticelli's teacher, Fra Filippo Lippi. Following the death of his father when he was still a boy, Filippino entered Botticelli's workshop.
There are three works in this gallery depicting the Adoration of the Kings: one a collaboration between the two painters, one a large scale tondo (circular painting) by Botticelli and one painted by Filippino after he had begun working as an independent master. The Adoration was an enormously popular subject among Florentines loyal to the ruling Medici family. The Medici strongly identified with the kings and organised a lavish procession on Epiphany, the feast day of the kings.
All the works in this room were commissioned by private patrons, mostly for display inside their homes.
