Loading

Pair of Panels from a Triptych: The Archangel Michael and St. Anthony Abbot

Filippo Lippi1458

The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States

These panels depicting Saints Anthony the Abbot and Michael originally flanked a central scene of the Madonna and Child with Angels, now lost, to form a triptych. Giovanni di Cosimo de’Medici of Florence commissioned the ensemble in 1457 as a gift to Alfonso V of Aragon. Fra Filippo Lippi, a Carmelite friar and one of the great masters of early Renaissance Florence, depicted realistic, weighty figures in a three-dimensional space using a system of linear perspective, inspired partly by Masaccio’s Brancacci Chapel, and reflected in the background architecture. Saint Anthony the Abbot rejected all earthly possessions in pursuit of a contemplative life in the desert. He is generally regarded as the founder of monasticism and is depicted wearing a monk’s habit. Saint Michael’s sword and shield refer to his role as heaven’s defender against evil.

Show lessRead more
Download this artwork (provided by The Cleveland Museum of Art).
Learn more about this artwork.
  • Title: Pair of Panels from a Triptych: The Archangel Michael and St. Anthony Abbot
  • Creator: Filippo Lippi (Italian, c. 1406-1469)
  • Date Created: 1458
  • Physical Dimensions: Framed: 94 x 40 x 6.5 cm (37 x 15 3/4 x 2 9/16 in.); Unframed: 81.3 x 29.8 x 3 cm (32 x 11 3/4 x 1 3/16 in.)
  • Provenance: Condessa Pacheco, Madrid (sold 1871); Sir Francis Cook, Doughty House, Richmond (1871, sold by family 1964); (Rosenberg & Steibel)
  • Type: Painting
  • Rights: CC0
  • External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1964.150
  • Medium: tempera on wood panel
  • Department: Medieval Art
  • Culture: Italy, Florence, 15th century
  • Credit Line: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
  • Collection: MED - Medieval Art
  • Accession Number: 1964.150
The Cleveland Museum of Art

Get the app

Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more

Home
Discover
Play
Nearby
Favorites