Filippo Lippi, Madonna and Child with Two Angels, 1465

After escaping slavery by drawing his master's portrait, Filippo Lippi was commissioned by the Medici Family to paint large altarpieces and portraits of fellow clans. Although he was one of the most innovative painters of his time, he allowed much of his work to be greatly influenced by other artists and architects.

In his Madonna and Child with Two Angels (as with all his portraits) Lippi focuses on each persons "individual likeness." Eventually he was paid well enough to hire assistants whom he trained to counterfeit his own work allowing him to keep his myriad vices warm.

And warm his vices he did.

In 1456, he abducted one of the nuns in the Augustian Convent of St. Margherita (where he worked as Chaplain). Lucretia Buti was her name (and yes her last name was Buti) and she bore him two children. One of which went on to also become a painter, taught at the hand of Botticelli, one of Filippo's pupils.

It is believed that Lippi's Mary was done in the likeness of his Lucretia and the angels in the likeness of his children. Another reason why this painting represents Filippo more than any of his others.

Finally, looking at the majority of Filippo's collection, the work doesn't really blow my hair back. There are often hints of genius in each piece, but one can easily tell where he had gotten lazy or his assistants had ad-libbed in portions for him. His Madonna and Child with Two Angels, encompasses every stroke of his genius within every stroke of his brush. The soft, glowing warmth and pureness in Mary's face. And, despite baby Jesus' obvious state of inebriation, the children are portrayed both playfully and realistically; making this a true masterpiece.