Description
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Lippo Vanni (Lippo di Vanni) was an Italian painter and illuminator.He is documented as a painter and illuminator in Siena between 1344 and 1375,and in 1360 and 1373 he took part in the General Council of Siena.The earliest work attributed to him is the illumination of the choirbooks for the Collegiata at San Gimignano (c.1340-42,San Gimignano,Museo Arte Sacra),in which the supple movement and individuality of figures and scenes already show the expressive quality characteristic of Lippo’s later documented work.In these illuminations the decorated initial is conceived as an aperture and not a framing device,and even principal figures are often only partially visible.Lippo treated the historiated initial in different ways in each major series of illuminations.In a Gradual for the Collegiata at Casole d’Elsa,near Siena,bold and brilliant colour contrasts and harmonies unify the letter and its historiation;architectural details are more complex and are used to create an impression of greater depth.This spatial effect is undoubtedly a response to the art of Pietro Lorenzetti,as is the treatment of form;the figures,although often dynamic,are more compact and solid, and their faces are distinctly modelled.Between 1360 and 1370 Lippo Vanni executed a cycle of fresco paintings for the church of the rural hermitage of San Leonardo al Lago just outside Siena.Painted on the walls and entrance arch of the chancel of this church,the scheme includes narrative scenes from the life of the Virgin,such as the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple,the Annunciation,the Betrothal of the Virgin, and the Assumption of the Virgin (over the chancel arch,now badly damaged).In 1352 Lippo Vanni executed a Coronation of the Virgin for the Biccherna.A Biccherna is a small painted panel,initially created as a cover for official documents of the civic government of Siena between the 13th and 17th centuries.The Italian word derives from the chief financial office of Siena,the Biccherna,a name that first appears at the beginning of the 13th century;it was supposedly inspired by the imperial treasury of the Blachernae Palace in Constantinople.The term has also been extended to designate painted covers and small panels connected with other Sienese civic offices and institutions,such as the tax office (Gabella),the hospital of S Maria della Scala,the Opera del Duomo and various lay confraternities.Most biccherne,however are from the office of the Biccherna itself.WHAT YOU ARE VIEWING IS A UNSEEN RARE ESTATE FIND CAPTIVATING 100% FACE TO FACE.THIS MASTERPIECE IS ALSO 100% ORIGINAL (TEMPERA AND GOLD GROUND ON PANEL).
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