Fra Filippo Lippi Vasari vs Browning
In his Lives of the Artists, Giorgio Vasari writes small-scale biographies of dozens of artists; among these is Fra Filippo Lippi, a 15th century Italian painter. Vasari’s account of Lippi then becomes the primary source for Robert Browning’s “Fra Lippo Lippi,” a dramatic monologue recreating the Italian painter’s character. The character of the painter in Browning’s poem follows Vasaris portrayal of Filippo Lippi in the Lives closely. Although Browning uses Vasari’s biography as the exclusive source for Lippi’s character, the poem also attacks idealized art, a feature only present in Browning’s poem. Fra Filippo Lippi’s lust and subsequent actions are depicted nearly identically in Browning’s poem and Vasari’s Lives. ... The scene follows from one of Lippi’s adventures, taken out of the Lives. Medici had “locked [Lippi] inside so that he would not leave the house and waste time, but one evening…he was driven by his amorous—or rather, his bestial desires” (Lives 193). ... When questioned about his identity, Lippi answers, “Why, one, sir who is lodging with a friend / Three streets off—he’s a certain…how d’ye call? Master—a…Cosimo of the Medici” (Fra Lippo Lippi 15-17). Furthermore, the poem agrees that Lippi was driven by amorous desires and lust in wandering the streets, “Where sportive ladies leave their doors ajar? / The Carmine’s my cloister” (Fra Lippo Lippi 4-5). Lippi’s characterization of the women as “sportive,” or amorous, indicates that the artist is sexually interested in the ladies and seeks gratification.