School of the Lustful Monk

In the mid-15th century in Florence, there lived an interesting monk. Fra Fillipo Lippi was a man of the cloth, but he had a son. As rumors had it, his lover was a nun living in a convent neighboring his monastary. He was also an artist, and his son became his second-most famous student.

His most famous? None other than Botticelli.

The Lippi school produced some of the most whimsical paintings of it's time. Birth of Venus and Primavera are beautiful examples of the hand of the teacher, Lippi, in his students. The same lovely blond-haird women are seen in paintings from Lippi (the Friar/father) to Botticelli and son Fillipino.

Although the Lippi father and son are less well-known than many Renaissance painters, their influence is actually pretty strong throughout. I see the soft lines and inclination towards lovely blonde Madonnas in Raphael, even Leonardo. And their works crop up everywhere from museum to church to chapel in Florence and throughout Tuscany.