Early Italian Renaissance
St Benedict Orders St Maurus to the Rescue of St Placidus
Fra Filippo Lippi
1445/1450
tempura on panel
Samuel H. Kress Collection
National Gallery of Art
Fra Filippo Lippi
1445/1450
tempura on panel
Samuel H. Kress Collection
National Gallery of Art
St Benedict Orders St Maurus to the Rescue of St Placidus shares similarities to Masaccio's Tribute Money from the cycle of St Peter in Brancacci Chapel. Both pieces are Early Italian Renaissance works. Tribute Money comes from 1428, and like St Benedict Orders St Maurus, it references religious narratives. Christian imagery dominated the artistic world in the early Renaissance. Both pieces also display a sense of classical understanding in architecture as they both feature Roman techniques such as columns and arches. Furthermore, the works are examples of how the early Renaissance artists of Italy developed a natural, deeper background than their predecessors. The development of atmospheric perspective is found in the Tribute Money, as the mountains and sky lead into the distance, and in St Benedict Orders St Maurus, a background and foreground are shown distinctively where the grove beyond the walls provides a sense of depth for the painting. Moreover, the linear angles in both pieces aid in creating perspective and depth in the works, leading to a horizon line in the distance, and Masaccio would later achieve the ideal of orthogonals in The Holy Trinity in the San Maria Novella. Of extreme importance in the identification of these works as belonging to the Early Italian Renaissance is the inclusion of a continuous narrative. Both works show different parts of the story being told, which would aid the Early Renaissance viewer in understanding the moment being recounted by the image. The continuous narrative was common in the Early Renaissance, and was a key component in the selection of Ghiberti's Bronze panel for the Baptistery doors in Florence in 1401.