Lippo d' Andrea

Anonymous sale, Milan, Finarte, 4 June 2008, lot 212 (as Pseudo-Ambrogio di Baldese [Lippo d'Andrea]);
There acquired by the present collector.

Formerly known as the “Pseudo-Ambrogio di Baldese,” this once anonymous master was identified by Linda Pisani in 2001 as the Florentine painter Lippo d’Andrea.¹  Though little is known about the artist’s life, his prolificacy suggests he was head of an industrious workshop and enjoyed a long career, spanning approximately five decades.²  While his style is embedded in the late Gothic tradition, Lippo d’Andrea appears to have been aware of the advancements of his peers in Florence and was influenced by the younger generation of artists in the early 15^th century, including Lorenzo Monaco, Giovanni dal Ponte and Masolino.

This painting was first ascribed to the “Pseudo-Ambrogio di Baldese” by Mina Gregori in an expertise retained in the Fondazione Zeri archive.³  At that time the master had been erroneously identified as a separate artist, Ventura di Moro, who was active in the ambit of Lippo d’Andrea circa 1420-1480.  Pisani dates this painting to around 1440, noting that the drapery folds and the face of the Virgin correspond of those in the artist’s Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist, Catherine of Alexandria, John the Evangelist and Dorothy of a similar date, in the Courtauld Institute Galleries, London (inv. no. P.1947.LF.202).⁴

We are grateful to Linda Pisani for confirming the attribution on the basis of photographs.

1. For more information on the artist see L. Pisani, “Pittura tardogotica a Firenze negli anni trenta del Quattrocento: il caso dello ‘Pseudo Ambrogio di Baldese,’” in Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz, XLV, 2001, pp.1-36.
2. L. Pisani, written expertise, a copy of which is available from the department upon request.
3. See entry number 10703.
4. Ibid.