Saint Lawrence Enthroned with Saints and Donors

Saint Lawrence Enthroned with Saints and Donors is a tempera on panel painting attributed to Fra Filippo Lippi. Lawrence sits at the centre on a throne, drawn on a larger scale than the others, flanked by Saints Cosmas and Damian and by members of the family who commissioned the work, identified as the Alessandri. The grille beside him refers to his martyrdom and helps the viewer read the scene. Its date remains uncertain: most scholars place it between the mid-1440s and the early 1450s, while some connect it with a possible family gift marking a wedding in 1453. It is probably the painting Vasari mentions as made for the Alessandri villa at Vincigliata, near Florence. The panel was originally a single piece, later divided, and in 1971 Federico Zeri reassembled it as a triptych, repainting large areas at the base and along Lawrence's legs. Another kneeling figure has almost disappeared. Its appeal lies in how it pairs portraits of the donors with a clear, orderly composition.

Painter

Filippo Lippi

Date

1453

Medium

tempera, panel

Dimensions

121 × 116 cm

Museum

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

Genre

religious art

Depicts

Damian, Cosmas, grille, Lawrence of Rome, man, Alessandro Alessandri

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