• Author: Filippino Lippi
• Date: 1498
• Collection: PAINTING
• Technique: Oil on wood panel
• Dimensions: 141 x 45 cm (with frame) (each)
• Inventory: Inv. 1890 nn. 8651 e 8653

The two panels were originally on either side of a Crucifixion with the Virgin and Saint Francis, destroyed during World War II. The triptych came from the Florentine Church of San Procolo, where it decorated the altar dedicated to Saint Francis founded by Francesco Valori, a fervent follower of Fra Girolamo Savonarola. However, the painting was probably commissioned by Francesco’s nephew, Niccolò Valori, who was also a supporter of Savonarola. This explains the decision to depict two ascetic saints on either side of the Crucifixion: John the Baptist and Magdalene, with their emaciated faces, bare feet and bodies weakened by their long stay in the desert. Magdalene, in particular, is covered with a cascade of wild, flowing hair and holds the jar of perfumed ointments she used to anoint the body of the deceased Christ. The artist is Filippino Lippi, son of Filippo Lippi and a pupil of Botticelli.

For these intensely pathetic figures, and their placement within two niches, Filippino was inspired by two statues of a similar subject by Donatello: Mary Magdalene (Florence, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo) and Saint John the Baptist (Siena, Cathedral, Chapel of Saint John).