Fra Filippo Lippi . tistic one ofrecreation, but rather toward expression, and withinthat field—toward the expression of the pleasant,genial, spiritually comfortable feelings of ordinarylife. His real place is with the genre painters; onlyhis genre was of the soul, as that of others, ofBenozzo Gozzoli, for example, was of the a sin of his own, scarcely less pernicious thanthat of the naturalists, and cloying to boot—expres-sion at any cost. But this defect, if such it may becalled, was by no means the artists only Filippo displays in many of his pictures thattendency to
Fra Filippo Lippi . tistic one ofrecreation, but rather toward expression, and withinthat field—toward the expression of the pleasant,genial, spiritually comfortable feelings of ordinarylife. His real place is with the genre painters; onlyhis genre was of the soul, as that of others, ofBenozzo Gozzoli, for example, was of the a sin of his own, scarcely less pernicious thanthat of the naturalists, and cloying to boot—expres-sion at any cost. But this defect, if such it may becalled, was by no means the artists only Filippo displays in many of his pictures thattendency to mere illustration of which most of hiscontemporaries were guilty, and which is even morenoticeable in the works of his pupils and artisticcontinuators, such as Botticelli and Filippino. Work-ing under the inspiration of Masaccio, he usuallyrenders tactile values admirably, but in some of hisearly works he betrays no genuine feeling for them,failing in his attempt to render them by the introduc-^ Op. cit., p. IJaii/itaiii;!photo.] \^National Gallery, London. Tin; MADONNA ANlJ CHILD, WITH AN ANGEL. CONCLUSIONS 171 tion of bunchy, billowy, calligraphic draperies. Butas he advanced towards that high standard of per-fection which he finally attained, Fra Filippos treat-ment of draperies and his rendering of tactile valuesimproved continually, as may be seen from the UffiziMadonna and the Pitti tondo, and later on from thegraceful figure, instinct with life and energy, of theDancing Daughter of Herodias, and in the beautifulangels of the Spoleto Coronation. Fra Filippo appears to have been conscious of hisdefects, for he continually strove to correct them,and in a great measure succeeded. He was alwayseager and ready to learn, and kept well in touchwith the artistic movement of his age. Thus hewas not slow in abandoning the methods of his firstmasters, the Giottesques and miniaturists, forMasaccios noble art, and during the first twoperiods of his career he applied himself a
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