The Life and Career of Lippo di Dalmasio: A Bolognese Painter of the Late Fourteenth Century

Lippo di Dalmasio was among the most important artists working both in Pistoia and Bologna during the later fourteenth century, and his work is familiar to most through the reproduction of the London Madonna on Christmas cards and stamps. This study is timed to coincide with the sixth centenary of his death in 1410. It considers his notable career as a member of the administrations of both cities as well as a highly successful painter whose vividly emotive images, particularly of the Madonna of Humility, came to be highly valued once again in the Counter-Reformation when they seemed to suggest a special devotion. Lippo's work is set in the context of Bolognese painting before him, especially by his father, Dalmasio degli Scannabecch, and uncle, the prolific Simone 'dei Crocefissi'. The attribution of his finest fresco in Pistoia is established within the context of Bolognese iconography of the tent as tabernacle and related to the numerous signed works produced in Bologna. These are datable in part by the changing orthography of the signatures themselves as well as a distinctive response both to local tradition and developments in Florentine painting. The volume presents a catalogue of his paintings -- 37 items in total including many new attributions and some previously unpublished works -- and the many documents of his career.