Lipppi Temple Of Mars Analysis

Filippino Lippi painted St. Philip Exorcising the Demon in the Temple of Mars between the years 1487 and 1502 for the Strozzi Chapel in Florence, Italy. The composition is rectangular. The focal point is St. Philip’s out-stretched arm near the bottom left. Following the implied line of St. Philip’s pointed finger leads the viewer up towards the statue of Mars. The viewer is then led back down to the falling prince near the fresco’s right corner. The line of sight within the crowd leads down to a dragonesque demon. Behind the demon is the rod of St. Philip, which leads the viewer slightly up to the crowd of priests in the left corner, and back to the focal point. The implied line from St. Philip to the statue of Mars, and back down to the crowd of people on the right creates a triangle within the work. This triangle is further emphasized through the use of color.
The Temple of Mars uses color primarily as a method for unifying the composition. Lippi achieves unification through incorporating pale blues to each figure within the triangle. The consistent use
The vanishing point merges at the base of the cylindrical stand for the statue of Mars between two bronze colored harpies. Each section of the frame recedes to this point. The three columns on either side of the temple and the three temple tiers that also lead down to the vanishing point. Space created in this fresco also recedes to imply depth. The two crowds of people overlap the painted frame, which makes them appear closest to the viewer. Space continues to move away from the foreground with the temple steps receding to the vanishing point and the tiers also becoming smaller in width with each level. Mars is smaller compared to St. Philip, even though both represent life-sized beings. Mars is smaller and further up on the picture plane to reinforce space moving back. Depth of space is also enforced through light that becomes darkens behind the vanishing