Filippo Lippi and Lucrezia Buti: A Scandalous Renaissance Love Story in Tuscany

Lucrezia Buti, born in Florence in 1435 to a family of small merchants, was orphaned with eleven siblings and placed in the Santa Margherita monastery in Prato by her brother Antonio, taking vows in 1454. In 1456, the painter Fra' Filippo Lippi arrived at the convent, and their encounter led to a forbidden love. Cosimo de' Medici intervened diplomatically with Pope Pius II, securing a papal bull that dissolved Lucrezia's vows on grounds of coercion. Their son, Filippino Lippi, was born around 1457 and became a renowned Renaissance painter, trained under Sandro Botticelli. Filippino's works include the Adoration of the Magi (Uffizi Galleries) and the Apparition of the Virgin to Saint Bernard (Badia Fiorentina). Lorenzo the Magnificent later became his patron, commissioning him to decorate the Villa di Poggio a Caiano, where Filippino immortalized his mother's face. The story, published by Artribune, highlights the intersection of art, love, and power in Renaissance Tuscany.