Filippo Lippi et Lucrezia Buti

Delaroche's Filippo Lippi and Lucrezia Buti from around 1822 depicts the legendary love affair between the Carmelite friar-painter and the nun who became his model and later his companion and the mother of his son Filippino Lippi. The story was well known from Vasari's Lives and embodied the Renaissance fascination with the tension between religious vocation and human passion—the priest who chose art and love over monastic discipline. Delaroche's early treatment of the subject reflects his formation in Gros's studio and his developing interest in historical genre painting that combined intimate narrative with period costume. The painting belongs to his formative years before his breakthrough with Jeanne d'Arc at the Salon of 1824, when he was establishing the approach to historical painting that would make him one of the most celebrated painters of his generation.

The historical scene is rendered with Delaroche's meticulous period detail and theatrical staging. The intimate encounter between painter and nun creates a scene of romantic drama rendered with characteristic polish.