2EUR commemorative 2019 "500th anniversary of the death of Filippo Lippi"

Joining link between Masaccio and Botticelli, Filippo Lippi was one of the leading painters of the artistic renovation of the 15th Century Florence because of the freedom and expressive immediacy of his style. The obverse of the 2 Euro coin commemorating the 550th anniversary of his death depicts the Virgin Mary contemplating Jesus who spreads his arms towards her, a detail of the famous altarpiece “Madonna and Child with Two Angels”, painted between 1460 and 1465 and preserved at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Thanks to the extraordinary spontaneity of the representation and the deep humanity, the piece of art had success since its appearance and was source for endless variations by many artists, among them Botticelli, pupil of the painter.