Fra Lippo Lippi critical analysis

"We would rather have Fra Lippo Lippi than any essay on Realism in art"

- George Eliot

The Victorian poet, Robert Browning is famously known for his dramatic monologues and is a poet who aspires to draw upon the true nature of reality. He aims to bring forth in his writing, a depiction untainted by falseness or obscurity. And the poem Fra Lippo Lippi echoes this aspect of his poetry.

The main focus of the poem is to question the readers as to what should be the right representation of art - should it be the idealistic form of art, with only the soul, something beyond the reality or should it hold up a mirror to life. Hence giving his readers food for thought.

Like many of Browning dramatic monologues, the listener is completely the silent interlocutor and is subjugated and mesmerised by the speaker’s speech. And tells the readers a short account of the speaker and his life through the poem.

The poem starts in media res, a common feature Browning employs to his poetry. We learn that the speaker of the poem, Fra Lippo Lippi is caught by the Medici guards lingering in the streets known for its promiscuous activities. Embarrassed for he is a monk who should not be wandering in places where ‘sportive ladies’ keep their doors open, Lippo Lippi talks his way to convince and justify his actions, pleading innocence. Through his conversation with the guards, Lippo narrates his life story; from a poor starving kid to his life as a monk in the convent of Cosimo de Medici. He brings forth the question of what an artist is and he is to paint in the context of religion. Should he mimic life arousing pleasure, fear, joy, sorrow in his viewers or should he paint souls and saints. Lippo Lippi through his witty humour and sense of mind, sheds light to the scandalous life the senior friars at his convent. 

Lippo Lippi leads an unchaste life, turning a blind eye to the holy doctrines of monastic life, a life as sinful as a monk can be. He loves to paint and finds ecstasy in it. Being artistically gifted, Lippo Lippi is given the job of painting for the church walls. A keen observer of his surroundings, he paints into his canvas life as he sees it. His main characters are the folks he often saw at the church grounds - the friars, people who come to gossip, a murderer in the altar preaching to a group of kids, a girl covering her head to avert the intense gaze from a friar. The painting, though true to life, is scorned for its depiction of human flesh by the friars. The friars opine that they are devils workings. And he is ordered to  “paint the soul, never mind the legs and arms”, not to pay homage to the “perishable clay”.  Instead  he is asked to paint something of a high religious spirit, which even the friars cannot actually describe properly. Lippo finds these remarks so baseless but cannot disobey his elders. In fact, Lippo discerns the dark, classified, and illicit way of life of the friars at the convent in his painting. But he does not want his desires and passions to be constricted by the way of life he never chose for himself and is sick of painting pictures of saints and souls. He does all this just because his elders too are hypocrites. They profess one thing and do the opposite. They too indulge themselves in a promiscuous lifestyle. Browning does not mock belief in God rather he implores religious authorities who impose strict moral obligation to the common people which they themselves do not follow. 

Coming towards the end of the poem we see that Lippo Lippi has taken a middle stance. He definitely does not agree with the order put forth by the Prior’s while painting, but he said he can manipulate it at times by following his style of painting. He'll paint God, the Madonna and baby and saints and even Job out of the old testament. This will hopefully keep the Prior and the betters quiet. In addition, to satisfy himself and his quest for realism, he will paint himself, but puts up with it, because that's how he makes a living and keeps on the right side of God, and his immediate elders.

The element of drama comes in the poem when Lippo Lippi is caught in-the-betweens. He just cannot paint the soul as per the church orders nor can he restrict himself from painting to his own liking. He resolves this dramatic conflict by deciding to incorporate both modes of depiction to his painting. This line shows his resignation to the friars demands.

“So I swallow my rage,

  Clench my teeth, suck my lips in tight, and paint

         To please them-sometimes do and sometimes don't”

The poem is written like an angry rant, in colloquial speech depicting the drunk state of the monk. Browning employs free verse to go with this, as the rant from a drunkard lacks proper sentence structure and rhythm. Browning also draws in this poem a topic for controversy - the promiscuous life of friars; religious representatives. A topic that is relevant even today in the twenty-first century. But what Browning wanted was not to stir calm waters but to highlight the zest of a true artist as one who paints by holding a mirror up to reality.

The poem is filled with complex arguments of art and reality. We find that Lippo is haunted by doubts as to whether his painting should depict life as is it or to only represent the soul. He is boughed down by the statement “Paint the soul, never mind the legs and arms”. And this is something Lippo as a true artist is not able to concede and abide to. His sketches are full of  life and vibrant colours, capturing the beauty that escapes our eyes, yet commonplace. Many critics opine that Lippo is the mouthpiece of Browning himself who preferred the earthy and the realistic in art rather than in the ideal.

Browning has neatly structured the poem in such a way that we can categories the poem into four sections. The first section deals with the introduction of Lippo Lippi, the second his life at the convent, third his conflict with friars and his views on art as imitation of reality. The last section is a compromise to draw according to the prior instructions.

The poem is written in blank verse in order to mimic the talk of a drunk person. The  meter followed is an iambic pentameter with five beats per line, each beginning with an unstressed syllable, and ending with a stressed. It is an important aspect of the poem as it helps the readers to get a closer understanding of the speaker in the poem. The pace in which the poem is carried forward is fast and continuous.

The tone of the poem reveals the helpless and desperate condition Lippo Lippi has to confront. Browning does not turn this poem into a lament. He inserts a good deal of irony, wit and sarcasm to lighten the seriousness of the poem. Lippo Lippi is presented in such a way that the readers are made to feel pity for him, despite him being a sinful monk. We take sides with lustful Lippo Lippi against his lustful friars, for he judiciously justifies his cause for his un-pious lifestyle, winning the sympathy of the readers.