Template:POTD/2024-02-14
Chromolithography is a method of printmaking using multiple colours, stemming from the process of lithography. It became the most successful of several methods of colour printing developed by the 19th century. This image is a chromolithograph of Love or Duty by Gabriele Castagnola, printed by Hangard-Mangué of Paris. The blocks on the lower right-hand side show the nineteen colours of ink used. The image depicts, like many of Castagnola's works, Lucrezia Buti and Filippo Lippi. Lippi, a painter, was in 1458 working in the city of Prato, Italy, where he set about painting a picture for the monastery chapel of Saint Margherita in that city. There he met Lucrezia, a beautiful novice of the order. Lippi asked that she model for the figure of the Virgin Mary, or perhaps Margaret the Virgin. The two began a sexual relationship, and Buti moved into Lippi's home. This relationship resulted in a son, Filippino Lippi, who became a famous painter, and a daughter, Alessandra.Illustration credit: Gabriele Castagnola; chromolithography by Jehenné; restored by Adam Cuerden