Fra Lippo Lippi (poem)
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Fra Lippo Lippi is an 1855 dramatic monologue written by the Victorian poet Robert Browning. Throughout this poem, Browning depicts a 15th century real-life painter who faces the conflict of a religious life committed to the Church or a life of leisure. The poem asks the question whether art should be true to life or an idealized image of life.
A secondary theme of the dramatic monologue is the Church's influence on art. Although Fra Lippo paints real life pictures, it is the Chuch that requires him to redo much of it, instructing him to paint the soul, not the flesh. (Paint the soul, never mind the legs and arms!)
[edit] External links
Full text of the poem is available at: U of Toronto Library