| Artist | Filippo Lippi |
|---|---|
| Year | c. 1449-1459 |
| Type | Tempera on wood |
| Location | National Gallery, London, UK |
Seven Saints is a tempera on panel painting by the Italian Renaissance master Filippo Lippi, dating to c. 1449-1459 and housed in the National Gallery of London.
The painting is paired by the Annunciation in the same museum, and was commissioned as part of the decoration of the Palazzo Medici of Florence. It was likely placed above a door or a bed.
Both the lunettes were acquired just before 1848 from the Metzger brother and introduced in the gallery in 1861.
Lippi's authorship is generally recognized; the dating is more disputed, varying from Lorenzo the Magnificent's death (1449) and the completion of the palace's furnishing in 1459.
The commissioning by the Medici is testified by the presence of Piero di Cosimo de' Medici's coat of arms in the other lunette, and by the link between the saints and the male members of the family. Piero di Cosimo lived in Palazzo Medici from 1456.
In the center is St. John the Baptist, patron saint of Florence, flanked by the Saints Cosmas and Damian (protectors of the Medicis, and in particular of Cosimo de' Medici, Piero's father). On the right, in the foreground, is St. Peter of Verona, protector of Piero di Cosimo de' Medici, and next to him is St. John the Evangelist, protector of his brother Giovanni. On the left, in the foreground, there are St. Francis, the patron of Pierfrancesco the Elder (Piero's cousin), and St. Lawrence, patron of his uncle, Lorenzo the Elder.