Naples, a private individual funds the restoration of a Filippino Lippi painting in the Capodimonte Museum

It will be a private individual, the company Temi SpA, that will fully finance the restoration of theAnnunciation with Saints John the Baptist and Andrew, an important work by Filippino Lippi (Prato, 1457 - Florence, 1504) preserved at the Capodimonte Museum and Real Bosco. Temi SpA, a Neapolitan company headed by Francesco Tavassi, is the exclusive Gls licensee for Naples and its province. The company is the parent company of the Tavassi Group, which has been active for three generations in logistics, transportation to and from abroad, distribution in Europe with Gls and customs consulting.

Temi Spa has already contributed in the past to the restoration of works of art at the museum, and in particular to the Portrait of the Infante Francis of Bourbon, a painting by Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun by joining the “Revelations - Finance for Fine Arts” project promoted by Borsa Italiana, again through the Art Bonus mechanism that provides tax breaks for patrons (65 percent tax deduction).

The painting belongs to the mature period of Filippino Lippi, one of the greatest artists of the Florentine Renaissance, son of the great painter Filippo Lippi and the nun Lucrezia Buti. In his early works, Filippino Lippi showed the influence of Sandro Botticelli, his first master: in fact, Lippi completed his apprenticeship in Botticelli’s workshop. In the CapodimonteAnnunciation, Botticellian suggestions are present in the side figures, while the lively use of color, the serene dialogue established between the characters and the overall sense of harmony that emerges from the painting are typical features of the mature phase of his activity.

The archangel Gabriel kneels gently before Our Lady, who meets her heavenly host with poise and humility. On the left, St. John the Baptist raises his left arm slightly, indicating with his hand to the viewer that a sacred meeting is in progress. St. Andrew contemplates the action as he embraces the cross with both hands, an attribute of his martyrdom. The vibrant colors and crystalline atmosphere infuse the scene with a supernatural calm, while the deep folds of the robes lend solidity to the figures. The scene takes place outdoors in the bright Florentine countryside. Both Filippo Brunelleschi ’s dome and Giotto’s bell tower can be discerned in the background on the left. The four sacred figures are depicted inside a lush garden filled with flowers and verdant grass, perhaps underscoring Filippino’s interest in the Flemish painting that had spread in Florence during this period.

“I thank the company Temi Spa for wanting to finance the restoration of another work from our collection so that it can be restored to full public enjoyment,” says Sylvain Bellenger, director of the Capodimonte Museum and Real Bosco. “I have always been convinced that the future of great museum institutions cannot remain the sole responsibility of the state but must be shared with all citizens, businesses and Italian entrepreneurial genius.”

“The initiative of the restoration of the Vigée Le Brun canvas, in synergy with the other enterprises of the virtuous cordate put together by Borsa Italiana,” explains Francesco Tavassi, “convinced us that we could take a further step forward in the sense of taking charge of the cultural heritage of our own reference territory. For this reason, today we are committed to full and autonomous support for the intervention that will return Filippino Lippi’s masterpiece to the halls of Capodimonte and to the gaze of the world. Temi SpA is about to fire its second Corporate Social Responsibility Report and to equip itself with a Sustainability Council to assist the work of the Board of Directors. We firmly believe that business development passes through the distribution of value to the context within which the company’s actions fall. With this restoration, we aim to attest ourselves as proponents of a good practice that we are working to share in a structural way with Neapolitan and Campania businesses, which have sufficient strength, foresight and culture to support institutions in the sustainable growth of territories.”

Naples, a private individual funds the restoration of a Filippino Lippi painting in the Capodimonte Museum

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