How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
"Your painting serves its purpose!" Hang the fools! (335)
Since Lippo's painting of St. Ambrose being roasted gets the parishioners to take out their holy fury on the three slaves who turn him on the grill, it has served its purpose. Check out Lippo's response here, which really highlights his anger and scorn. They're "fools" for not getting where Lippo is coming from.
Quote #5
Give me six months, then go, see
Something in Sant' Ambrogio's! Bless the nuns!
They want a cast o' my office. I shall paint
God in the midst, Madonna and her babe,
Ringed by a bowery, flowery angel-brood,
Lilies and vestments and white faces, sweet
As puff on puff of grated orris-root
When ladies crowd to Church at midsummer.
And then i' the front, of course a saint or two—
Saint John' because he saves the Florentines,
Saint Ambrose, who puts down in black and white
The convent's friends and gives them a long day,
And Job, I must have him there past mistake,
The man of Uz (and Us without the z,
Painters who need his patience). (345-359)
Lippo plans out what will become his masterpiece, "The Coronation of the Virgin," which he painted for the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio. As he plans this out, he's quite dismissive of his subject. We get this through his description of a "bowery, flowery angel-brood," which makes the conventional representation sound a bit ridiculous. He also gets a little dig in at the end in his reference to Job, saying painters need the patience of that long-suffering figure just to be able to please their masters, as well as their own artistic muse.