Female Saint with a Flail (Saint Walburga?)
- Artist: Filippo Lippi
- Date: (circa) 1450
- Medium: tempera on panel
- Museum: The Courtauld Gallery
- Collection record: The Courtauld Gallery website
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About this artwork
This is “Female Saint with a Flail (Saint Walburga?)” by Filippo Lippi, painted around 1450 in tempera on panel. The composition centers on a serene female saint, dressed in flowing white robes that hint at purity and piety. Her gentle gaze and softly drawn facial features show Lippi’s skill in conveying spiritual calm. The flail, an uncommon attribute for a saint, suggests her role as a patron of pilgrims or a protector of the faithful—common in medieval iconography. Lippi uses a subtle palette: cool blues, muted greens, and touches of gold leaf that catch the light and give the panel a luminous quality. The background is a muted landscape, a precursor to the more dramatic chiaroscuro that would define later Renaissance art. Notice the delicate brushwork—tempera allows for fine, controlled strokes, giving the saint’s hands and robes a crisp, almost translucent texture. Lippi’s early career was marked by a blend of Gothic linearity and emerging naturalism, and this work exemplifies that transition. The painting invites you to contemplate the intersection of devotion and artistic innovation in mid‑15th‑century Italy.
See it in person
Female Saint with a Flail (Saint Walburga?) hangs in The Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, London. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
