His childhood at Carmine
Filippo Lippi was born in 1406 in Florence in a house behind the Carmelite convent and, after being left an orphan, he was taken in by the convent at the age of eight, and given a home there, since his family was extremely poor. for more information >

Fra’ Filippo and Masaccio
Certainly, starting from the elegant, late Gothic style of Lorenzo Monaco, he had opportunities to practice his art thanks to his vicinity to the site of the most important, innovative artistic project of the period, the Brancacci Chapel, frescoed around 1427 right there in the Carmelite church by Masaccio and Masolino (the frescoes, left unfinished, were completed about sixty years later by none other than the son of Fra’ Filippo, Filippino)... for more information >

Genius and passion
Fra’ Filippo was an independent, unconventional spirit all his life. His character was impulsive and passionate, and he sometimes lost control; but it was just this adventurous personality of his, his sanguine nature not immune to desire, vice, remorse and raging passion – especially for women (which is the aspect biographers and critics always dwell on, never forgiving the painter for having betrayed Art with his dissolute life) – that enabled him to achieve such a profound understanding of human nature and shaped his knowledge into an expressivity that he was able to transfer to his paintings... for more information >

The masterpiece of Prato
The greatness of his art received immediate acclaim, even from two of the greatest geniuses of the late Renaissance, Leonardo and Michelangelo, though for different reasons... for more information >

The last works
In January 1466 Fra Filippo received the balance of the payment for his frescoes, which cost all of 1,962 florins (including the materials and scaffoldings), but with the complete satisfaction of the clients. The following year, Filippo and his entourage moved to Spoleto, to fresco the apse of the Cathedral there... for more information >