The Louvre does, however, possess in the _Madonna and Child with Angels and Two Abbots_ (No. 1344, Plate II.) one of the best of the Frate’s creations, although the colouring has suffered considerably. It is an early work, and was painted about 1437 for the Barbadori Chapel in Santo Spirito. It contains beauty of line, freshness of colour, and much variety in the composition. The cast of the draperies is ample and the motives are novel and bold, the Renaissance background throwing into prominent relief the soulful and ideal figure of the Madonna. The predella panels of this dismembered altarpiece, for which Fra Filippo received forty gold florins, are now in the Accademia at Florence. They depict (_a_) _St. Frediano deviating the Course of the River Serchio_; (_b_) _The Virgin receiving the Announcement of her Coming Decease_; and (_c_) _St. Augustine in his Study_. The _Madonna and Child_ (No. 1345) is only a school picture. [Illustration: PLATE II.—FRA FILIPPO LIPPI (1406-1469) FLORENTINE SCHOOL No. 1344.—MADONNA AND CHILD, WITH ANGELS AND TWO ABBOTS (La Vierge et l’Enfant Jésus entre deux abbés) The Virgin stands before the throne holding the Infant Christ to the adoration of two kneeling abbots and surrounded by six angels carrying lilies. To the left a monk leans over the balustrade, and two small child-angels flank the composition on either side. Painted in tempera on panel. 7 ft. 1½ in. × 8 ft. 0¼ in. (2·17 × 2·44.)] In 1457, the year that Fra Filippo’s son Filippino was born, his household effects and box of colours were seized for debt. He lived on until October 4, 1469, when he died of a sudden and somewhat mysterious illness. The Frate, who is the connecting link between Masaccio, the first blossom, and Raphael, the full flower of Florentine painting, was the master of Botticelli. A small _Madonna and Child_ (No. 1345) has little claim to be regarded as the work of Fra Filippo.