The action begins in medias res, or in the middle of the things, sometime after “midnight” (Line 4) on the streets of Florence, Italy. Fra Lippo Lippi, a monk and painter, has been detained by a few guardsmen. Agitated, he exclaims “Zooks, what’s to blame!” (Line 3), as they grasp him by the neck. Fra Lippo Lippi identifies himself and irritably insists they needn’t handle him so roughly or put their torches in his face. He admits that he’s been in the area of the city that does employ “sportive ladies” (Line 6), i.e., sex workers. However, he notes, he is a member of the Convent of Carmine, which the guards could look up if they were so inclined. He tells them that they should probably work harder to find the real “rat[s]” (Line 9) in the area who prey on the “wee white [mice]” (Line 10) instead. All of this is intended to make the guards let him go.

To encourage this, he offers the fact that he’s residing with “Cosimo of the Medici” (Line 17), an important politician and benefactor of Florence. He indicates that the guards could be in big trouble for harassing him and begins to appeal to the head guard’s vanity, hoping aloud that these “knaves” (Line 21) won’t “discredit” (Line 22) him.