Masaccio

Introduction & Top Questions
Early life and works
The Brancacci Chapel
- Expulsion from Paradise
- Tribute Money
Holy Trinity
Influence

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

The Tribute Money, fresco by Masaccio, 1425; in the Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence.

At a Glance

Masaccio summary

Quizzes

Color pastels, colored chalk, colorful chalk. Hompepage blog 2009, arts and entertainment, history and society

Ultimate Art Quiz

Close-up of a palette held by a man. Mixing paint, painting, color mixing.

Artists, Painters, & Architects

Tate Modern extension Switch House, London, England. (Tavatnik, museums). Photo dated 2017.

Can You Match These Lesser-Known Paintings to Their Artists?

"The Birth of Venus," tempera on canvas by Sandro Botticelli, c. 1485; in the Uffizi, Florence.

Who Painted the Most Expensive Paintings in the World?

Related Questions

For which church did Masaccio paint the Pisa Altarpiece?
For which church was Masaccio’s San Giovenale Triptych made?
How did Andrea del Castagno use Masaccio’s ideas about light and space?
How did Donatello’s sculptures influence Masaccio’s depiction of the human body?
How did Fra Angelico show Masaccio’s influence in his paintings?
How did Fra Filippo Lippi’s early Madonna and Child reflect Masaccio’s influence?
How did Giotto’s art influence Masaccio’s painting?
How did Masaccio use anatomy, chiaroscuro, and perspective to create realistic figures?
How did Masaccio use color differently from many contemporary Florentine painters?
How did Masaccio’s art influence the development of Western painting?
How did Masaccio’s figures differ from the elegant style of Lorenzo Monaco and Gentile da Fabriano?
How did Masaccio’s style differ from Masolino’s style in the Brancacci Chapel?
How did Masaccio’s use of perspective and consistent light differ from medieval painting?
How did classical architecture influence the throne in Masaccio’s Pisa Altarpiece?
How did the 1985–89 restoration change the appearance of Masaccio’s Brancacci Chapel frescoes?
How do Adam and Eve’s gestures in Masaccio’s Expulsion from Paradise express emotion?
How do the figures in Masaccio’s Tribute Money show the influence of Donatello and Roman relief sculpture?
How does Masaccio make the figures in Holy Trinity seem connected to the viewer’s space?
How does Masaccio set the religious story of Tribute Money in a realistic Tuscan landscape?
How does Masaccio use light and dark to model Adam and Eve in Expulsion from Paradise?
How does atmospheric perspective create depth in Masaccio’s Tribute Money?
How does light create a sense of volume in Masaccio’s Virgin and Child from the Pisa Altarpiece?
How does one-point perspective organize the space in Masaccio’s Holy Trinity?
How does the lighting in Masaccio’s Tribute Money match the actual light in the Brancacci Chapel?
How long did Masaccio’s artistic career last?
When did Masaccio die?
When did Masaccio join the Florentine painters’ guild?
When did Masaccio paint the Pisa Altarpiece?
When was Masaccio’s Holy Trinity fresco painted?
When was Masaccio’s San Giovenale Triptych painted?
Where are Masaccio’s Brancacci Chapel frescoes located?
Where was Masaccio born?
Which Masaccio fresco did Michelangelo study in some of his earliest drawings?
Which earlier Florentine painters influenced the San Giovenale Triptych?
Which is Masaccio’s earliest surviving work?
Which member of Masaccio’s family was also a painter?
Who were Masaccio’s parents?
Why are the figures in Masaccio’s Tribute Money described as monumental?
Why did Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael study Masaccio’s art?
Why did Masaccio’s paintings make viewers feel as if they were looking through a window into a real world?
Why is Masaccio’s Adoration of the Magi panel considered realistic?
Why is Masaccio’s Holy Trinity important in the history of linear perspective?
Why is Masaccio’s artistic apprenticeship unknown?
What is Masaccio best known for?
What does the name Masaccio mean?
What is Holy Trinity by Masaccio known for?
How did Masaccio influence other artists?
What was Masaccio’s relationship with Masolino?
Why is Sandro Botticelli so famous?
What was Sandro Botticelli’s family like?
How was Sandro Botticelli educated?
What is Michelangelo best known for?
Why is Michelangelo so famous?

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External Websites

National Gallery of Art, Washington - Biography of Masaccio
Web Gallery of Art - Biography of Masaccio

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Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

Masaccio - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Masaccio

Italian painter

Also known as: Tommaso di Giovanni di Simone Guidi

Written by

Bruce Cole

Distinguished Professor of Fine Arts, Indiana University, Bloomington. Author of Masaccio and the Art of Early Renaissance Florence and many others.

Bruce Cole

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

History

Masaccio (born December 21, 1401, Castel San Giovanni [now San Giovanni Valdarno, near Florence, Italy]—died autumn 1428, Rome) was an important Florentine painter of the Early Renaissance whose frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel of the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence (c. 1427) remained influential throughout the Renaissance. In the span of only six years, Masaccio radically transformed Florentine painting. His art eventually helped create many of the major conceptual and stylistic foundations...

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