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Painter, 1401 to 1428

Masaccio

Before Masaccio, painted figures were flat shapes on gold. After him they stood on the ground, cast shadows and occupied a space you could measure. Florence has almost everything he lived to paint.

Born
1401, San Giovanni Valdarno, Italy
Died
1428, Rome, Italy
Movement
Early Renaissance
In Florence
3 works in 3 museums

Where to see Masaccio in Florence

Each work with the museum it hangs in. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine1 work

  1. The Tribute Money, by Masaccio, in the Brancacci Chapel: Christ and the apostles standing in a ring before bare hills.

    The Tribute Money and the Expulsion

    1425 to 1427

    The chief scenes of the chapel he painted with Masolino. Christ and the apostles stand in a ring under bare hills, lit from the chapel's own window. Adam and Eve walk out of Eden in despair.

Santa Maria Novella1 work

  1. The Holy Trinity, by Masaccio, in Santa Maria Novella: Christ on the cross inside a painted chapel, with two donors kneeling outside it.

    The Holy Trinity

    about 1427

    God the Father holds up the cross inside a painted chapel that seems to open into the wall of the church. A skeleton at the foot warns the living.

Uffizi Gallery1 work

  1. The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, by Masaccio and Masolino, in the Uffizi: Saint Anne behind her daughter and the child, with angels holding a cloth.

    Virgin and Child with Saint Anne

    about 1424 to 1425

    Painted with Masolino. The solid Virgin and her heavy child are Masaccio's, and they make the rest of the picture look a generation older.

The life of Masaccio

Tommaso di Ser Giovanni, nicknamed Masaccio, was born in the Arno valley in 1401 and was a master in Florence by 1422. He learned perspective from the architect Brunelleschi and the modelling of bodies from the sculptor Donatello, and brought both into painting.

In 1428 he went to Rome and died there within months. Vasari says that every painter of the next century studied his frescoes in the Carmine, Michelangelo among them.

What to know

  • Died in Rome at twenty-six
  • The Trinity is the first painting to use full linear perspective
  • Michelangelo copied his figures in the Brancacci Chapel as a boy
Born
21 December 1401, San Giovanni Valdarno, Italy
Died
Summer 1428, Rome, Italy

Masaccio: common questions

Where can you see Masaccio in Florence?
At the Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine: The Tribute Money and the Expulsion. At Santa Maria Novella: The Holy Trinity. At the Uffizi Gallery: Virgin and Child with Saint Anne. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.
What is Masaccio's most famous work in Florence?
The Tribute Money and the Expulsion, of 1425 to 1427, at the Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine. The chief scenes of the chapel he painted with Masolino. Christ and the apostles stand in a ring under bare hills, lit from the chapel's own window. Adam and Eve walk out of Eden in despair.
When and where was Masaccio born?
On 21 December 1401, at San Giovanni Valdarno, Italy. Masaccio died summer 1428, at Rome, Italy, aged about 27.
What is Masaccio known for?
Died in Rome at twenty-six. The Trinity is the first painting to use full linear perspective. Michelangelo copied his figures in the Brancacci Chapel as a boy. Masaccio was an Italian painter, of the Early Renaissance.

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