Founded in 1268 and completed only in 1475, Santa Maria del Carmine was destroyed by fire in 1771, and rebuilt in The Baroque style. Fortunately The Brancacci Chapel was spared.
Frescoes commissioned in 1424 by Felice Brancacci, a wealthy Florentine merchant and statesman. The frescoes illustrate the life of St. Peter, who can be identified by his orange gown.
Frescoes designed by Masolino da Panicale, illustrate the life of St. Peter. He began painting them with his pupil Masaccio (big ugly Tom). In 1428 Masaccio took over from Masolino (little Tom) and, unfortunately, died later that same year, aged only 27! The remaining parts were completed by Filippino Lippi only much later in the 1480s.
The Temptation of Adam and Eve and the right frescos were painted by Masolino.
The upside down crucifixion of Peter is paired with The Disputation with Simon Magus. On the far right is an angel freeing Peter while his guard slumbers.
Here we see The Raising of Tabitha and The Healing of the Cripple. Notice the smartly dressed Florentine gentlemen juxtaposed with Peter’s biblical attire.
The left sides and rear walls were painted by Masaccio. In The Expulsion From The Garden, he employs psychological truth within their frames figures yet unseen in the history of art.
Like Giotto a century before, Masaccio followed the sculptures of his day; Ghiberti and Donatello, to infuse realism into his figures. The Tribute Money is a case in point. It is the figural space that defines the space—not the orthogonals of single point perspective. This is like a movie. The tax collector asks for money and Christ directs Peter to catch a fish, and in doing so, Peter finds a coin in the fish’s mouth, which he hands to the tax collector over a post. Why a post? Tax in Italian is imposta, so it is a visual pun.
Peter Heals With His Shadow: The accurate ratio of architecture to the human form is a first in renaissance painting. The Behind a healed cripple clasps his hands in prayer; another is in the midst of being healed while the man in front awaits his miracle.
Just as Giotto had no clear followers, neither did Masaccio. His art was picked up on later artists like Ghirlandaio and one of his students sketched The Branccaci Chapel: A young Michelangelo.
