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Masaccio s Brancacci Chapel frescoes

Patron: Felice Brancacci. The Brancacci were a family who became wealthy through the silk businessPatron of the fresco cycle is believed to be Felice, whose grandfather Pietro financed the chapel in 14th C. The chapel was a burial site for the family.He acted as a diplomat for the Florentine Republic (ambassador to Cairo)was also a member of the city's Board of Maritime ConsulsHis grandfather's patron saint, St Peter, is the subject of the fresco cycle.The Brancacci supported the papacy29889

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Masaccio s Brancacci Chapel frescoes

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    1. Masaccio’s Brancacci Chapel frescoes Located in the church of Sta Maria Del Carmine, Florence

    2. Patron: Felice Brancacci The Brancacci were a family who became wealthy through the silk business Patron of the fresco cycle is believed to be Felice, whose grandfather Pietro financed the chapel in 14th C. The chapel was a burial site for the family. He acted as a diplomat for the Florentine Republic (ambassador to Cairo) was also a member of the city's Board of Maritime Consuls His grandfather’s patron saint, St Peter, is the subject of the fresco cycle. The Brancacci supported the papacy

    3. Felice Brancacci… In May 1431 married Lena, daughter of Palla Strozzi, a union that put him at the centre of Florentine politics In 1433, a number of the most powerful families of the city – including the Strozzis – had driven the family of Cosimo de’ Medici into exile. When the Medicis returned in triumph the next year, Brancacci was among those expelled as an enemy of the Republic His property was confiscated

    4. The church of Santa Maria Del Carmine Carmine = Catholic order of the discalced (barefoot) Carmelite nuns THE FRESCO CYCLE Tell stories from the life of St Peter from his calling as an apostle to his crucifixion Painted by Masaccio & Masolino [Tommaso di Crisfoano di Fino] (Big/sloppy Tom and Little Tom!)

    5. Inside the Brancacci Chapel

    6. Masolino (left) Masaccio (right) The Expulsion both completed c.1425

    8. The Medici Venus a.k.a Venus Pudica (Classical sculpture)

    11. The Brancacci Chapel Frescoes c1425-7, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence

    12. St Peter – fresco cycle Based on Bible account of his life - Gospel of Matthew, Acts of Apostles And a medieval collection of legends of saints: The Golden Legend (assembled by a 13th C bishop Voragine) Frescoes are unified with the actual architecture of chapel, e.g. painted Corinthian pilasters that supports real entablature All frescoes painted with light source that corresponds with natural light from window – i.e. made rational to viewer.

    13. The Life of St Peter in brief Started as a fisherman Became a disciple when Christ says “I will make you a fisher of men” Denied he knew Christ 3 times as Christ predicted, but repented Preached penance and baptism as a means of entering Christian faith Founded the church, considered first ‘Pope’. Ends his life as a Christian martyr.

    14. Pilgrimage to St Peter’s hood Carcere Mamertino: The place where St Peter was believed to have been imprisoned

    15. St Peters, Rome Ancient tradition has it that St. Peter's Basilica was built at the place where Peter, the apostle who is considered the first pope, was crucified and buried; his tomb is under the main altar.

    16. The Tribute Money c. 1425-7 What elements of linear and atmospheric perspective can you see? Foreshortening? Chiaroscuro? What is the story? What moments are depicted?

    17. Matthew 17:24-27  24 After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, "Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax?"  25"Yes, he does," he replied.       When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. "What do you think, Simon?" he asked. "From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own sons or from others?"  26 "From others," Peter answered.    "Then the sons are exempt," Jesus said to him. 27"But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours."

    18. Use of linear perspective

    19. Composition: influenced by Donatello? Note the low viewpoint Atmospheric distance

    20. Analyse the figures’ poses, gestures and expressions

    21. Masaccio’s Style “Masaccio’s brush moves with a new ease and freedom, representing not hairs but hair, not leaves but foliage, not waves but water, not physical entities but optical impressions. At times the brush must even have administered jabs at the moist plaster surface in a manner suggesting the touch of …Manet of Monet.” (Hartt)

    22. Masaccio’s figures “Masaccio depicts the apostles not as officials of the Florentine oligarchy but as ‘men in the street’, like the artisans and peasants on whose support the Republic depended. They are painted with conviction and sympathy – sturdy youths and bearded older men, rough-featured. Each endowed with an induplicable human personality.” (Hartt)

    23. Context The Tribute money is a rarely represented in art, but was chosen because it related to a contemporary event in Florence – the introduction of a new tax (the catasto) in 1427, following a crushing defeat in a war with the Duke of Milan. “Faced with the financial burden of war, the Florentines were debating a new tax called the catasto, based on ability to pay, and provided, with a system of exemptions and deductions. One aspect of the Florentine debate was whether the clergy could be taxed, a problem for which the story of the Tribute Money provides a biblical precedent.” (Frederick Hartt, Italian Renaissance Art)

    24. 3 Possible Subtexts 1) Perhaps Masaccio was called upon by his patrons to represent Christ paying tax. If Christ can pay tax? Florentines can pay this tax. 2) Felice Brancacci had a close relationship with Papacy. In 1423 Pope Martin V levied an unpopular tax on the Florentine Church 3) F. Brancacci’s interests in maritime commerce

    25. Details from The Tribute Money – The Tax Collector

    26. Precedent for figure grouping Nanni di Banco Four Crowned Martyrs (Did Masaccio see this being installed at the church of Orsanmichele in Florence?)

    27. Classical elements in The Tribute Money Story is set in Capernaum Apostles resemble Roman sculptures (massive drapery, firm stances, portrait like heads) esp St John Sense of rational order created by arrangement of figures

    28. Sacred elements Christ – at vanishing pt Arrangement of apostles is symbolic – alludes to configuration of apse in relation to crucifixion on altar Tax collector (closest to viewer) is outside the sacred space. His contemporary costume also distinguishes him from the apostles.

    29. Florentine architecture (Brunelleschi’s Ospedale degli innocenti)

    30. Town Hall and main Piazza of San Giovanni Val d'Arno - Masaccio's place is just round the corner on the left.

    31. Florence’s Arno River

    32. St Peter baptising the neophytes Complete the speech bubbles to analyse the gestures and expressions of figures

    33. Key aspects to note Baptism of the Neophytes NATURALISTIC DETAIL e.g. dripping wet hair of kneeling figure SYMBOLIC ACTION that contains subtext – dressing / undressing = allusions to putting on the clothes of a new faith after baptism. Stages shown in figures – buttoning cloak, man pulling sleeve off. PORTRAITS of young men at left (wearing cappucio, mazzocchio – Florentine headwear)

    34. Biblical reference to “putting on new clothes” Colossians 3:12-14 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

    35. St Peter healing the sick with his shadow 1420s What’s the story? Florentine street Variety of figures Light and shadow Classical-style temple in background reminds us setting is Jerusalem

    36. Portraits of Donatello & Masaccio? “It has been recently suggested that the bearded man in a short, blue stonecutter’s smock is a portrait of Donatello, and that the beardless youth who looks out at us in the manner of all Renaissance self portraits is Masaccio himself.”

    37. St Peter Enthroned On the right, Masaccio paints Masolino, himself, Leon Battista Alberti (or possibly Donatello) and Brunelleschi in the crowd in "Saint Peter Enthroned".

    38. St Peter Enthroned - context St Peter enthroned as 1st bishop (prefigures him as 1st bishop to Rome) Worshippers include Carmelites wearing white mantels over black tunics Alludes to fact that Sta Maria del Carmine supported the papacy Carmelites also traced their origins back to Old Testament

    39. St Peter Distributing Alms

    40. The Distribution of Alms Ananias, a deceitful rich man, lies dead at Christ’s feet because he kept some of the money from the sale of his land. Creates a contrast between poor who receive St Peter’s charity and live v. rich man who dies Message: good citizens give to the poor Variety of figures: Note the Carmelite nun on far left Mother & child – contrast with Virgin / child on altar. Normal, anonymous baby. Interlocking gazes

    41. WORKBOOK Remember, the aims of Renaissance Painting were… to tell a story: to give instruction to illiterate people to arouse devotion through emotion to influence popular opinion Painters therefore aimed to produce work that was eye catching and memorable as well as clear and simple in its narrative by using: gesture expression figural grouping convincing space) The Franciscan approach to religion inspired naturalism in ptg and local landscapes as settings.

    42. HOMEWORK COMPLETE THE SUMMARY QUESTIONS (page 20) AND THE CROSSWORD (page 21) ON THIS PAGE TO CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING

    43. A summary of Masaccio’s innovations - Use of Linear perspective e.g. Tribute money architecture, street in St Peter healing sick Realistic sense of light & shadow. Figures have 3D form through strong contrasts of light and shade (chiaroscuro). Directional Light appears to come from window above altar. E.g. shadow falling on people in St Peter heals sick , Expulsion Foreshortening – creates depth, e.g. Peter taking coin in Tribute money, kneeling neophyte in Baptism, the angel in The Expulsion Atmospheric perspective – diminishing clarity of mountains in Tribute money, Baptism Local landscape: instead of Jerusalem / Capernaum, settings resemble Florence - helps viewers identify with stories Gestures & Expression – Masaccio endows each figure with psychological realism. E,g, the various expressions of the converts in Baptism, Adam & Eve’s despair in The Expulsion

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