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Tommaso
Masaccio

1401−1428

Biography and information

Tommaso Masaccio - the full name of Tommaso di Giovanni di Simone Cassi (December 21, 1401, San Giovanni Valdarno, Tuscany —1428, Rome) is a renowned painter of the early Renaissance, one of the reformers of painting, a master of the Florentine school.

Features of the artist Tommaso Masaccio: Rejecting the lyricism and conventions of late Gothic prevailing in the art of that time, Masaccio, like his teacher, was a sculptor Donatello and architect Brunelleschi - in his work welcomed realism and naturalism. The art of ancient Rome and early Christian art were for Masaccio the subject of study and interpretation of the techniques of ancient masters in their own works. As the Italian humanist philosopher Cristoforo Landino wrote, Masaccio “was full of greedy interest in the earthly world, in its knowledge and affirmation of its greatness, speaking as a spokesman for the elemental-materialistic forms of early renaissance pantheism. Masaccio lived a very short life - the artist died at the age of 27 years.

Famous paintings by artist Tommaso Masaccio: frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel (Florence), including "Miracle with a statir (Submit)", "Exile from Paradise", "Neophyte Baptism"; altar painting for the chapel of st. Juliana in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine (Pisa) (1426) - the so-called Pisa polyptych; picture Crucifixion (1426).

Tommaso was born in the small town of San Giovanni Valdarno, located near Florence. It is known that the boy's grandfather was engaged in the manufacture and painting of coffers "Kassone" - the traditional furniture of those times. After the death of his father, and later - and his stepfather, mother, two sisters and younger brother remained in the care of Masaccio, who also became an artist and, apparently, continued his grandfather's work. His nickname is “Masaccio” (which means “the one that misses, dangles”) the young artist received for his obsession with drawing. When he wrote, Tommaso no longer interested in anything, he plunged into working with his head and often used clothes as a rag to wipe his brushes. Absent-mindedness was complemented by a soft, kind disposition and carelessness. Studied Tommaso in the painting shops of Bicci di Lorenzo, was in awe of GiottoThe architect Brunelleschi taught him questions of perspective, and the sculptor Donatello worked with work in kind.

Accumulating knowledge gained from the best masters, Masaccio developed his own recognizable style. Together with Donatello and Brunelleschi, Masaccio headed a promising realistic trend in Florentine art. In early paintings by Masaccio, work on the main objectives of the composition, perspectives and proportions of the human body, which will be actively developed by Renaissance artists, is already visible.

The earliest work of Masaccio, which has come down to our days - the picture "Madonna and Child with St. Anna", written by a 19-year-old artist for the church of Sant Ambrogio in 1420 (according to other sources - in 1424). However, the first authentic work of the artist is the altar triptych in the small church of San Giovannale, located near the town of San Giovanni Valdarno, where the artist was born, and written in 1422.

At the age of 21, Masaccio was admitted to the medical and apothecary workshop, which also included people of art. Three years later, in 1424, the artist was accepted into the Guild of St. Luke - a workshop association of artists, sculptors and printers. Membership in the Guild allowed you to open your own workshop and recruit students, and also guaranteed employment and eliminated competition from visiting masters.

The brightest and most famous works of Masaccio - six frescoes with which Brancacci Chapel in Florence. The painter Mazolino da Panikale began work on the frescoes in 1424, Masaccio joined him a little later, and a few years after his death he completed the painting of the chapel. Filippino Lippi. The friendship and collaborations of Masaccio and Mazolino still cause controversy among art historians who are trying to accurately attribute some of the works created by these artists.

In 1428, which became the last for Mazaccio in his life, the artist, at the invitation of his friend Mazolino, went to Rome to work on a polyptych for the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. He managed to start only the left wing of the altar - Mazolino had to finish the work alone.

The legacy of Masaccio, who died in the prime of his career, at the height of his fame, had a huge impact on European painting. Thanks to the revolutionary techniques that the artist used in his work, his works have literally become "software" for many generations of masters, including Raphael and Michelangelo.