There are many private family chapels in the churches of Florence, but none of them can be considered “school of the world” as the Brancacci. If you want to be just a few centimeters away from the “book” on which all the greatest artists of the Renaissance have studied you can not omit this private tour of the Brancacci Chapel.
If you are looking for one of the symbols of Renaissance painting, well this is your place!
The frescoes decorating the walls of the Chapel will leave you literally speechless, as happened to generations of artists who have studied them. Stories from the life of Saint Peter started by Masaccio and Masolino in the 3rd decade of the 1400 and then continued and finished by Filippino Lippi in the 80′ of 1400 . Among them the “Expulsion from Paradise ” and the “Tribute Money” by Masaccio
Three artists, Masolino da Panicale, Filippino Lippi and… Masaccio.
You’ve probably never heard of any of them, you’ll know them during my private tour, but given that we can not name Masaccio in vain I want to introduce you, Masaccio, right now briefly :
Masaccio is considered to be “the father of Renaissance painting”!
He was born in 1401 and died in 1428. He died at the age of 27!
To date, his first known work dates back to 1422 (not present here in the Chapel), which means that he had a very short career, only 6 years—about 2000 days !!
But during this 2000 days of career, Masaccio succeeded in changing the way of understanding painting…FOREVER.
The volume, the depth, the weight of the bodies, in one word, reality entered by force in Western painting thanks to Masaccio.
If you know “The Scream” by Edvard Munch 1893, you would love to see the first “silent scream” of the Western painting on the face of Masaccio’s Eva for the “Expulsion from Paradise” painted here in 1426
I can only imagine what Masaccio would have been able to do if he had lived longer!
The schools of the world were and are three, but we don’t mean three places born to teach art but three works of art that were considered of such a quality to be able to teach art to the whole world by simply copying them :
The two preparatory cartoons for the Battle of Cascina (by Michelangelo) and the Battle of Anghiari (by Leonardo da Vinci). Two frescoes planned to be painted on a wall of the Salone dei Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio. Both original cartoons are lost.
The preparatory cartoon for The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and the lamb (by Leonardo da Vinci), made in the Church of Santissima Annunziata in Florence. The final painting is now at the Louvre in Paris, and the preparatory cartoon is at the National Gallery in London.
The Brancacci Chapel. dozens of artists (including Michelangelo) in 1400, 1500, 1600, etc have “stood in line” to get in and copy the frescoes.
Try to find an opening during your stay in Florence to see the frescoes that drove even Michelangelo so crazy.
Yes, you do.
Yes, you do. I can reserve if we still find availability.
Visitors are allowed to stay in the Chapel not longer than 30 minutes but since my tours are private (very few people for each tour) we can try to convince the Chapel attendant to let us stay longer 🙂
Yes, you do. You could add this tour to the Open-Air Walking Tour.
It would be great if you book also another tour, the perfect marriage of this tour is with the Walking Tour
Yes, you do, legs up to the knee and shoulders must be covered. The Brancacci Chapel is located in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine.