Masolino biography graphic organizers

Italian painter (c. – c. )

Tommaso di Cristoforo Fini (c.&#; &#; c.&#;), known by his nickname Masolino da Panicale (lit.&#;'Tommy from Panicale'), was an Italian painter. His best known works are probably his collaborations with Masaccio: Madonna with Child and St. Anne () and the frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel (–).

Biography

Masolino was possibly born in Panicale, present-day Umbria.^[1] He may have been an assistant to Ghiberti in Florence between and ^[2] In , he joined the Florentine guildArte dei Medici e Speziali (Doctors and Apothecaries), which included painters as an independent branch. He may have been the first artist to create oil paintings in the s, rather than Jan van Eyck in the s, as was previously supposed.^[3] He spent many years traveling, including a trip to Hungary from September to July under the patronage of Pipo of Ozora, a mercenary captain. He was selected by Pope Martin V (Oddone Colonna) on the return of the papacy to Rome in to paint the altarpiece for his family chapel in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, and later by Cardinal Branda da Castiglione to paint the Saint Catherine Chapel in the Basilica of San Clemente, Rome. In the interim, he collaborated with his younger colleague, Masaccio, to paint the frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, which were much admired by fellow artists throughout the fifteenth century. He painted a cycle of famous historical figures in the Orsini Palace in Rome about –34^[4] and also worked in Todi. He spent his later years, after , working for Cardinal Branda Castiglione in Castiglione Olona.^[5]

Early use of the central vanishing point

Masolino was probably the first painter to make use of a central vanishing point in his painting St. Peter Healing a Cripple and the Raising of Tabitha.^[6]

St Catherine Refusing to Worship Idols

"The lunette of the left-hand wall, depicting St Catherine Refusing to Worship Idols. In an elaborate temple setting, Catherine is pointing toward heaven, while the emperor, here bareheaded, gazes up at the idolatrous statue atop the altar. His retainers are crowded behind them, one of them, only partially visible, is sounding a trumpet."^[7]

Summary of work

Section includes external links to works of art.

Complete works
In Naples:

In Germany:

In Florence:

• Cappella Brancacci: cycle of frescoes in collaboration with Masaccio,
• Madonna and Child, Saint Anne and the Angels, collaboration with Masaccio, tempera on wood, , Uffizi, Florence.
• Madonna dell'Umiltà, tempera on wood, –35, Uffizi.

In Empoli:

• Cristo in Pietà, detached fresco, , Empoli, museum of the Collegiata di Sant'Andrea.
• Saint Ivo and the Pupils, fresco, , Empoli, Church of Saint Steven.
• Virgin and Child, fresco, , Empoli, Church of Saint Steven.

In Rome:

• Fresco of the Life of St Catherine of Alexandria commissioned by Branda da Castiglione in the Basilica di San Clemente, Chapel of Sacrament,
• Fresco of the Annunciation in the Basilica di San Clemente, Chapel of Sacrament,
• Fresco of St Christopher in the Basilica di San Clemente, Chapel of Sacrament,
• Death of the Virgin and Crucifixion, fresco, Pinacoteca Vaticana.

In Castiglione Olona, where his patron was cardinal Branda da Castiglione:

In France:

In the United States:

Dispersed pieces of works

• Lateral panels of an altarpiece with The Ascension at the center, from Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, ca. –28, started by Masaccio and completed by Masolino after his death: Saints John the Evangelist(?) and Martin of Tours, Saints Paul and Peter, Philadelphia Museum of Art; Pope Gregory the Great (?) and Saint Matthias, National Gallery, London; The Ascension^{[permanent dead link&#;]} National Museum and Gallery of Capodimonte, Naples.

References

External links