Cuculia - Ristorante Libreria
Da i' Conte Diladdarno
Fili Folli
Hotel Relais Il Cestello
Le Arti Orafe Jewellery School & Academy
Tourist informations
Entrance from: Piazza del Carmine.
Opening hours: Holydays: 1-5PM; Working days: 10AM-5PM. Closed on Tuesday.
Admission ticket: Euro 4.
Opening hours: Holydays: 1-5PM; Working days: 10AM-5PM. Closed on Tuesday.
Admission ticket: Euro 4.
The frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel are one of the most important monuments of the Italian art of 15th Century and were studied and admired by great artists such as Botticelli, Leonardo and Michelangelo.
History
In 1422 Felice Brancacci stated in his will the painting of frescoes in a chapel owned by his family in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine since the 14th Century.
The frescoes were begun by Masolino and Masaccio, who worked on them from 1423 to 1428. After Masaccio's death, Masolino continued alone, but the frescoes were still unfinished when, in 1436, Felice Brancacci was banned from Florence as an oppositor of the Medici: the frescoes in the Chapel were finally completed by Filippino Lippi between 1480 and 1485.
The church was almost completely destroyed by a fire in 1771, but the frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel were only slightly damaged: they have been fully restored in the years 1983-1990 and now we can see them in their original magnificence.
In the spotlight
On the left wall: above: the masterwork of Masaccio, Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise; at its side is another fresco of him, the Payment of the Tribute, containing a self-portrait of the artist; beneath: the last fresco completed by Masaccio, St. Peter Enthroned; the next scene, St. Peter Resuscitates the Empereor's Grandson, was begun by Masaccio and completed by Filippino Lippi, who painted also the fresco showing St. Peter in Prison.
On the central wall: St. Peter Preaching, by Masolino, and three frescoes by Masaccio with Episodes from the Life of St. Peter.
On the right wall: above: two frescoes by Masolino (Temptation of Adam and Eve and St. Peter Resuscitates Tabitha) and one by Masaccio, St. Peter Heales a Cripple; beneath: three frescoes by Filippino Lippi: An Angel Liberates St. Peter from the Prison; St. Peter and St. Paul before the Proconsul and Crucifixion of St. Peter.
