The Tribute Money — Masaccio
The beginnings of perspective in an exciting era.
At the beginning of the Renaissance, the Quattrocento period was undoubtedly one of the most exciting periods in pictorial production. Italy was the epicenter of the intellectual and humanist revolution that would later reach all corners of the European continent.
The figure of Giotto is usually the most prominent when talking about the significant changes introduced in painting once the medieval canons were overcome. Art also reflected the political and social evolution in the streets.
We would be unfair, however, if we did not give the importance that other artists who succeeded him, such as Masaccio, deserve. His role in that transition, which was already a fact, requires more preponderance because of his short artistic career; he died at the age of only 27, and his works marked the way towards perspective as part of the composition of the scenes.
One of the frescoes that best demonstrates these innovations is The Tribute Money, a work Masaccio executed in the Brancacci Chapel of the church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence.
The fresco was framed in a thematic ensemble that narrates various biblical episodes featuring St. Peter. However, the underlying message was that of the salvation of Humanity thanks…
