Masaccio's "Baptism of the Neophytes" (Vasari)

Masaccio's "Baptism of the Neophytes" (upper fresco)
Picture taken by Cava H.

Between 1424 and 1427, Masaccio worked with Masolino on the frescoes of the Brancacci Chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence. After the death of Masolino, Masaccio was given the commission. In the “Baptism of the Neophytes,” Masaccio shows physical and psychological realism in the manner in which he paints the figures in the scene. The postures, musculature, and skeletal structures of the two nude figures are natural and realistic. In the kneeling figure, water is shown dripping down his hair, and his knees and feet are submerged in the cold water. The viewer feels empathy for the standing figure on the right as he stands shivering, arms around his body and knees bent. According to Vasari, “a very fine nude figure, shown shivering among those being baptized, numb with cold, is executed with the most beautiful relief and the sweetest style.” Masaccio contributed greatly to Italian Renaissance painting in a short span of six years. Countless painters, including Michelangelo Buonarroti, have studied his works in the Brancacci Chapel.