Oil painting -> List of Painters -> Tommaso Masaccio

   Tommaso Masaccio

Early Days: Masaccio was born to Giovanni di Mone Cassaai and Jacopa di Martinozzo in Castel San Giovanni di Altura, now San Giovanni Valdarno (now part of the province of Arezzo, Tuscany). His father was a notary and his mother the daughter of an innkeeper of Barberino di Mugello, a town a few miles south of Florence. His family name, Cassai, comes from the trade of his grandfather Simone and granduncle Lorenzo, who were carpenters - cabinet makers. His father died in 1406, when Tommaso was only five; in that year another brother was born, called Giovanni after the dead father. He also was to become a painter, with the nickname of "Scheggia" meaning "splinter". The mother was remarried to an elderly apothecary, Tedesco, who guaranteed Masaccio and his family a comfortable childhood.

Career:

The first works attributed to Masaccio are the Cascia Altarpiece, (1422), picturing the Madonna enthroned with angels and saints, and a Virgin and Child with St. Anne, (ca. 1424) at the Uffizi: they were already works of very high quality. The second work was collaboration with an older and already renowned artist, Masolino da Panicale, and for many years it was assumed Masaccio was simply an apprentice to Masolino.

More recently it has been noted that Masaccio gained entry to the Painters' Guild before Masolino, suggesting that their collaboration was for convenience or simply moved by mutual esteem. Masaccio's talent was apparent, and was probably already superior to that of Masolino. The source of the younger master's education remains an enigma; it is still not known where Masaccio received his training in art.