Editing Masaccio (section)

==Legacy==
Masaccio profoundly influenced the art of painting and is considered to have begun the Early Italian Renaissance in painting. He transformed the direction of Italian painting, moving it away from the idealizations of Gothic art, and, for the first time, presenting it as part of a more profound, natural, and humanist world. Moreover, Masaccio influenced a great many artists both while he was alive and posthumously. His influence is particularly notable in the works of Florentine minor masters, such as [[Andrea di Giusto]], [[Giovanni dal Ponte]], and others who attempted to replicate his glowing, lifelike forms, whilst in 1817 [[Auguste Couder]] produced ''[[The Death of Masaccio]]''.

Vasari wrote in his ''[[Vite]],'' emphasizing especially the importance of the Brancacci chapel:<ref>[https://archive.org/details/storiesoftheital007995mbp ''Stories of the Italian Artists from Vasari''] (abridged). Arranged and translated by E. L. Seeley. Duffield, London/New York 1908, p. 56 (ch. V, Filippo di Ser Brunelleschi).</ref> {{blockquote|All the most celebrated sculptors and painters from his time until now have studied his works in the Brancacci chapel, as Lionardo da Vinci, Perugino, the divine Michael Angelo, Raffaello da Urbino, Andrea del Sarto, and many more, and if I have not mentioned many Florentines and strangers who have gone to that chapel to study there, it is because where the heads of the art go, there the members are sure to follow. Yet although his works have always been held in such reputation, it is the firm belief of many that he would have brought forth much greater fruit if death - had not carried him off, at the age of twentysix, so suddenly...}}