Masaccio, real name Tommaso de Giovanni di Simone Guidi 1401-?1428
Italian painter of the Florentine school

In his short life he brought about a revolution in the dramatic and realistic representation of biblical events which was recognized by his contemporaries and had a great influence on Michelangelo and, through him, on the entire 16th century. In many ways Masaccio began where Giotto left off. He stripped away all the decorative affectations of the International Gothic style and concentrated on the drama of the situation. Line was not allowed to meander into graceful arabesques, but instead, the gestures and groupings of the figures were used to describe the action. His greatest work is the fresco cycle in the Brancacci Chapel of the church of S Maria del Carmine in Florence (1424-27). Masolino da Panicale, an inferior painter with whom Masaccio is associated, also worked there, as did Filippino Lippi.