Tommaso Masaccio (born Tommaso Cassai) (1401-1428), was a renowned painter of frescoes during the Italian Renaissance.

He joined the Painters Guild in Florence in 1422. Although brief, his career had a profound influence on other artists. He was one of the first to use scientific perspective in his painting. He also moved away from the Gothic style of the time to a more naturalistic mode where he paid more attention to perspective and realism than to elaborate ornamentation.

One of his works is The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, depicting a distressed Adam and Eve, nude, without fig leaves.

Only four undoubtedly Masaccio frescoes still exist today, although many other works have been credited either in whole or in part to his name.

Giorgio Vasari includes a biography of Masaccio in his Lives. From the book Lives of the artist

External links

• A Biography
• A website on the Artist
• Photos of five frescoes attributed to Masaccio