Expulsion of adam and eve from eden
Painted on Florence’s Brancacci Chapel, Masaccio’s Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden exemplifies his role as the “founding father” of Renaissance painting. In this painting, Masaccio breaks from medieval traditions and realistically portrays Adam and Eve as individuals with strong emotions. This work captures the essence of Renaissance themes – the rise of the individual, the dignity of man, and the possibilities of human potential. While previous artists generally painted Adam and Eve as idealized, emotionless and even clothed figures, Masaccio’s detailed treatment of the nude anatomy and individual anguish seen in the detailed upper-right image above set a course for the humanistic direction Renaissance art.
It is well documented that the great artist and later teacher of Michelangelo, Domenico Ghirlandaio, regarded Masaccio’s painting as the standard for Renaissance religious scenes. In the lower-right image above, the influence of Masaccio’s Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden can be seen clearly in Michelangelo’s famous Forbidden Fruit in Rome’s Sistine Chapel. A quote attributed to Masaccio highlights how his art broke from the God-like ideals of the Middle Ages and embraced the realism and humanism of the Renaissance: “I painted, and my picture was life-like. I gave my figures movement, passion, soul – they breathed”(Erickson 136). Michelangelo, and many other well-known artists of the Renaissance, owe much of their success to the groundbreaking works of Masaccio.
It is well documented that the great artist and later teacher of Michelangelo, Domenico Ghirlandaio, regarded Masaccio’s painting as the standard for Renaissance religious scenes. In the lower-right image above, the influence of Masaccio’s Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden can be seen clearly in Michelangelo’s famous Forbidden Fruit in Rome’s Sistine Chapel. A quote attributed to Masaccio highlights how his art broke from the God-like ideals of the Middle Ages and embraced the realism and humanism of the Renaissance: “I painted, and my picture was life-like. I gave my figures movement, passion, soul – they breathed”(Erickson 136). Michelangelo, and many other well-known artists of the Renaissance, owe much of their success to the groundbreaking works of Masaccio.