The Cappella Brancacci (the Brancacci Chapel, in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine in the Oltrarno quarter of Florence) contains the frescoes that Giorgio Vasari, writing in 1550 in his Lives of the Artists, described as the school where every significant Renaissance painter trained. Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, Botticelli: all of them came to the Brancacci Chapel to study the specific innovations that Masaccio achieved between 1424 and 1428, before his death at 27. These innovations were: the consistent single-source illumination of all figures in a fresco scene (before Masaccio, light in Italian fresco was symbolic rather than directional). The weight and mass of figures who appear to occupy real three-dimensional space rather than float on a gold ground. And the specific emotional psychological expressiveness of faces and bodies that had not appeared in European painting since ancient Rome. The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise (the small lunette at the entrance to the chapel, usually reproduced in detail) is the specific work: Adam covering his face in shame with his hands, Eve screaming with open mouth, the first time in Western art that painted figures express internal psychological states through bodily posture with the specific conviction of observed human behavior.
How do you want to see it?
Tuscany, ItalyCompare the same experience on GetYourGuide and Viator, save what you like to My Trip, share it, and book when you’re sure. Nearest to this page first.
Official tickets in Florence — mobile tickets by Tiqets. We may earn a commission
The Brancacci Chapel: The Complete Guide
The Fresco Cycle: Three Painters, One Program
The Brancacci Chapel frescoes are the work of three painters across several decades: Masolino da Panicale (the senior painter, began the commission around 1424, his style is the elegant Gothic International style that the generation before Masaccio perfected: beautiful, idealized figures without psychological weight).Masaccio (the revolutionary, who began working on the same commission and produced figures that make Masolino's appear to belong to a different century, despite being painted on adjacent walls simultaneously). And Filippino Lippi (who completed the cycle in the 1480s, 50 years after Masaccio's death, working in a style influenced by Masaccio but distinctly of the later Florentine Renaissance). The comparison between the three hands on the same chapel walls is the most accessible single-location demonstration of the Italian Renaissance stylistic revolution available anywhere in Italy.
Brancacci Chapel: skip-the-line & guided tours
Compare skip-the-line tickets and guided visits for Brancacci Chapel.
See availability & prices →Compare tours on Viator →We may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.The Specific Works
The Tribute Money (Masaccio, central left register): the largest and most compositionally ambitious of the Masaccio sections. Christ and the Apostles at the center, the tax collector on the right, Peter extracting the coin from the fish's mouth on the left, and Peter paying the tax at the right. The specific innovation: the twelve apostle figures in the central group are painted with individual physiognomies and specific light-based volume that no painter before Masaccio had achieved. The landscape background is the first true atmospheric landscape in Italian painting, the Arno hills behind the figures are rendered in aerial perspective, distant and hazy, rather than as flat decorative backdrop. The Expulsion of Adam and Eve (Masaccio, entrance lunette): the most emotionally intense work. Note the contrast with Masolino's adjacent Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (same wall, same scale, same subject), the two panels are the most concentrated available comparison between the pre-Masaccio and post-Masaccio representational worlds.
Booking the Brancacci Chapel
Timed entry is mandatory, book at musefirenze.it or at the Santa Maria del Carmine church ticket office. Maximum 30 visitors per 15-minute slot. Advance booking essential in peak season (April-October). Available online with 24 hours advance notice in winter. Combined ticket with the Palazzo Vecchio and other Florentine civic museums provides modest savings. The 15-minute slot is strictly enforced. Arrive at least 10 minutes before your entry time. Photography without flash is permitted. Video is not.
Q&A: Brancacci Chapel Florence
How long do I need in the Brancacci Chapel?
The chapel is small, the total fresco surface is visible from the central viewing position, and the 15-minute slot is adequate for a first visit if you have prepared by studying the specific works in advance. For a serious engagement with the frescoes: ask for a 30-minute slot (available for groups or educational visits) or plan two consecutive bookings. The specific Brancacci viewing strategy: stand in the center of the chapel and let your eyes adjust to the dim light (the chapel has controlled illumination to protect the frescoes). Then work from the entrance lunettes (the Expulsion and the Masolino Paradise comparison) clockwise through the narrative cycle.
