MASOLINO DA PANICALE (1383-1447), Florentine painter, born at Panicale di Valdelsa, near Florence, is assumed to be identical with Tommaso, son of Aristoforo Fini. He was one of the most distinguished representatives of the Early Renais sance. There is nothing to confirm Vasari's statement that he was a pupil of Lorenzo Ghiberti, but the statement that he studied under Gherardo Stamina, a later Giottesque master, of whom little is known, is not unlikely. In 1423 he was admitted to the guild of speziali or druggists, to which painters belonged. The only authenticated works by Masolino were recovered from a coating of whitewash in 1843 at Castiglione d'Olona, near Varese. They consist of two series of frescoes, which he executed for Cardinal Branda Castiglione. The earlier work, in the choir vaulting of the church, represents scenes from the life of the Virgin. It is signed "Masolinus de Florentia pinxit," and was probably painted about 1423, when he was 4o years of age.
The later work, in a small baptistery adjoining the church, is dated 1435. These frescoes are adapted to the architecture of the interior. The serene conception, the light and harmonious colour scheme, the graceful movement and expression of the figures are essentially the result of the master's trecentist training, while the attempt, however primitive, to represent three-dimen sional space by applying the newly discovered laws of perspective, the study of the nude, and the individual character of the heads are inspired by the incoming Renaissance. The paintings are well preserved and constitute one of the finest monuments of Floren tine Art of that time.
Between 1424 and 1426 he worked in the Brancacci chapel, in the church of the Carmine at Florence. As Masaccio and, some
what later, Filippino Lippi also painted in this chapel, the dis cussion as to what particular share was done by each still con tinues, but the following paintings may, with a considerable degree of certainty, be attributed to Masolino : The "Preaching of St. Peter," the "Healing of the Cripple," the "Raising of Tabitha," and the "Fall of Adam and Eve." He later painted frescoes representing the "Crucifixion" and scenes from the Legends of St. Catherine and of St. Ambrogio, in the church of San Clemente at Rome, for the same Cardinal Branda, for whose Lombard home at Castiglione d'Olona he executed the works described above. The works at San Clemente show the influence of Masaccio, to whom they are sometimes ascribed. Among the few panel pictures which may be attributed to Masolino we must mention the two well preserved pictures in the museum at Naples, the "Madonna and Christ in Glory" and the "Founding of S. Maria Maggiore." Masolino's art shows a constant search after truthful repre sentation. Starting from the Giottesque tradition, he took part in the great naturalistic movement emanating from Florence. He probably learned much from his brilliant young pupil, Masaccio, whom he outlived by 20 years. But, while Masaccio belongs entirely to the Renaissance, Masolino never quite freed himself from the traditions of the preceding age.