The Panel Paintings of Masaccio and Masolino: The Role of Technique

The book is the result of a study begun in 1995 of the panel paintings of Masolino and Masaccio. A team from the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Italy, joined by colleagues from the National Gallery in London and the Philadelphia Museum of Art visited museums in Europe and the United States that own paintings by these two Renaissance masters. This research, supported by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, investigated the painting technique of the artists in ways that even a few years before would not have been possible. The study has led to a greater understanding of the nature of the collaboration of the two artists and the chronology of their work. Fine examples of Masaccio underdrawing have been revealed, as well as Masolino's innovative use of oil mediums. The Panel Paintings of Masolino and Masaccio includes an introduction by Carl Brandon Strelke summarising the results and reviewing the usefulness of laboratory research for art history. A major essay by Roberto Bellucci and Cecilia Frosinini int