MASACCIO
(b. 1401, San Giovanni Valdarno, d. 1428, Roma)

St Jerome and St John the Baptist

1428
Egg tempera on poplar, 125 x 59 cm
National Gallery, London

In 1478 Masaccio left Florence for Rome to work on the polyptych in Santa Maria Maggiore, interrupting the work on the Brancacci Chapel, but he only had time to begin the left hand side with the panel of St Jerome and St John the Baptist before he died aged only 27.

Once again Masaccio and Masolino worked together, but this time Masolino had to finish the job alone. The polyptych is no longer in its original place. The panels making up the front side were separated from the back ones. Although in the 17th century the six major panels were still in Rome in Palazzo Farnese, in the 18th century they were dispersed. The other five panels - all Masolino's works - are in London, Naples and Philadelphia. This panel is the only certain record left to us of Masaccio's activities in Rome.