Brancacci Chapel

This chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, in the Oltrarno, is sometimes called the Sistine Chapel of the early Renaissance. Its magnificent fresco cycle was painted in stages by Masolino, Masaccio and Filippino Lippi, but it is the powerfully moving contributions of the young Masaccio (who died at just 27 in Rome) that stand out, especially his Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, depicting a howling Eve and a mortified Adam being driven from paradise by a red-clad angel brandishing a sword, which will stay with you long after your visit. Closed Tuesdays.