The Brancacci Project - Phase One

Snite Museum of Art

University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana

Opened Sunday, June 26, 2005

The Brancacci Project - Phase One

This work is a re-interpretation, or new depiction, of the fresco cycle painted in the Brancacci Chapel of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence, Italy. Commissioned by Felice Brancacci, the frescoes were painted by Tommaso Cassai, better know as Masaccio, and Tommaso di Cristofano di Fino, better know as Masolino between 1424 and 1427. They were then later completed by Filippino Lippi in the early1480s. Long considered one of the major monuments in the history of art, and considered by many to be the initiation of the Italian Renaissance, the Brancacci Chapel has greatly influenced artists since its inception. Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael and innumerable others studied and worked from the frescoes. The scenes depict stories from the life of Saint Peter, and as became relatively common practice, many of the figures of these biblical stories were painted in contemporary Italian dress and locales. But these were real people representing religious episodes. These were not romanticised versions of saints and saintly acts that was common practice during the earlier Gothic era, but represented a new humanism that became the Renaissance ideal. My intent in these paintings has been to use contemporary North American persons, dress and locales to re-interpret these Renaissance depictions of Biblical stories. I have retained the original scale and the exact same compositional elements with the side walls measuring 7 1⁄2 ft. by 22 1/2 ft, and the two back panels each measuring 7 1⁄2 ft. by 5 ft. The panels are painted with acrylic on canvas.

           Snite Museum Installation - Left Side                  Snite Museum Installation - Right Side

This project has been made possible with the assistance of a SISTAR grant from the Center For Academic Innovation of Saint Mary’s College, attained with Ms. Jennifer Trachy Hakes ('04) and Ms. Jill Feller ('98) in the spring of 2003, and a Faculty Research Grant from the same Center received in the spring of 2005. Since the original paintings were done by three artists, it seemed important that there be three of us working on this project. It has proven to be an excellent learning experience for each of us. Ms. Trachy worked on the project during an eight-week period in the summer of 2003. She graduated, has married, and is currently working in ceramics and expecting her first child in Arizona. Ms. Feller continued to work on the project until mid-summer of 2004 as time and circumstance allowed, She is currently continuing her graduate studies at Eastern Illinois University.

The paintings so far undertaken are depictions of the upper register of the cycle. Clockwise, from the upper left, these are: The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, The Tribute Money, Saint Peter Preaching to the Crowd, The Baptism of the Neophytes, The Healing of the Cripple and The Raising of Tabita, and The Temptation. Depending on which art historian one is reading the titles vary, but these titles are generally accepted as being adequately descriptive.

I plan to continue the project until its completion, and am currently looking for an underwriter and a permanent home for it. When time and funding permit I will undertake the lower register, and hope to construct and paint some of the architectural detail immediately surrounding the frescoes. It is not my intent to completely duplicate the entire chapel, but to give homage to three great painters, and the masterful work that they created together.

The beginning of the lower register is currently underway.

Left Side - Adam & Eve Driven                                                    Right Side - The Temptation

From Paradise                                                                               or The Fall

More Images and information will be shortly forthcoming. This has been a great project so far, and I greatly look forward to beginning Phase Two and installing the entire project for whomever would like to underwrite its cost and provide a location. If interested, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Many thanks to the Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame for hosting Phase One, and many thanks to the 62 models who posed for these panels. There will be need for many more to complete the lower register.  The only person who did not pose for the upper register was the Christ figure in The Tribute Money, and for that I used Massacio's rendering as the source in direct homage to him. More to come.......

Direct comparison between the originals by Masaccio and Masolino and my versions.

The Baptism

 Saint Peter Preaching

The Temptation or The Fall, and The Expulsion from Paradise

Healing the Beggar and the Raising of Tabitha