Empoli mounts largest-ever Masolino exhibition for 600th anniversary of fresco cycle

The Museo della Collegiata di Sant'Andrea and the Church of Santo Stefano degli Agostiniani in Empoli will host the largest exhibition ever dedicated to Masolino da Panicale, opening April 6 and running through July 7, 2024. Titled 'Empoli 1424. Masolino e gli albori del Rinascimento' and curated by Andrea De Marchi, Silvia De Luca, and Francesco Suppa, the show marks the 600th anniversary of Masolino's fresco cycle 'Stories of the True Cross' painted in 1424 in the church's right transept. It brings together the greatest number of Masolino's works ever assembled, including loans from the Uffizi, Bargello, Vatican Pinacoteca, Musée Ingres in Montauban, Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence, Palazzo Venezia in Rome, and the Museo di San Matteo in Pisa. The exhibition also features works by contemporaries Gherardo Starnina, Lorenzo Monaco, and Giovanni Toscani to contextualize the transition from Gothic to Renaissance, alongside sculptures by Donatello. Masolino, who collaborated with Masaccio on the Brancacci Chapel (completed 1428) and later worked for Cardinal Branda Castiglione in Rome and Castiglione Olona, is presented as a pivotal figure bridging late Gothic and early Renaissance. The project, supported by Fondazione CR Firenze, builds on recent research into Empoli's artistic heritage.