The Tribute Money by Masaccio

The Tribute Money by Masaccio, ca. 1427, fresco, Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria della Carmine, Florence

Click here to see a hand painted oil reproduction of Masaccio's Tribute Money.

For the first time since antiquity in Western art, we see the use of full perspective in The Tribute Money by Italian Renaissance artist, Masaccio. The Tribute Money by Masaccio is a fresco series of ca. 1427 in the Brancacci Chapel of the church of Santa Maria della Carmine in Florence.

The Tribute Money depicts a scene from Matthew's Gospel, that of the arrival of Jesus and the Apostles in Capernaum and a visit from the tax collector. The Tribute Money story is told here as three separate events happening at different times: first, the tax collector requests the tribute money to Rome, and Jesus tells Peter how to find it; second, Peter fishes as directed by Jesus and catches a fish in Lake Genezaret, then extracts a coin from the fish; third, Peter pays the tax collector with the coin (tribute money). Contemporaneous to the Tribute Money by Masaccio was a controversy over a proposed tax reform in Florence which was settled in 1427. The Biblical story referenced by The Tribute Money is meant to teach the legitimacy of paying taxes.

Also noteworthy in The Tribute Money is the innovative technique of the use of a single light source in this fresco series. The Tribute Money and Expulsion from Paradise are considered to be Masaccio's masterpieces.

Brenda Harness, Art Historian

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