Masaccio's first work for which evidence exists is the Pisa Polyptych, painted for the Carmelite church in Pisa in 1426, but now dismembered and largely lost. His major surviving works are the frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel in Florence. This book reproduces much of Masaccio's work in colour.

In 1440, on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Florence unexpectedly defeated Milanese forces near the town of Anghiari in eastern Tuscany. Nicholas A. Eckstein reveals the impact of this celebrated victory on Florentine public life and how it could have triggered the custodians of the Brancacci Chapel, the Carmelite friars, to seek the completion of frescoes by Masolino (c.1383-c.1436) and Masaccio (1401-c.1428). Today, tens of thousands of people visit the Brancacci Chapel annually to gaze at the brilliant frescoes of Saint Peter's life. Universally recognized as a canonical masterpiece of the Florentine Renaissance, these glowing murals span the interior in long panels. The first serious examination to position the frescoes at the heart of Tuscan society and culture, Painted Glories teems with fascinating characters and intrigue. In swiftly paced prose, Eckstein explores the chapel's history, medieval culture, and art patronage, progressively peeling back the story's layers amid the tumultuous politics of the 15th-century Florentine state.

Following a long and careful restoration, the breathtaking beauty and drama of the Early Renaissance frescoeds in the Brancacci Chapel of the Church of Santa Mara del Carmine, Florence, have been fully revealed for the first time in centuries.

The story behind the timeless Renaissance revealed.