Virgin and Child with Saint Anne

Around 1424 in Florence, a painter barely into his twenties named Masaccio was doing something other artists had not quite dared. In this altarpiece for the church of Sant'Ambrogio, the Virgin and her child sit with real weight, modelled as solid bodies holding actual space, while Saint Anne leans over them from behind. The gentler, more decorative angels around the throne are largely by his older partner Masolino, whose style still belonged to the graceful Gothic manner. Set the two side by side and you can watch the change happening. Masaccio died only a few years later, not yet thirty, and this remains one of the earliest paintings anyone can securely credit to him.