The Brancacci Chapel

The frescoes in the famous Brancacci Chapel in Florence, begun by Renaissance masters Masaccio and Masolino and completed by Filippino Lippi in 1487, served as a training ground and inspiration to a generation of painters from Raphael to Michelangelo. Partially obscured by smoke from votive lamps, air pollution, varnish and the effects of a 1771 fire, the frescoes, including the Life of Saint Peter cycle, were restored in 1981-88. In this magnificent panoramic volume, the frescoes unfold sequentially, as if one were visiting the chapel. The 165 color plates and 27 black-and-white illustrations include dozens of facing-page spreads and reproductions of fresco details in actual size. In scholarly essays Baldini and Casazza, leaders of the restoration, describe the many artistic and technical discoveries unveiled by the project. (Dec.)