The Brancacci Chapel is a chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence, central Italy. It is sometimes called the "Sistine Chapel of the early Renaissance" for its painting cycle, among the most famous and influential of the period. Construction of the chapel was commissioned by Felice Brancacci and begun in 1422. The paintings were executed over the years 1425 to 1427. Public access is currently gained via the neighbouring convent, designed by Brunelleschi. The church and the chapel are treated as separate places to visit and as such have different opening times and it is quite difficult to see the rest of the church from the chapel.
The Tribute Money, fresco by Masaccio in the Brancacci Chapel.
Schematics of the Brancacci Chapel paintings.
The Temptation of Adam and Eve, by Masolino da Panicale.
The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden
A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type of these. Second, a chapel is a place of worship, sometimes interfaith, that is part of a building, complex, or vessel with some other main purpose, such as a school, college, hospital, palace or large aristocratic house, castle, barracks, prison, funeral home, cemetery, airport, or a military or commercial ship. Third, chapels are small places of worship, built as satellite sites by a church or monastery, for example in remote areas; these are often called a chapel of ease. A feature of all these types is that often no clergy were permanently resident or specifically attached to the chapel.
Chapel of St Michael and St George at St Paul's Cathedral in London
The Tsrviz Chapel in Armenia, one of the oldest chapels in the world
The Cappella Palatina in Palermo, Italy (pictured), and the Palatine Chapel in Aachen, two of the most famous palace chapels of Europe
Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart, a Catholic chapel on the campus of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.