St. Juvenal Triptych

Masaccio completed this triptych on April 23, 1422, when he was just twenty-one years old. The central panel shows the Madonna and Child enthroned with angels, while side panels depict Saints Blaise, Bartholomew, Anthony Abbot, and Julian. It is the first known painting to use geometric Renaissance perspective.

Lost for centuries in a small church near Florence, the triptych was rediscovered in 1961 and recognized as Masaccio's earliest work. The inscription at the bottom uses humanist letters rather than Gothic script, a first in European art. Now displayed at the Masaccio Museum in Reggello, near the church of San Giovenale where it was found.