480 Mary, cult of
Anjou. He painted altarpieces in San Gimignano, PISA,
and Orvieto. The end of his career, from 1340 onward,
was spent at the papal court in AVIGNON, where he met
PETRARCH. He died in 1344.
See alsoGOTHIC ART AND ARCHITECTURE; PAINTING.
Further reading: Cecilia Jannell, Simone Martini,
trans. Lisa Pelletti (Florence: Scala, 1989); Andrew Mar-
tindale, Simone Martini: Complete Edition (Oxford:
Phaidon, 1988); Gordon Moran and Michael Mallory,
Guido Riccio: A Guide to the Controversy for Tourists,
Scholars, Students, Art Librarians (Florence: Edizioni
Notizie d’Arte, 2000).
Mary, cult of (the Blessed Virgin) The cult devoted to
the Virgin Mary, called the cult of hyperduliain the Middle
Ages, was based on the important role played by Mary in
carrying out the incarnation enabling the redemption of
humanity by Jesus Christ. She was frequently present in
scenes and representations involving Christ and his divine
and human characteristics. The Virgin became a narrative
element leading to the central image of Christ. Mary was
particularly honored above the saints. Her cult grew to
consist of liturgical celebrations; feast days; manifestations
of collective piety in her honor such as PILGRIMAGESand
CONFRATERNITIES; and private invocation and homage per-
sonal and devotion. Ideas and doctrines about her perpet-
ual VIRGINITY, her own immaculate conception free of
original SIN, and the ASSUMPTIONof her body into HEAVEN
were discussed in the Middle Ages but only partially
accepted. The ANNUNCIATIONof her miraculous pregnancy
with the future Christ was a common theme in medieval
art. She was the great maternal mediator, intercessor, or
advocate who could obtain answers to prayers from GOD.
This was a much-promoted advocate and theme in liturgi-
cal activities, artistic representation, and pastoral care.
Further reading:Hilda C. Graef, Mary: A History of
Doctrine and Devotion(New York: Sheed & Ward, 1964);
Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Mary through the Centuries: Her
Place in the History of Culture(New Haven, Conn.: Yale
University Press, 1996); George H. Tavard, The Thousand
Faces of the Virgin Mary(Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical
Press, 1996).
Masaccio, Tomasso di Giovanni di Simone Cassai
(Slovenly, Awkward, Bad-Tempered Tom) (1401–
ca. 1428)Florentine painter
Tomasso was born at Castel San Giovanni near Arezzo on
December 21, 1401. He moved to FLORENCE, where he
was exposed to the art of BRUNELLESCHIand DONATELLO.
Documented there from 1418 he entered the painters’
guild on January 7, 1422. Masaccio’s new poeticism was
clear in one of his first works, a triptych with Madonna
and Saintsin the church of San Giovenale at Cascia in
- In 1424 he began working with Masolino
(1383–ca. 1440) on their first collaborative effort, Saint
Anne with Madonna and Child,now in the Uffizi Gallery
in Florence. Between 1425 and 1427, Masaccio collabo-
rated with Masolino on the decorations of the Brancacci
Chapel in the church of the Carmine at Florence. Also
from these years was the Trinityin the church of Santa
Maria Novella at Florence. The latter image was inserted
into an architectonic framework and with daring system
of perspective in relation to a spectator whose eye was set
at the height of the shelf on which knelt the two donors.
Soon after completing this, he moved to ROME, where he
died in 1428 at age 27, perhaps poisoned.Masaccio’s Trinity with the Virgin, Saint John, and Two
Donorswith a skeleton on tomb below, a fresco (1425),
Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy (Scala / Art Resource)