Masaccio, "The Tribute Money"

Masaccio painted "The Tribute Money" in at Santo Maria Del Carmine in 1427, using oil paint on a streched canvas. Masaccio had chosen oil as the paint for this picture because of how smooth the paint made the people, building, and mountains look. He also used the concept of perspective to bring focus onto the image of Jesus, while drawing attention away from the mountains in the background, which he would add less detail to in order to make it look like the mountains were farther away. Masaccio also used the light and shadow effects, also known as chairoscuro, in order to draw more attention to the subjects of the painting, rather than the background. Finally, Masaccio's use of the artistic technique of pyramid configuration, which brings attention to the center of the painting, brings the painting together by drawing everyone's attention to the crowd outside of the building and, as a result, to Jesus.