The Disputation with Simon Magus and the Crucifixion of Peter

The Disputation with Simon Magus and the Crucifixion of Peter (1481–1482), in the Brancacci Chapel of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence, represents Filippino Lippi's completion of the fresco cycle begun by Masaccio and Masolino half a century earlier. Lippi was commissioned to finish the chapel in 1481, working respectfully within the framework established by Masaccio's revolutionary naturalism while adding the increased complexity of late fifteenth-century figure and spatial arrangement. The scene of Peter's inverted crucifixion and his confrontation with the Magician Simon is handled with considerable dramatic energy.

Lippi had to harmonise his style with Masaccio's foundational work in the chapel — no small challenge given the fifty-year gap and Masaccio's revolutionary gravitas. He manages this by restraining his more ornate decorative tendencies, adopting heavier figure types and simpler spatial arrangements than he used in his altarpiece work.