For God so loved the world

Masaccio shows the giving itself: the Father stands behind the cross and holds its beam, presenting the Son to whoever steps in front of the wall. Velázquez two centuries later leaves everything else out. No landscape, no bystanders, only the Son before the dark.

The fresco is one of the earliest paintings constructed in strict central perspective; the painted chapel seems to open the wall of the church. Below the part shown here lies a painted skeleton with the inscription: I was once what you are, and what I am you will also be. Masaccio died at twenty-six, soon after he finished it.