Brancacci Chapel visitor guide — everything you need to know before visiting

At a glance

Address

Piazza del Carmine 14, Florence (entrance in the cloister)

Open

Every day except Tuesday

Hours

Mon, Wed–Sat 10:00–17:00; Sun 13:00–17:00

Last entry

45 minutes before closing

Visit length

Up to 30 minutes, groups of up to 30

Saturday to Monday

Combined ticket with the Fondazione Salvatore Romano

Free

Under 18s with ID (time still booked)

Where the chapel is

The Brancacci Chapel is inside Santa Maria del Carmine, the Carmelite church on Piazza del Carmine in the Oltrarno, the part of Florence on the south bank of the Arno. The chapel sits at the end of the church's transept, but you do not reach it through the nave. Visitors enter the museum through the convent cloister next to the church, at Piazza del Carmine 14, where the ticket office and information point are on the ground floor.

The square is broad and open, used partly as a car park, and the church front is bare rough stone because its marble facing was never added. Look for the cloister door rather than the main church portal. From there the route to the chapel is short and signed.

What the chapel is

The chapel belonged to the Brancacci family. In 1423 Felice Brancacci, a merchant back from an embassy to Cairo, commissioned a cycle of frescoes of the life of St Peter, his family's patron saint. Two scenes of Adam and Eve on the entrance pilasters frame the story, setting Peter's work as the road back from the Fall.

The paintings run in two registers on three walls. The vault and the upper lunettes, once also painted, were repainted in the 18th century and the original scenes there are lost. On the altar stands a 13th-century panel of the Madonna del Popolo, placed there after the Brancacci were exiled in 1436 and the chapel was rededicated.

Three painters, sixty years

Masolino da Panicale, then about forty, and Masaccio, in his early twenties, began work around 1424. Masolino left for Hungary in September 1425 and Masaccio carried on alone. In 1427 the work stopped; Masaccio went to Rome and died there in the summer of 1428, aged 26.

When Felice Brancacci was exiled in 1436 for siding against Cosimo de' Medici, the chapel stayed half finished. Only after the family was readmitted to Florence in 1480 was Filippino Lippi, son of Masaccio's early follower Fra Filippo Lippi, brought in. He completed the cycle in 1481–83 and took care to match his colours and figures to the older scenes.

The scenes to find first

Start at the entrance. On the left pilaster is Masaccio's Expulsion from the Garden of Eden; opposite is Masolino's gentle Temptation of Adam and Eve. Then look up at the left wall for The Tribute Money, the chapel's largest scene, where Peter is shown three times in one landscape.

Behind the altar, Masaccio's Baptism of the Neophytes sits on the upper register to the right of the window, with his St Peter Healing with his Shadow and The Distribution of Alms and Death of Ananias below. On the right wall, Masolino's Healing of the Cripple and Raising of Tabitha sits above Filippino Lippi's Disputation with Simon Magus and Crucifixion of St Peter. Bottom left, the Raising of the Son of Theophilus is half Masaccio, half Filippino.

Opening days and hours

The chapel opens every day except Tuesday. From Monday to Saturday, apart from Tuesday, it opens 10:00 to 17:00; on Sunday it opens 13:00 to 17:00. Last entry is 45 minutes before closing time.

It also closes on New Year's Day, 7 January, Easter Sunday, 16 July, 15 August and Christmas Day. Online entry times run from 10:15 to 15:45, and on Sunday from 13:15 to 15:45. The first Sunday of each month is not sold online, so we cannot book it. The museum occasionally closes for works at short notice; we tell you if your booked date is affected.

How the half-hour entry works

Access is by groups of up to 30 people, for a maximum of 30 minutes. Every ticket carries a date and an entry time, and the museum expects you to keep it. Arrive a few minutes before your time so you are at the gate when your group is called.

The museum releases entry times in blocks of dates and does not announce when the next block opens. In October 2026 dates to 31 December 2026 were on sale and 2027 had not been released. If your date is not on sale yet, or is full, our waiting list holds it without payment and we book it when places open. Tickets are issued in your name and cannot be changed or cancelled once booked.

Saturday to Monday: the combined ticket

On Saturday, Sunday and Monday the museum sells only a combined ticket for the Brancacci Chapel and the Fondazione Salvatore Romano. Our fares on those days are that combined ticket, sold at the same entry times. You choose the chapel time; the Fondazione can be visited any time during its opening hours on the same day.

The Fondazione is in the old refectory of Santo Spirito, at Piazza Santo Spirito 29, a short walk east of the Carmine. It opens Saturday and Monday 11:00–17:00 and Sunday 13:00–17:00, with last entry 30 minutes before closing. Inside, Orcagna's 14th-century Crucifixion fills one wall above sculpture from Roman times to the 16th century, including pieces by Tino di Camaino and Donatello.

Fares, ID and free entry

We sell two fares: adult, for visitors aged 26 and over, and 18–25, for visitors aged 18 to 25 with ID showing their age. University students of any age with a current enrolment certificate also qualify for the 18–25 fare.

Under 18s enter free with ID, but they still need an entry time; tell us their ages at checkout and we add them to your booking at no charge. Children under 12 may visit only with an accompanying adult. Disabled visitors and one companion also enter free with priority access.

Getting to the Carmine

The Carmine is in the western Oltrarno. From Ponte Vecchio it is about 15 minutes on foot along the south bank, passing Piazza Santo Spirito. From Santa Maria Novella station allow about 20 minutes, crossing the river at Ponte alla Carraia, the nearest bridge.

Taxis can drop you on Piazza del Carmine. The old centre streets of the Oltrarno are narrow, so walking is usually the simplest way. Allow a margin: the time on your ticket is fixed.

At the gate and inside

Go straight to the museum entrance, not to the ticket desk, and show your e-ticket; staff validate it by its barcode. If you hold the 18–25 fare, or someone in your party enters free, bring the ID or certificate that proves it, because it is checked with the ticket.

Only guide dogs and certified assistance dogs are admitted, with notice to the museums at least 15 days in advance. The multimedia guide rental is currently suspended, so read up beforehand; our guides to the frescoes are written for exactly that.

Accessibility

The museum lists the Brancacci Chapel as accessible. Disabled visitors are entitled to free priority entry for themselves and one companion where their disability certificate provides for it.

Write to us before you book and we will arrange the reservation with you, so that the free tickets and your companion's entry are set up correctly.

Frequently asked questions