Early Life and Formation in the Umbrian Landscape Tommaso di Cristoforo Fini, known to history as Masolino da Panicale, emerged from the artistic milieu of late 14th-century Italy—a period poised between the graceful elegance of the Gothic tradition and the burgeoning naturalism of the Renaissance. Born around 1383, likely in the small Umbrian village of Panicale (though some scholars suggest a Tuscan origin), Masolino’s early life re…