About Masaccio
A Short Biography:
Just to note, not much is exactly known about Masaccio’s life, and most information about him is speculated.
In the year 1401, Tommaso Cassai was born in a town just outside of Florence, Italy, he is most commonly known as Masaccio. To jump into his art career, Masaccio moved to Florence around 1420, but the exact date is uncertain. By the time Masaccio was around the age of 21 he was a professional painter, and joined the painter’s guild in1422. Around this same time, Masaccio had begun working with the painter Tommaso di Cristofano di Fino who mostly went by the name Masolino da Panicale.
Masaccio and Masolino had worked with one another on several occasions. In 1424 they had begun to work on many frescoes for the Brancacci Chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence (Artble). Felice Brancacci had commissioned these works for the Chapel. Not long after the project started, Masolino left it for unknown reasons. Soon after Masolino left, Masaccio was commissioned to paint The Pisa Altarpiece. It is believed that Masaccio was working on the chapel and in Pisa at the same time. In 1427, Masaccio was commissioned to paint the Trinity, which is the piece that this page will be focusing on. He created The Holy Trinity for the Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella.
Masaccio lived a short life, and he died around the years of 1427 and 1428, around the age of twenty-seven. His cause of death is uncertain, but some believe he was poisoned by a jealous painter. Masaccio had no memorial service, and he was not properly buried until the year 1443. In 1443 he was buried at the Carmelite Church.(Artble)
Just to note, not much is exactly known about Masaccio’s life, and most information about him is speculated.
In the year 1401, Tommaso Cassai was born in a town just outside of Florence, Italy, he is most commonly known as Masaccio. To jump into his art career, Masaccio moved to Florence around 1420, but the exact date is uncertain. By the time Masaccio was around the age of 21 he was a professional painter, and joined the painter’s guild in1422. Around this same time, Masaccio had begun working with the painter Tommaso di Cristofano di Fino who mostly went by the name Masolino da Panicale.
Masaccio and Masolino had worked with one another on several occasions. In 1424 they had begun to work on many frescoes for the Brancacci Chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence (Artble). Felice Brancacci had commissioned these works for the Chapel. Not long after the project started, Masolino left it for unknown reasons. Soon after Masolino left, Masaccio was commissioned to paint The Pisa Altarpiece. It is believed that Masaccio was working on the chapel and in Pisa at the same time. In 1427, Masaccio was commissioned to paint the Trinity, which is the piece that this page will be focusing on. He created The Holy Trinity for the Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella.
Masaccio lived a short life, and he died around the years of 1427 and 1428, around the age of twenty-seven. His cause of death is uncertain, but some believe he was poisoned by a jealous painter. Masaccio had no memorial service, and he was not properly buried until the year 1443. In 1443 he was buried at the Carmelite Church.(Artble)
The Holy Trinity
About The Holy Trinity
Masaccio’s painting often goes by many names, common ones are the Trinity, The Holy Trinity, The Trinity with the Virgin, and The Holy Trinity, with the Virgin and Saint John, any use of these names will reference this painting. The reason two photos are shown above is because of quality reasons. Showing two different quality photos of the same painting allows a clearer view of the painting itself.
Details:
Date of Creation: 1427 Alternative Names: The Holy Trinity, The Trinity Height (cm):667.00; (in) 262.598 Length (cm):317.00; (in) 124.803 Medium: Tempera Subject: Figure Technique: Linear Perspective Framed: No Art Movement: Renaissance Created by: Tommaso Cassai Masaccio Current Location: Florence, Italy ("Trinity") |
The Holy Trinity is an
image of Jesus Christ getting crucified. The Trinity shows the process of humans
seeking salvation, which gives theme to this painting. What makes this painting
of Masaccio’s memorable is his use of realism and perspective, which will be
explained later on this page. Masaccio wanted to bring the natural world into
this painting through his use of light and objects. As one can tell, the
overall theme of this painting lies in religion, which was a common theme among
Masaccio. ("Trinity")
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Who and What
This section of the page will focus on the "who" and "whats" of The Holy Trinity; who is in this painting, what is going on, etc.
As seen in this photo, we have Jesus Christ being crucified with God behind him. Around God's neck we can see there is a white dove. This white dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit. With these three elements in the painting, they together complete the trinity. ("Trinity Story-Theme")
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Starting from the top of this painting, you will see God the Father. Masaccio plays with realism and humanism throughout the painting, and one way is through his painting of God. What makes this remarkable is that God is standing on his feet. If you look closely you can see his foot to the right of the photo. With him standing on his feet, it portrays God as a human. Masaccio did not paint God as a divine figure, but as a man. In Medieval art God was often portrayed as the divine power that he is, but in the Renaissance, Masaccio brought humanism to the role of God in art. (SmartHistory)
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Under the cross you can see the Virgin Mary to the right, and St. John to the left. One thing that stands out here is that the Virgin Mary is not portrayed by profile like St. John, but her face is fully shown. Both of them are praying, the only way a human can reach salvation is through prayer. Again, Mary’s position is inviting, and she is inviting the viewers to watch the crucifixion.
When it comes to the skeleton at the bottom of the photo, it represents a human’s journey to reach salvation. Human’s bodies decay, unlike Christ body, as seen, and they can reach salvation by rising through the prayers of the Virgin Mary and St. John. Another idea for this aspect of the painting is, “It is also possible that it represents the traditional medieval double chapel of Golgotha, where Jesus was supposedly crucified” ("Trinity Analysis"). The tomb would represent Adam’s, with the Crucifixion occurring above it. Adam here represents “all men as he sinned and therefore all of have sinned by original sin” ("Trinity Analysis"). This aspect of the painting leaves a moral lesion for its viewers, which is “We mortals will die but only through the Trinity can we achieve an afterlife”("Trinity Analysis"). The skeleton also reminds people of their fate, that life promises death.
The quote above the tomb reads:
"I once was what you are now, and what I am you also will be."
("Trinity Analysis", Flam)
When it comes to the skeleton at the bottom of the photo, it represents a human’s journey to reach salvation. Human’s bodies decay, unlike Christ body, as seen, and they can reach salvation by rising through the prayers of the Virgin Mary and St. John. Another idea for this aspect of the painting is, “It is also possible that it represents the traditional medieval double chapel of Golgotha, where Jesus was supposedly crucified” ("Trinity Analysis"). The tomb would represent Adam’s, with the Crucifixion occurring above it. Adam here represents “all men as he sinned and therefore all of have sinned by original sin” ("Trinity Analysis"). This aspect of the painting leaves a moral lesion for its viewers, which is “We mortals will die but only through the Trinity can we achieve an afterlife”("Trinity Analysis"). The skeleton also reminds people of their fate, that life promises death.
The quote above the tomb reads:
"I once was what you are now, and what I am you also will be."
("Trinity Analysis", Flam)
Perspective
In Masaccio’s life size painting of the Holy Trinity, he created a vanishing point, as outlined in the photos. One thing that stands out with his use of the vanishing point is that the point is quite low in the painting. The vanishing point is at the foot of the cross, just above the skeleton. This point would be eye-level to the observer. Looking at the photo, the patrons are closest to the viewer, and Christ and God are higher in the painting, which means they are also the farthest away from the viewer. This perspective gives a submissive view of the painting; the viewer would be looking up to see the Crucifixion, which is why the ceiling is visible.
The Holy Trinity was painted with the use of linear perspective, which was discovered by Brunelleschi. Masaccio was the first artist to take Brunelleschi discovery, and incoprirate it into art. Masaccio did this by adding depth to the photo and three dimension elements. For him to create this perspective, “one must draw a horizon line to connect the viewer's eye to a point in the "distance," like where the sky meets the ground. Horizontal lines called orthogonal lines are then drawn over the canvas or work space. The point where orthogonal lines meet is called the vanishing point” ("Trinity Analysis"). This explanation is illustrated in the side photo. ("Trinity Analysis")
The Holy Trinity was painted with the use of linear perspective, which was discovered by Brunelleschi. Masaccio was the first artist to take Brunelleschi discovery, and incoprirate it into art. Masaccio did this by adding depth to the photo and three dimension elements. For him to create this perspective, “one must draw a horizon line to connect the viewer's eye to a point in the "distance," like where the sky meets the ground. Horizontal lines called orthogonal lines are then drawn over the canvas or work space. The point where orthogonal lines meet is called the vanishing point” ("Trinity Analysis"). This explanation is illustrated in the side photo. ("Trinity Analysis")
About the Video:
"Empire of the Eye: The Magic of Illusion" The following video explores the perspective Masaccio used when painting The Holy Trinity. The video gives great insight to Masaccio's technique, and overall gives plenty of detail about the perspective used in this painting. |
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Architecture:
What also makes this painting memorable is Masaccio’s use of classical architecture. Much of the architecture included in this painting was borrowed from ancient Rome and Greece. In the photo to the left, it will illustrate the classical influence in the painting, and explain more about this element of this work. (SmartHistory) |
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About the Video:
Lastly, here is a video that will basically sum up everything mentioned on this page. This video consist of two speakers, Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, discussing The Holy Trinity and analyzing it and giving more insight to the meaning behind this great painting by Masaccio. |