Tags
1400s, 15th Century, art, Artists, Florence, Italy, Masaccio, Painters, Paintings, Religious, Renaissance
Name: Tommaso Cassai Masaccio
Work: Painter
Born: 1401
Died: 1428
Hometown: Florence, Italy
Period: Early Italian Renaissance
Influences: Giotto, Brunelleschi, classicalism, Donatello
What I have learnt about his work in general:
Another innovative artist at the start of the Renaissance – moving away from the International Gothic style and its elaborate ornamentation and symbolism, Masaccio aimed for naturalism in his (typically religious) art. He painted lifelike, tangible figures with intense, realistic emotions and soft, humanistic colours. He conveyed a strong sense of three-dimensionality as one of the first painters to use mathematically calculated linear perspective and the vanishing point, as well as through chiaroscuro (strong contrasts between light and dark).
Holy Trinity (fresco), Masaccio
1427
Santa Maria Novella, Florence
My interpretation of this painting:
This painting depicts the Holy Trinity, with Christ in the centre as The Way to heaven and the Father. In contrast with typical depictions Christ and the Father (who are usually much larger than other human figures in the scene), they are portrayed more human and realistic, almost bringing them down to earth into the world of the viewer. Masaccio’s mastery of perspective is clearly evident – the eye is drawn up by the verticality and depth of the architectural structure – from the skeleton at the base up towards the faces of Christ and the father, which seems to demonstrate that Christ is The Way from death to eternal life. The shading and colours of the structure and the figures are lifelike and tangible with subtle variations, which further increases the realism and sense of depth. Masaccio’s Classical influence is also seen in the Classical columns and capitals.
The Arts and Culture Fix 
Good luck with your studies – you may want to check out Masaccio’s frescoes at the Brancacci Chapel, without which we might be deprived of Michelangelo, at least, as we know him today.
Masaccio, in fact, was not trying to bring the Holy Trinity down to earth. They remain in the celestial cathedral, clearly separated from the living patrons. What he did, actually, was to show that the patrons are a link from the viewer’s reality to the fresco’s world by painting a hem of the patron’s wife (in blue, to the right) over the architectural details above the tomb. If you can find a large-resolution pic, you’ll see it.
Hi thanks for your comment! I’ve seen the Expulsion before from the Brancacci Chapel but I actually hadn’t looked at all of the frescoes as a whole, and you’re right you can definitely see their influence on Michelangelo!
And I hadn’t seen it that way but that makes sense, perhaps Masaccio wanted to portray Christ as fully human while also showing that he was separate from this world in raising him above the living patrons.