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Greg Kegel Art History Research Paper: Masaccios Holy Trinity Painted in 1425, Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simones

Holy Trinity was utterly groundbreaking. Prior to this time, religious art was created to carefully avoid becoming religious idols which were expressly forbidden by the Catholic faith. As a result, much of the art of this time period was designed to serve as more of a guideline for the viewers own imaginations. Figures, most notably, had very little detail and, more specifically, the presence facial characteristics were few and far between. To differentiate, commoners were made the smallest people in the painting, followed by priests and saints, followed by Christ himself as the largest in the artwork. God himself was rarely depicted as more than just His hand or as some ethereal being lording down above all. Even the idea of depicting both the holy trinity and the crucifixion of Christ in the same scene was unheard of. Masaccio lived a relatively short life, but still helped to bring about the transition from Gothic to more humanist art, and in this way could be viewed as one of the fathers of the Renaissance era. Born on December 21, 1401, in a small Tuscan town, he came from humble backgrounds, but quickly moved to Florence to study painting. While there is no record of this training, it is known that by 1422 he was a registered master in Florence, which is why this specific work hangs in the citys church of Santa Maria Novella. He died shortly thereafter under unknown circumstances, but it has been speculated that the black plague may have taken his life in the autumn of 1428 when he was only 27 years old. After his death, all Florentine painters were required to study his frescoes extensively as a part of their own training.

One of the most striking things about this painting is the life-size characters who seem to occupy physical space. This immediately gives the viewer more of a connection than the prior art because the scene is so very real looking. Notably, even God himself is portrayed for one of the first times as a figure with human form. He is depicted with his feet firmly planted on the ground making a striding, mechanical motion towards the viewer. This lies in stark contrast to earlier depictions of God who was usually depicted as a free-floating being and above the laws of nature. Additionally, Masaccio was one of the first to employ a scientific-based one-point perspective that puts the viewer in a very specific physical relationship with the work. The vanishing point of the perspective lines lies just at the feet of Christ on the cross, putting the viewer in a submissive position from which to look up in awe at the events transpiring and the commissioners above them. This also serves to create the illusion that a new chapel had been cut into the very wall of the church. The illusion is so realistic, in fact, that viewers of the time could well have believed the Holy Trinity was right there in the church with them, which is surely inspiring of ones faith in God. While he did away with many of the conventions of the time, Massacio still utilized traditional components to convey his message to the viewer. The hierarchy of sanctity in the work, for example, is very apparent through a number of artistic devices. First, in the very architecture depicted in the work one can see the relegation of importance. At the bottom of the fresco, with the viewers and the memento mori, are Doric style columns, the most basic of the ancient Roman architecture. A little higher up next to the commissioners, saints, and Christ himself are the slightly more complex Ionic columns. Finally, at the very top of the painting near the depiction of God are Corinthian columns, which emphasize his position as the most important and glorious figure in the fresco. This coincides with the ways that column

architecture had been used throughout ancient Rome and continued into the early centuries after Christ. Masaccio also used the physicality and positioning of the figures themselves to emphasize this hierarchy. The actual height and depth of each figure is significant to their position in the hierarchy. Death is at the bottom and the closest figure to the viewer, followed by the commissioners, who are just below and in front of the saints, who stand beneath Christ above whom God looks out on the audience. Size too plays a role in this emphasis. God and Christ are by far the largest figures in the painting, as is fitting since they serve as the main subject, while the figures of the saints are slightly smaller, and the commissioners are the smallest. In order to obey the laws of perspective however, each figure that is further back from the eyes of the viewer should be getting proportionally smaller. To keep the realism of the work, while simultaneously using these traditional methods to emphasize the hierarchy of sanctity, Masaccio came up with a brilliant solution. The figures of the saints appear to slouch ever so slightly with grief while the commissioners themselves are down on their knees praying. Had they been portrayed as standing up, they would be just as large as Christ in the center, but in this way they can appear smaller, and less important, while still seeming to be very physically real. This fresco is widely known as an example of early scientific perspective, but as many published works mention, it is an imperfect one. Some suggest that Masaccio simply did not fully understand how perspective worked, which is reasonable since it was very new at the time. However, further research into the mathematics behind the depiction reveal that perhaps this is just a combination of two different mathematical systems. It has been suggested that the reason for the abnormalities in the perspective is that Masaccio incorporated the calibrations of an astrolabe, used for mapping the stars by early astronomers, into the work with the intent of

presenting a sort of background mysticism beyond the stark realism of the work. In this way, the time-bound depiction of the holy trinity is merged with the timelessness and supernaturalism of the underlying universe, which was believed to have been divinely ordered by God. The depiction of God, in fact, is the most obvious benefactor of these two over-lapping systems, but it is not at all apparent on first glance. The viewer sees the left foot of God planted firmly on the edge of the narrow ledge that approaches the viewer at approximately the same depth as Christ. The right foot of God, in contrast, lies pressed against the back of the wall at the far end of the chapel. Going off of the life-size depictions in the foreground, this means that God occupies approximately nine feet of space almost as if he were a giant caterpillar. Yet at the same time, God does not actually appear to be stretched out like this, and nothing looks immediately amiss until one studies the cavernous ceiling above him. Masaccio in this way depicts the idea of God being in more than one place at any one time without detracting from the very real depiction of the Supreme Being. This and other slight anomalies are quite suitable for a painting which is supposed to depict one of the central mysteries of the Christian faith, the holy trinity. Even in the work, the three aspects of the trinity are simultaneously separate figures of God, Christ, and the dove, whilst all being physically connected to each other as a single being. Within the scene itself, Masaccio continues to play with the viewers mind in an attempt to keep the focus on religious introspection. Mary can be seen presenting her son on the cross with a moving gesture which both directs the viewers eyes to the centerpiece of the work, while also conveying Marys grief and resignation to her role as a mediator between Christ and his subjects. Christ in turn is looking down from the cross towards the memento mori lying on the bottom, which serves as a reminder of physical death for everyman. The small mound of dirt beneath the cross represents Golgotha, which is not only where Jesus was crucified, but also

where Adam is supposedly buried. Thus the skeleton could represent Adam, the father of all men, warning the viewer, you are what I once was and you will be what I am now. The skeleton stares lifelessly back up the work past Christ, drawing the viewers attention to God himself who, in contrast to death, holds up the cross to the viewer seeming to promise eternal life after death. He himself, like Mary, seems to stare directly into the viewers soul, which almost brings the attention away from the piece and back onto the audience. Upon first glance, the viewers eyes naturally survey the glory of the holy trinity and the contrast of life against death, before being forced to look back on themselves in a moment of reflection on what they have just seen and contemplate ones purity of faith. Given the context of this course, my initial reaction upon viewing this work was to try to draw connections with the themes of gift and sacrifice. The suffering of the sacrifice and the glory of the ascension of Christ are shown simultaneously, which is partially why I found this painting to be so moving and full of emotion even if only in my minds eye. It is in this way, too, that Christs sacrifice is presented to the viewer as a gift. After all, he gave his life so that we may have the opportunity at eternal peace and happiness. I then, of course, looked down at my favorite part of the fresco, the memento mori which is just cool because it is so realistically depicted with strands of flesh peeling off of the bones. To me, this skeleton offered more than a way to satisfy my curiosity regarding gore, but seemed to almost present a further challenge to the viewer what are you going to do with Christs gift, your life? Since there can be no escape from death it reminded me not to get caught up in the raw emotion of the piece, and inspired a period of self-reflection on the quality of my own life. While this effect may originally have been intended to take place in light of resolving ones sins, I got caught up in thinking primarily of how I could better take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime experience abroad.

Despite a clearly intended religious message, Masaccios work continues to be a timeless masterpiece that can speak to people of all creeds and eras. For this reason it has been called one of the most intellectually complex and deeply moving pictures ever painted by art historian and critic Jack Flam. In one painting, Masaccio blurs the lines between reality and the supernatural whilst simultaneously creating one of the most realistic depictions ever seen of the time. It emphasizes eternal themes for all such as life, death, and the afterlife, while promoting a very physical presence of the holy trinity in the church, which must have renewed the faith of millions upon millions of Catholics. To end with another Jack Flam quote that was just too encapsulating to leave out, it is both the most rational and the most mysterious of images. I know that every time I look back at the piece, like a good movie, I see something brand new that inspires thought.

Works Consulted
Flam, Jack. "A Convergence of Faith and Reason." The Wall Street Journal. N.p., 18 Feb. 2012. Web. <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204136404577211450920419794.html>. "Masaccio's Holy Trinity." Smart History. Khan Academy, n.d. Web. <http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/holy-trinity-santa-maria-novella-florence.html>.

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