The Life of Masaccio (Art History) Essay Example

The Life of Masaccio (Art History) Essay It was Masaccio, the youngest of all painters who were young before during and after him who, in his few youthful years, worked the miracle of awakening in painting, breathing life into it at last real and earthy, an urgency it had never had before. Libero de Liberi. Masaccio, originally named Tommaso Giovanni di Mone, was born in San Giovanni Valdarno, near Florence on December 21,1401 and died in Rome in 1428. He was thefirst great painter of the Italian Renaissance, whose innovations in the use of scientific perspective introduced the modern style in painting. Masaccio joined the Florentine painters guild in 1422.His remarkably individual style was unique and owed little to other painters, although Giotto influenced him along with the stronger influences of the architect Brunelleschi, and the sculptor Donatello, who were both his contemporaries in Florence. From Brunelleschi Masaccio acquired the knowledge of mathematical proportion that was necessary to his revival of the pri ncipals of scientific perspective which is evident in one of his most acclaimed frescoes The Trinity which is housed in the Santa Maria Novella in Florence. Masaccio painted The Trinity or The Holy Trinity as it is also known, around 1427 and it is the perfect example of how he mastered the art of mathematical proportion in relation to scientific perspective because of how the chamber stands behind the scene of Jesus being crucified. The chamber turns the background into a continuation of the real world because it looks so realistic. Masaccios use of scientific perspective is projected so accurately in terms of perspective principles[Hartt, F.Pg 206], that when it wasfirst done, Brunelleschi was held responsible for the actual painting which shows us what a powerful influence he had on Masaccio.Masaccios use of foreshortening on the rosettes on the ceiling, which were made to