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A.P. Art History

A.P. Art History

Masaccio: The Holy Trinity

Grunewald: The Isenheim Altarpiece (closed)

The Holy Trinity by Masaccio was done approximately 1428. It is a

superb example of Masaccio's use of space and perspective. It consists of

two levels of unequal height. Christ is represented on the top half, in a

coffered, barrel-vaulted chapel. On one side of him is the Virgin Mary,

and on the other, St. John. Christ himself is supported by God the Father,

and the Dove of the Holy Spirit rests on Christ's halo. In front of the

pilasters that enframe the chapel kneel the donors (husband and wife).

Underneath the altar (a masonry insert in the painted composition) is a

tomb. Inside the tomb is a skeleton, which may represent Adam. The

vanishing point is at the center of the masonry altar, because this is the

eye level of the spectator, who looks up at the Trinity and down at the

tomb. The vanishing point, five feet above the floor level, pulls both

views together. By doing this, an illusion of an actual structure is

created. The interior volume of this 'structure' is an tension of the

space that the person looking at the work is standing in. The adjustment

of the spectator to the pictured space is one of the first steps in the

development of illusionistic painting. Illusionistic painting fascinated

many artists of the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

The proportions in this painting are so numerically exact that one can

actually calculate the numerical dimensions of the chapel in the

background. The span of the painted vault is seven feet, and the depth is

nine feet. "Thus, he achieves not only successful illusion, but a

rational, metrical coherence that, by maintaining the mathematical

proportions of the surface design, is responsible for the unity and harmony

of this monumental composition." Two principal interests are summed up by

The Holy Trinity: Realism based on observation, and the application of

mathematics to pictorial organization.

All of the figures are fully clothed, except for that of Christ

himself. He is, however, wearing a robe around his waist. The figure is

"real"; it is a good example of a human body. The rest of the figures,

who are clothed, are wearing robes. The drapery contains heavy folds and

creases, which increases the effect of shadows. The human form in its

entirety is not seen under the drapery; only a vague representation of it

is seen. It is not at all like the 'wet-drapery' of Classical antiquity.

Mas

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