An Analysis of Trinity with the Virgin, St John the Evangelist and Donors by Masaccio

Trinity with the Virgin, St John the Evangelist and Donors is an example of early 15^th Century Italian Renaissance Fresco Painting. It was painted to create the illusion of an architectural niche in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence containing a depiction of Christ being crucified. What makes this illusion effective is an outstanding use of perspective with a deep understanding of the viewers’ line of sight as they examine this work.

The painting portrays a niche that has been mathematically rendered to imitate how architecture empirically appears from the perspective of a viewer who is standing below the work with their eyes at the level of the bottom of the fresco. The orthogonals angle in and down from the upper corners of the painting to a vanishing point that is at that eye level and in the center of the painting. This appears as it would look to a viewer standing in a central position just in front of the painting if this were an actual architectural niche instead of a painting. The elements of the niche also appear smaller as they recede from the picture plain pushing the illusion even further into reality while the figures of the Lenzi family who were donors for this project and appear in front of the picture plain are painted larger than the interior figures and the architectural elements surrounding them are exploded from the elements within the picture plain. These feats of perspective illusion demonstrate soundly that Masaccio, though a very young man at the time, was well versed in Bruneschelli’s experiments in perspective and had mastered this relatively new concept in painting well enough to use these tools to create an incredible feat of mathematical perspective that worked effectively for the situation at hand.

The architecture is also interesting to note in this piece. Not only did Masaccio embrace the new perspective experiments being done by Bruneschelli but he also included Bruneschelli’s new approach to architecture using classical elements of architecture in new formations. The use of Corinthian Pilasters in conjunction with Doric topped narrow pillars supporting arches on four sides of the interior of the niche is certainly a nod to Bruneschelli’s Ospedale Degli Innocenti while not being exact replica. This leads one to postulate that Masaccio created this illusion from an architectural point of view as well rather than recording an already existing niche and filling it with the elements of his finished design. Perhaps if his career had been longer there may have been some more interesting architectural structures in Florence than already exists.

While the colors of the Trinity appear washed out and a little pastel, this is probably due to the fresco techniques and use of tempera paints as they were water based and could saturate the fresh plaster being layed down. Plaster being white, the colors would all tend to take on the appearance of pastels. That being said, the limitations inherent in the medium do not keep Masaccio from furthering the illusion of a window into this imaginary niche by capturing the appearance of light on his subjects. The light source is used consistently throughout the piece and appears to model the architecture and models with highlights and deep shadows to create three dimensionsal figures on the flat surface of the church wall. The folds of their clothing are represented to create rich, flowing fabrics while those of the crucified Christ appear as a thin rough fabric. The architecture is darker as it sinks further into the niche and some of the fine detail is obscured using techniques of atmospheric perspective. Masaccio has also painted the barrel shaped ceiling of the niche to show how light might reflect off of surfaces in this imagined world and lend a glow to this deep arch.

While this fresco painting is a powerful statement of religious faith and an example of rendering techniques that add weight and substance to the figures being pictured I believe the real strength of the work, and what makes it stand out in the history of painting is its representation of a solid understanding of what the world looks like. This has been coupled with how the appearance of the real world changes according to where it is being looked at from. Masaccio’s appreciation for perspective and the countless hours of planning that must have gone into creating this work have resulted in a work of art that epitomizes the art form.