Masaccio's 'Trinity'

A collection of essays on Masaccio's Trinity, first published in 1998.

Rona Goffen (Edited by)

9780521461504, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 January 1998

178 pages, 30 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm, 0.43 kg

Six contributors here examine one of the definitive paintings of the Italian Renaissance. Renowned for the grandeur of its characterisations, both sacred and mortal, for the perspectival illusion of its monumental architectural setting, and for its compelling depiction of a human skeleton, the fresco was famous from the time it was painted in the 1420s, and remembered despite its having been hidden from view for nearly two centuries. This 1998 volume considers the Trinity in its historical and spiritual contexts, its relation to the symbolism of the Trinity, and its liturgical function in the great Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella. Also emphasised are the extraordinary features of the painting, especially its system of spatial illusionism, its problematic state of conservation, and the conception of time and space that the artist masterfully visualised.

Introduction: Masaccio's Trinity and the Early Renaissance Rona Goffen
1. The Florentine elite in the early fifteneenth century Gene Brucker
2. Masaccio's 'Trinity' and the Letter to the Hebrews Rona Goffen
3. Masaccio's Fresco technique and Problems of Conservation Ornella Casazza
4. The Perspective Construction of Masaccio's 'Trinity' Fresco and Medieval Astronomical Graphics Jane Andrews Aiken
5. Time and timeless in Quattrocento painting Yves Bonnefoy
6. Masaccio's skeleton: Art and Anatomy in Renaissance Italy Katharine Park.

Subject Areas: History of art & design styles: c 1400 to c 1600 [ACN]