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Holy Trinity Analysis Essay

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Holy Trinity Analysis Essay
Debra Patterson
Professor Brian Campbell
English Composition 1- 1102
24 February 2013
The Holy Trinity

In the fifteenth century art began to come alive. For decades sculptures had art pieces that depicted so much naturalism and depth, but Masaccio was one of the first artists to create the sense of naturalism and depth in a painting. The fresco painting Holy Trinity goes beyond telling a story and really brings a viewer into the painting. The viewer can feel the pain and emotion and understands the meaning in comparison to their own lives while feeling as if they are part of the painting because of the illusion you feel. Holy Trinity incorporates so many art techniques and brings renaissance art to a whole new level. Holy Trinity is often credited as the earliest known example of true one point linear perspective, (Smart History, 2013). Masaccio does an impeccable job of telling a story within a painting and doing so with a real life feel and understanding what he means by his artwork really brings the painting to life. Holy Trinity clearly shows Jesus in pain upon the cross inside a room. It gives the illusion of you looking in at Jesus and the crème pillars along the side of the room are embracing Jesus as they stretch to a beautiful red archway that extends into the room behind Jesus. The stretched archway behind Jesus is covered in crowned squares that give amazing depth to the room as they lead to another red archway in the distance behind Jesus. The red and crème pillars and archways are etched with a beautiful design that shows embellishments along the frame of the room which really represent a Roman era. Holy Trinity clearly shows Jesus in pain upon the cross, but more so he looks as though he is really there. This is a painting brought to life. Masaccio does such a great job of defining the muscle tone and showing the muscles almost in motion as they are pulled upon the cross. The muscles being pulled really expressed the pain it must have



Cited: Renaissance Art in Florence, Masaccio - The Second Revolution in Painting Retrieved from http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/renaissance-in-florence.htm#masaccio, 2013. Richert, Scott P., “Momento Mori” Definition, Retrieved from http://catholicism.about.com/od/history/g/Memento_Mori.htm, 2013. Smart History, Masaccio 's Holy Trinity, Presented by KHAN Academy, Retrieved from http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/holy-trinity-santa-maria-novella-florence.html, 2013. Summers, David. "Masaccio." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2013.

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