I previously viewed all Renaissance paintings with an uneducated eye, solely viewing them as religious works, which I had no interest in, based upon my lack of understanding of the narratives involved, the stories of patronage or even the difficulties of the techniques used to paint them. I was that person that Kenneth Clarke spoke of, my aesthetic experience was curtailed but as my knowledge base grew with each lecture, my appreciation for this magnificent piece and the skills involved in its creation grew (Clarke K., 1974) I have chosen to focus on two key aspects of this work, the subject matter, and the linear perspective.
The Trinity fresco is a complex painting, it's title has changed through the years first recorded as "Memoriale di molte staue e picture di Florentia (1510) by Francesco Albertini, who called it "a Crucifixion, that is a Trinity , with death at the foot", Vasari (1568) described it as Trinity with the Virgin and St. John the Evangelist" contemplating the crucified Christ", (TURNER, J. 1996) today it is simply known as "The Holy Trinity" So many different facets of art history teaching are compacted into a work measuring only 667 x 317cm and each one aspect is multifaceted. From the composition, iconography, patronage, architectural representation, and painting techniques, too illustrate the influences of predecessors, images of Masaccio's Trinity are used as teaching aids to represent the Italian Renaissance.
The theme is a biblical one, with a three-fold narrative. The Crucifixion is depicted with the tortured and bleeding body of Christ, weighed down by gravity, hanging from the cross. The realism of his pain is illustrated through the hollowed out muscular features of his torso and the strained muscles of his outstretched arms. This pain is re-enforced by the mournful expression of his mother Mary, gazing out at the viewer as if to ask "what have you done?" St John the Evangelist stands to the right looking up at Jesus with adoration.
