Masaccio -THE GENIUS PAINTER FROM ITALY BIOGRAPHY AND HIS SHORT AND TRAGIC LIFE , AND HIS PAINTING !

Biography of Masaccio. Childhood and early years. Masaccio was born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone Cassi in the winter of 1401 in a town close to Florence. His father was Ser Giovanni di Simone Cassi, a notary, and his mother Mona Iacoppa, the daughter of an innkeeper. Masaccio and his brother Giovanni both became painters, though neither of their parents had been artists. Their grandfather, however, was a maker of wooden cabinets, cassone, which were often painted, and the family name Cassi comes from the word for carpenter in Italian. Giovanni continued work on such objects throughout his artistic career, earning him the nickname lo schedia, the splinter, on account of this, as well as his slim build. Masaccio was apparently artistically inclined from childhood. He became known as Masaccio, meaning clumsy Tom, because he did not pay any attention to people, politics, or his own personal appearance, preferring to focus on his art. With whom Masaccio trained is unknown, although it is likely that he would have taken up an apprenticeship in his teenage years, as was customary for young artists at the time. A century later, the early art historian Giorgio Vasari claimed that some figures made by him in his earliest childhood still survived in Masaccio's hometown, although any such paintings have now been lost. Mature Period In 1422 he joined a specialist Florentine painting guild, Florentine Arte dei Medici e Speziali, indicating that he was working as an independent artist in the city by this time. The exact date of Masaccio's move to Florence is unknown, and could have been as early as the occasion of his mother's second marriage in 1412. Late Period Masaccio's growing prestige reached a peak in 1425, as he joined Masolino to paint a series of frescoes to decorate the Brancacci Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence. These monumental frescoes would prove to be some of the most important of his career, featuring scenes from the Bible that he painted to accompany those done by Masolino. When Masolino traveled to Hungary later that year, the decoration was left to Masaccio alone. He continued work on it for some time, even returning to the chapel in between working on other commissions. During this time, Masaccio began to receive other prestigious commissions, most notably for the fresco in the Church of Santa Maria Novella. Accomplishments One of the most significant innovations in art, and no less architecture and engineering, during the Renaissance, was the use of linear perspective to create the illusion of depth in a two-dimensional rendering. Masaccio took inspiration from the architectural drawings of Filippo Brunelleschi, who had rediscovered the concept of perspective, lost since ancient Roman and Greek times, and applied it to painting, altering the course of Western art. By taking the principles of perspective from architecture, and the study of light and form from sculpture, and applying them to painting, Masaccio created works of remarkable realism that were completely different to any other painting of the time. His religious figures appear as solid objects in three-dimensional space. In this way they occupy an extension of the viewer's world, as if behind a pane of glass, rather than a wholly separate, pictorial plane as in medieval art. The realism of Masaccio's paintings not only demonstrates the scientific principles which were key to the development of the Renaissance, it brings the holy persons closer to the viewer, and makes them appear more human, establishing a change in the relationship between the people and their god. Important Art by Masaccio Number 1. Sangiovinale Triptych This is the earliest known work by Masaccio, dated April 23, 1422 in the inscription running along the bottom edge of the three panels. It was commissioned by the Vanni Castellani family of Florence and originally resided in the Church of San Lorenzo, before being moved to Sangiovinale. It was designed as an altarpiece, presumably for a secondary chapel of the church, with the customary scene of the Virgin and Child on its central panel. On the left wing are Saint Bartholomew and Saint Blaise, and on the right are Saint Antony and Saint Juvenal, or Sangiovinale. Number 2. Madonna and Child with Saint Anne This panel, again showing the Virgin and Child, this time with her mother sitting behind her, is thought to have been a collaboration with Masolino. According to Giorgio Vasari, it originally stood in the Church of San Ambrogio in Florence right next to the entrance of the nuns' quarters. This seems a suitable setting for this painting focusing on the Virgin and her mother Saint Anne, as they were considered to be models for an ideal Christian woman. The intricate damask fabric held behind Saint Anne may reference the likely patron of the panel, Nofri Buonamici, who was a weaver of silk. Whilst some parts of this painting still show the more Gothic hand of Masolino, Masaccio's innovative painting style is nonetheless evident. It is visible particularly in the Christ Child, who has been depicted not as a Gothic cherub but as a realistic infant. One can also see how Masaccio painted the figures as if they were illuminated by one real light source to the left, rather than the all-encompassing glow found in Gothic painting. Number 3 Payment of the Tribute Money This fresco scene is one of several depicting scenes from the life of Saint Peter, painted by Masaccio in collaboration with the painter Masolino in the Brancacci Chapel of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence. Masolino, who had already been working on the chapel for a few years, eventually abandoned the work, as did Masaccio when he left for Rome, where he died in 1428, and it was eventually completed by Filippino Lippi between 1481 and 1485. Although disastrous fires and additions by later artists have caused serious losses, the frescoes that survive are recognized as some of the most important in Florence. This section shows Christ and his disciples in Copernicum, where they are required to pay tax. In the center Christ and his disciples are confronted by the tax collector, on the left the fisherman Peter collects gold from the mouth of a fish, as instructed by Christ, and on the right Peter hands over the money. Number 4 Predella Panel, the Pisa Altarpiece This is a panel from the lower edge of an altarpiece, known as the Depredella, commissioned for the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Pisa. The altarpiece was unfortunately taken apart, and to date only 11 panels can be conclusively attributed to it. The central panel depicts the Virgin and Child. This section shows two dramatic and violent spectacles of martyrdom from the New Testament. Each scene is separated by a band of gold leaf. On the left, Saint Peter is nailed to a crucifix. He asked to be crucified upside down so that he would not be undeservingly compared with Christ. On the right, Saint John the Baptist is about to be beheaded by King Herod's men at the request of Salome. The scene on the left demonstrates Masaccio's skillful use of linear perspective, right down to the foreshortening of the halo of Saint Peter. The action appears to take place in a space behind the picture plane, and the figures within this space appear as solid three-dimensional objects. The two men on either side of Saint Peter appear to lean forward in space, out towards the viewer, as they hammer in the nails on the cross. Number 5. The Holy Trinity. This fresco, painted on the walls of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, is considered to be Masaccio's masterpiece. The patrons who commissioned the work are shown kneeling at the forefront of the painting, however they cannot be identified with certainty. The painting depicts the crucifixion of Christ, with the customary figures of the Virgin and Saint John at the foot of the cross. However, the scene defies convention in so many ways that it has remained an enigma, despite being studied by scholars for hundreds of years. The painting is known as the Holy Trinity, Santa Trinita, due to its depiction of Christ with God behind him, and the white dove of the Holy Spirit hovering between their heads. Although a figurative depiction of God was not a religious taboo at the time, he would usually have been depicted in a non-earthly realm, representing the heavens, rather than in the concrete space of the church. The rendering of three-dimensional space in this painting is often considered to represent the pinnacle of Masaccio's technical mastery. The perspective is so accurate that modern scholars have been able to digitally construct the fictional space depicted in the painting as a 3D model. The fine draftsmanship that allowed Masaccio to create such a realistic space gives the sense that the crucifixion is taking place right in front of the viewer's eyes, in the church itself. This lends the image an immediacy that instantly connects the viewer with Christ's suffering, not only as a God but as a fellow person. The image mirrors an earlier painting, The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, in which the mother of God is shown with her own mother standing behind her. The depiction of God as a father, standing behind his son, allows the viewer to relate to the Holy Trinity on a more human level, a radical act at a time in which the Catholic Church had a strict hierarchy that insisted the public could only connect with God through priests chosen by the church. It is suggestive of the new humanist phase in art and philosophy that was beginning to be ushered in with the early Renaissance. The fictional architecture of the space does however incorporate degrees of separation. God is above and behind Jesus, who is above the saints, the donors are close to God by virtue of their generosity to the church, and the viewer stands below the scene looking in. At eye level, and abeneath the painting's fictional ground, is a naturalistic image of a tomb with a skeleton lying on top of it. Carved into the tomb in Italian is the phrase, I was once what you are, and what I am you shall be. This speaks directly to the viewer of their mortality, as they gaze up at the image of Christ dying for their salvation. Called one of the groundbreaking works of the early Renaissance by art historian Richard Villadeso, this work has continued to captivate artists since it was first painted, with Francis Bacon taking inspiration from its composition for his painting, 1946. Art historians understand the influence of this not-so-famous artist, however, there aren't many records on Masaccio. He died in 1428 but the exact date and cause of death are unknown. Historians speculate that he died of the bubonic plague, which was wreaking havoc in Europe at the time. But there is no concrete proof. Was it suicide? Maybe murder? Perhaps it was an accident that killed this early Italian Renaissance genius. We will never know. All we do know is that Masaccio was a brilliant artist taken too soon. At least Italy's most famous silly Tom will live forever on the walls of Florence's most beautiful churches. Thank you for watching please make sure like and subscribe my channel.