Masaccio ch 16

Let's look at some work by Masaccio. This is Tribute Money, and this is a scene that's a narrative. So Masaccio is really good at telling stories and including narratives. This one is about Jesus sending Peter to get money out of a fish's mouth to pay for the temple tax. So this is found in Matthew's Gospel. Matthew's a tax collector, so he talks about money. Notice also that Masaccio likes to include architecture, and this one is interesting. I also want to talk about how Renaissance painters paint the disciples. In actuality, the disciples were probably all very young, and only Peter would have been old enough to even have to pay the temple tax for them to get in. So notice that Masaccio's depicted most of the disciples with gray hair, or quite a few of them including Peter, and that's probably not accurate. John is usually always depicted as the youngest, so he's the one here with the blonde hair, which is pretty accurate. He was the youngest disciple. Just keep that in mind as we continue to look at artwork that a lot of the disciples look old. Traditionally, that's how they're portrayed, but that's probably not the case. So I really want to spend some time looking at Masaccio's Holy Trinity, and it's found in the Santa Maria Novella Church that's in Florence, and this is designed by Alberti. If you notice in the bottom left-hand corner, that is where Masaccio's fresco is on the wall. Remember what frescoes are? They're a part of the pigment and the plaster, so they stay permanently adhered to the wall. And one of the sad things is that for a while, this painting was actually covered up. There were some choir walls put in, and they were put over and in front of Masaccio's fresco. So it has been moved out of the way, and this fresco has been restored. This is a piece that was commissioned by these donors that are in the front, the first two figures here in the foreground. Instead of paying and building a whole chapel, they created a painting, a lot cheaper option. Some of the things I want us to take a look at and observe. Remember that Masaccio really understands one-point perspective, and he utilizes it. So he's utilizing Brunelleschi's idea of perspective. Notice the barrel vaulting that's going on. Notice the columns. Take a look at how much detail is in everything, but it's not elaborate. It's not decorative. There's detail, but it is a down-to-earth vision, and I think that's where Masaccio really shines is that he gives us this forthright story and view of the message of what's going on here. So it's not alluring and graceful like Lorenzo Monaco, for example, or the international style. It is straightforward. Let's take a look at the figures. Let's go ahead and identify those. So we have the patrons, and this is something new, and they're in the foreground cloaked in the red and the blue. There are six figures in total, and these donors kneel outside of the chapel space, and they're in profile. So he's created this separate space for inside the chapel, and the donors do not enter that sacred space. And this is the first time that we see real people being included in these paintings. So these real donors are having their portraits made within the painting that they have commissioned. Those next figures that we have here in also red and blue, but blocked, standing closer at the base of the foot of the cross, this is Mary and John. John clasps his hands and looks up towards Christ, but Mary looks out at us and has her hand raised as if to say, Here is my son. Look at him. This is what is important. This is why I'm here. This is the purpose. And then we have Christ, who's hanging on the cross, and he is rendered in a very realistic manner, very human. His bones are falling off. He's skinny. We feel his pain. He does have a halo, but then notice this white thing that's above him. This is meant to be a dove. This is the Holy Spirit. And then above that is God the Father, whom we have not seen depicted in visual form very often. Definitely not in early Christian art. But this is God the Father with his arms outstretched and holding, as if holding Christ up. And then let's travel to the very bottom. So this is a really unusual thing. We have this very kind of somber message. We have this casket with a skeleton laying on it. So a little sci-fi or horror here. This is unusual. This is a sarcophagus that has a written message above it. And this is kind of a warning us. It's a warning the viewer that if you're not careful, you're soon going to be here. Or, you know, making us understand we are mortal. We are going to die. However, there is resurrection. If we follow Christ and we take up our cross and follow him, we will one day be made like him. So we will be resurrected.