Holy Trinity (Masaccio) - Description

Description

The painting is approximately 317 cm (125 in) wide, and 667 cm (263 in) high. This gives an overall vertical-to-horizontal proportion of about 2:1. The ratio between the upper and lower sections of the work is very roughly 3:1.

Originally, the design included an actual ledge, used as an altar, physically projecting outward from the now-blank band between the upper and lower sections of the fresco; further enhancing the sense of depth and reality in the work. Constructed as a pillared-shelf ~5 ft. above the floor, and estimated to be about 60 cm. wide, the altar-table's appearance would have been intended to match and/or complement the painted architecture. Its facing-edge and upper surface integrating with the fresco's steps and archway; and its supporting pillars, both real and illusory, combining with the shadows caused by the over-hang to create a crypt-like effect for the tomb beneath. The upper section of the fresco still retains traces of candle-smoke and heat-effects from use of this altar.

The painted figures are roughly life-sized. For an adult of average height facing the painting, their eye-line would have been slightly above 'ground-level' in the work; with Death in the form of the crypt and skeleton directly front of them, and the promise of Salvation above.

Over the course of time and events (see above), the fresco has been damaged and subsequently restored. Much of the outer edge of the upper section, mainly architectural detail, is replacement work. Some regions of "new" paint can be clearly identified by differences in colour, visual texture and detail; and in certain places, by apparent "cracks" along the boundary between the original fresco surface, and areas of the design where the original surface is entirely absent and was repainted.

The lower section, depicting a memento mori, in the form of a cadaver tomb, has also lost significant paint; but the restoration work there has been more restrained and less extensive. This is probably due, at least in part, to the fact that the lower half of the fresco was not recovered until the mid-20th century. By this time, "standard practice" in restoration had become more conservative, with a stronger emphasis on preserving and revealing the authentic work of the original artist; whereas earlier restorations tended to have more focus on producing an aesthetically pleasing "recreation" of the artwork.

As far as can be determined from available records, at the time when this painting was created no large-scale Roman-style coffered barrel vault, Triumphal arch or otherwise, had been constructed in Western Christendom since late antiquity.

The Trinity is noteworthy for its inspiration taken from ancient Roman triumphal arches and the strict adherence to the recent perspective discoveries, with a vanishing point at the viewer's eye level, so that, as Vasari describes it"a barrel vault drawn in perspective, and divided into squares with rosettes that diminish and are foreshortened so well that there seems to be a hole in the wall." This artistic technique is called trompe l'oeil, which means "deceives the eye," in French. The fresco had a transforming effect on generations of Florentine painters and visiting artists. The sole figure without a fully realized three-dimensional occupation of space is the majestic God supporting the Cross, considered an immeasurable being. The kneeling patrons represent another important novelty, occupying the viewer's own space, "in front of" the picture plane, which is represented by the Ionic columns and the Corinthian pilasters from which the feigned vault appears to spring; they are depicted in the traditional prayerful pose of donor portraits, but on the same scale as the central figures, rather than the more usual 'diminuation', and with noteworthy attention to realism and volume.