Holy Trinity Closed Crucifixion Analysis

During the Renaissance, European artworks can be classified into art that comes from the head, appealing to intellect, or art that comes from the heart, appealing to emotion. Masaccio's Holy Trinity and Grunewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece, closed Crucifixion, although depicts a similar concept, they both exhibits differences that defines if each piece comes from the head or the heart.

Masaccio's Holy Trinity was made in early Italian Renaissance around 1428 in Florence. This artwork was commissioned for a church named Santa Maria Novella. Aptly named Holy Trinity, the work presents God the Father, Jesus on the cross, and the Holy Spirit, represented as a dove, in the center, while featuring the Virgin Mary, John the Apostle, and as well as two

Considered to be a quintessential artist of the Renaissance, Masaccio's Holy Trinity has became one of his most famous work. His work illustrates the essential concepts of naturalism and rebirth of Greco-Roman art during this time period. Although it is not an altarpiece, the fresco successfully shapes an illusion of a chapel the church. To create the sense of realism, Masaccio utilized linear perspective through which a system of orthogonals, or parallel lines, that meet at a vanishing point and create three-dimensional objects. Furthermore, to emphasize the concept of naturalism, this illusion of a chapel can be accurately measured. Additionally, figures in the work are illustrated in a symmetrical triangular composition. In each side of the composition, the figures wear contrasting colors to another, except for Christ. To its Renaissance viewers, this work would be respected for its beauty due to their affinity for mathematical accuracy and precision. From Corinthian capitals to coffered barrel

This altarpiece was created around 1510-1515 in the Holy Roman Empire. This polyptych altarpiece was made for the chapel of the Hospital of Saint Anthony. Created a few years before the Protestant Reformation, the artwork commemorates Saint Anthony, who was associated skin diseases, and exemplifies Catholicism The scene presents Christ on the cross, or crucifixion, while several other figures are standing around him and a lamb bleeding into a chalice. Although Grunewald’s work is symmetrically balanced, he does not demonstrate interest in mathematical precision or naturalistic space. Contrary to Masaccio’s Renaissance style, the figures are conveying emotions through distorted and disproportioned anatomy. Christ, as depicted, is deformed and frail as his skin is covered with sores which alludes to patients who suffered from ergotism (Saint Anthony’s Fire), a fungus disease, during the time. Therefore, sympathy is formed between the patients and Christ, enabling the patients to believe that Christ also understands their suffering. Contrast is illustrated between Christ dull colored skins and the vibrant colors of the figures around him. References to ancient Greek and Rome are utilized by the artist due to the strong affiliation with Catholicism against paganism. Defined by deformity and disproportion, and a persuasive symbolism of