Visual Analysis Of Masaccio's

Masaccio’s work reflects revolutionary changes of the Early Renaissance and also incorporated three-dimensional space within his work. His work reflects revolutionary changes because it was the first in painting to incorporate one-point perspective into paintings. Enthroned Madonna showed three-dimensional space through scientific perspective, chiaroscuro and directed lighting. In regards to scientific perspective, the image has a focal point, which is where the baby Christ and Virgin Mary’s hands meet, with orthogonal coming out from the focal point to make the arc above the Virgin’s head proportional and accurate. The image also has a foreground, middle ground and background. The foreground is with the two angels in front, the middle ground

This wall fresco gives off the illusion of three- dimensions by having the head of Christ as the focal point and orthogonal from the focal point that allow for the building and trees to be proportional and accurate. Tribute Money also incorporates a foreground, middle ground and background. The foreground is represented by all of the men in the circle; the building and man by the river represents the middle ground and finally, the mountains towards the back represent the background. One can see a 3-D illusion due to the aerial perspective where the mountains in the background appear hazy to give off the illusion that they are far away. Masaccio also incorporated chiaroscuro, which one can see because of the soft edges in the images and the round draperies, which give off the impression of their being bodies underneath. Finally the direction of light is another way in which 3-D was illustrated. The light in this image is coming from the top right corner, which makes everything towards the right (where the light hits) lighter, than on the left where you see shadows. The shadows you see then also help with giving off the illusion that the ground is flat. All in all, Tribute Money shows a great example of Masaccio’s creative and intuitive