Name of Artist: Masaccio
Exact Location: Santa Maria Novella, Florence
Medium: Fresco
Dimensions: 21 feet by 10 feet, 5 inches
Masaccio's fresco is simple but at the same time conveying the necessary details. If you look up at the ceiling, you can see the small squares, which are called coffers, the Corinthian and Iconic columns and capitals. For those who do not know what capitals are, they are the decorated top of a column or pilaster. Iconic columns has a scroll shape whereas the Corinthian columns have a leafy shape. He also used receding lines to draw the audience's attention to certain things. Our attention is instantly drawn to God the Father and slowly moves down to the base of the cross, there the lines disappear. This gives the viewers the impression that they are looking up at Christ.
The audience can also see the humanism in Masaccio's fresco by looking at his portrayal of God the Father. Many Renaissance artists usually painted God the Father as a hand but here, Masaccio has given the Father a body, with details that include toenails. We can see from the painting that the Father is holding up Jesus, which many artists had never done before. Some scholars contribute this to Masaccio's teacher, Brunellschi.
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