Comparison of Masaccios The Holy Trinity and Grunewalds The Isenheim

Comparison of Masaccios The Holy Trinity and Grunewalds The Isenheim Altarpiece The Holy Trinity by Masaccio was a flick done in approximately 1428. It is asuperb example of Masaccios use of musculus quadriceps femoris and perspective. It consists oftwo levels of unequal height. Christ is represented on the top half, in acoffered, barrel-vaulted chapel. On one side of him is the Virgin Mary,and on the other, St. John. Christ himself is supported by God the Father,and the Dove of the Holy Spirit rests on Christs halo. In front of thepilasters that enframe the chapel kneel the donors (husband and wife).Underneath the altar (a masonry insert in the painted composition) is atomb. Inside the tomb is a skeleton, which may represent Adam. Thevanishing blossom is at the center of the masonry altar, because this is theeye level of the spectator, who looks up at the Trinity and down at thetomb. The vanishing point, five feet above the floor level, pulls bothviews together. By doing this, an conjury of an actual structure iscreated. The interior volume of this structure is an extension of thespace that the person looking at the work is standing in. The adjustmentof the spectator to the pictured space is one of the first steps in thedevelopment of illusionistic painting. Illusionistic painting fascinatedmany artists of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The proportions in this painting argon so numerically exact that onecan actually calculate the numerical dimensions of the chapel in thebackground. The span of the painted vault is seven feet, and the depth isnine feet. Thus, he achieves not only successful illusion, but a rational,metrical coherence that, by maintaining the ... ... wearing a small robe around his waist. The otherforms are depicted superbly. Their bodies are not lost behind the draperywhich they wear, yet they are not seen exactly either. The folds are muchdelicate, which create a calmer mood. (Christs rendering wa s alreadygiven). The forms are three dimensional, and also have weight. Theyclearly take up space, and where they are is clearly defined. As in The Holy Trinity, the composition is largely symmetrical,centered around the body of Christ. It is a frightful composition,because of the events taking place. Expression is shown on all of thefigures, who grieve Christs death. Overall, the two works are very similar. Masaccio, however, wasmore interested in the mathematical aspects of painting than Grunewald.Both works are superb, and have their own distinct qualities.