Observations on Masaccio's Trinity Fresco in Santa Maria Novella
1963; College Art Association; Volume: 45; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/00043079.1963.10790105
ISSN1559-6478
Autores Tópico(s)Byzantine Studies and History
ResumoThe cleaning and reunification in 1952 of the upper and lower portions of Masaccio's Trinity (Fig. 1) raises a number of questions about the meaning and the original appearance of the monument.1 When Vasari remodeled the church between 1565 and 1572, the mural was concealed by an altar. As a result of further modifications in 1860/61, the upper section of the Trinity was detached from the original site and moved to the façade wall. The lower section of the mural, however, remained in situ. Most of the fresco has survived: the architectural framework enclosing the Trinity with Mary and John and the donors, as well as a considerable part of the lower section consisting of the sarcophagus with its skeleton and parts of the right-hand pair of colonettes.2 But nothing—neither old descriptions nor copies and engravings—informs us how the two sections were bound together. All the known written accounts date from the sixteenth century and are in the nature of generalizing eulogies.3 The most noteworthy of these are the two anonymous accounts contained in the Codice Magliabecchiano and in the Libro di Antonio Billi. The latter is the first reference we have to the corpse below the Trinity: "Costuj dipinse in Santa Maria Novella uno crocifisso, cioe la Trinita et a piede la morte, molto bella, dietro al pergamo."4 A reconstruction of the entire scheme can therefore be based only on a general knowledge of the style of the time. We must seek out the relationships between the Trinity and contemporary developments.
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