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The Holy Trinity
Masaccio · Renaissance & Mannerism
- Artist
- Masaccio (Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone) (1401–1428)
- Date
- c. 1425–1427
- Dimensions
- 667 x 317 cm
- Medium
- Fresco
- Location
- Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy
The Holy Trinity is a fresco on the wall of a Florentine church that shows God the Father supporting the cross of the crucified Christ, with the dove of the Holy Spirit between them. The Virgin Mary and Saint John stand at the foot of the cross.
A closer look
The painting was revolutionary because it was one of the first to use mathematically constructed linear perspective, probably with advice from the architect Filippo Brunelleschi. The figures stand inside a painted chapel with a coffered barrel vault that seems to cut deep into the wall. The two donors kneel outside the frame, on our level, and below a painted skeleton lies on a tomb with the inscription: 'I was once what you are, and what I am you also will be'. The fresco joins faith, geometry and a sobering reminder of death.
