Masaccio and Perspective

The Trinity, by the Florentine artist Masaccio, in the Church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, was one of the very first paintings created using the new rules of perspective. It was painted in around 1426. According to those who have studied the mathematics, the viewer is to stand 6.12 metres from the image to appreciate the perspective effect fully. I happen to think it's also designed to be seen from a kneeling position. The skeleton at the base of the picture is a reminder of our own mortal condition. The inscription reads, I was once what you are, and what I am, you also shall be. With that truth in mind, the eye is led up to the couple who paid for the fresco, and then up and in to John and Mary. The mother of Christ, her arm raised, directs us out of our world and into the theological space of the chapel beyond. We see Christ raised aloft on the cross, and above his head, the white dove of the Holy Ghost. Further back, at the apex of the picture, we see the awesome face of God the Father. Masaccio's made the mystery of the Trinity disconcertingly real.