5. Masaccio,Madonna and Child (Altarpiece for the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, Pisa), c. 1423
Vasari desribes artists of the SECOND STAGE OF PAINTING'S REBIRTH (c. 1420-1500) as being very studious. They methodically studied optics and geometry to better represent the depth of space and the play of light across the varied surfaces of objects. They experimented with oils and other materials to simulate the varied surface textures and densities of different substances. They studied the art of classical antiquity in order to learn elegant formulas for representing human figures and architecture. They studied live persons in the workshop and in the street to analyze posture and expression. Some of them attended or even performed dissections to better understand the human body's structure and the logic governing its movement. Thus they made great strides in realism, "the imitation of nature," even though the studied quality of their painting left it somewhat "dry and labored." What if any details of this painting make it superior to Giotto's Ognissanti Madonna in terms of the lifelikeness of its spatial depth, and in the anatomy, movement, and expression of its figures?
5. Masaccio,Madonna and Child (Altarpiece for the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, Pisa), c. 1423
Vasari desribes artists of the SECOND STAGE OF PAINTING'S REBIRTH (c. 1420-1500) as being very studious. They methodically studied optics and geometry to better represent the depth of space and the play of light across the varied surfaces of objects. They experimented with oils and other materials to simulate the varied surface textures and densities of different substances. They studied the art of classical antiquity in order to learn elegant formulas for representing human figures and architecture. They studied live persons in the workshop and in the street to analyze posture and expression. Some of them attended or even performed dissections to better understand the human body's structure and the logic governing its movement. Thus they made great strides in realism, "the imitation of nature," even though the studied quality of their painting left it somewhat "dry and labored." What if any details of this painting make it superior to Giotto's Ognissanti Madonna in terms of the lifelikeness of its spatial depth, and in the anatomy, movement, and expression of its figures?