An Artist's Criticism

As an artist myself, I am especially impressed with Masaccio's "Tribute Money." Here, we see a gravitation away from the medieval art that, though beautiful, was more flat and unrealistic to a kind of art that apeals to both the eye and the senses. First, the lines are softer and naturally curved, aided by the use of more realistic modeling. Because of this, you can actually see the shape of the tax collector's calf muscle and how the clothing looks as if it is flowing around real bodies; such attention to detail, though seen somewhat in the works of Giotto and Duccio, had not been employed with quite this much precision before. Next, though the background is detailed, because of atmospheric perspective, the details begin to blure and blend and the color becomes less intensive as the background moves further away from you, creating believable depth and demension. Finally, Masaccio uses the line of the building to the side of the characters and the mountains in the background to create a linear perspective that very clearly draws the eye to Jesus at the center so that the viewer fully understands the focus of the painting. Because of it's detail, realism, depth, and demension, the beauty of Masaccio's "Tribute Money" stands out as one of the Renaissance's finest works of art and as one of my favorites.