Masaccio’s Skeleton and the Petrarchan Concept of Time

Abstract

Masaccio’s famous fresco in Santa Maria Novella consists of two parts; the upper zone focuses on the three persons of the Trinity and the lower depicts a fictive tomb and a skeleton. The interpretation of the skeleton as an image of Death has been strengthened by the finding of 15th century tombs under the floor next to the painting. The presence of the Crucified among the persons of the Trinity in the upper part must refer to Salvation. Seen as a whole, it is natural, therefore, to see Masaccio’s fresco as a representation of the Christian concept of Salvation through the sacrificial death of Christ. However, the words uttered by the skeleton (“I was once what you are ....”) introduces a temporal aspect that adds new meaning to the figures of the Trinity in the upper half. In fact, ancient philosophy saw time as tripartite and the Fathers of the Church considered the modalities of time to be united in an Eternal, triune God. This idea must have been familiar to Late Medieval and Renaissance visual culture since illustrators of Petrarch’s Trionfi always visualized the final triumph, that of Eternity, in the shape of the Trinity. In light of this, Masaccio’s Trinity fresco is just as much an image of Time and Eternity as Death and Salvation.