Masaccio, Tickling Madonna (268 words)

Masaccio

Tickling Madonna, Uffizi

1426-1428

Early renaissance, quattrocento, Florence

Masaccio died very young, just a couple years after the piece was completed. He was uninterested in traditional notions of beauty and was inspired by contemporary sculptors and ideas of his time.

Tempura on panel with gold background- color pallet very traditional of medieval period

Damaged because it was carried around a lot as a personal item

Commissioned by Cardinal Antonio Casini, who worked for the papacy and member of the Sienese dynasty, as evidenced by his coat of arms in the back of the painting

Madonna is tickling her son, while the baby, full of joy, is wrapped in bandages, a typical practice of the time to ensure the baby’s legs grow straight
-madonna pulls down the bandages so the baby can breathe and play
-baby is wearing a necklace for good luck
-very rare portrayal of the baby Jesus as a baby and not with mature features

-Unified perspective and light source
-Style is very synthetic, the body is contracted and the form is simplified, we do not see the nails or lines in the hands.
-Aims to render bone structure, but not realistic detail.
-Masaccio transforms the subject to daily situation and how people behave. He was the first to render subject the reality as if a photograph.
-We see the humanization of the subject, where we see a mother playing with her son, as opposed to the holy Madonna and Jesus. Symbol of early renaissance.