Uccello

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Uccello
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• Uccello was born in 1397 and died in 1475. He
  was a Florentine painter.
• Problems of space and perspective occupied
  Uccellos thoughts. This can be seen clearly in
  his paintings.
• At first glance his paintings appear charming and
  decorative but there is a carefully worked out
  geometrical structure to most of his work.

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• Uccello uses LINE and SHAPE to give the illusion
  of depth. He chooses a certain point of
  perspective in his paintings and echoes this
  through different images within the painting.

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The Flood / The Deluge

• Detail below

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Vanishing pointThe Deluge
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The Hunt by Night

• This painting adopts the same approach, here the
  dogs are treated as rhythmical shapes which
  decrease in size as they recede into the
  painting. This gives a sense of depth to the
  piece The logs lead us visually into the central
  space of the painting.

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Hunt by night /Hunt in the forest
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• While Uccello absorbed himself in the study of
  perspective, he never used it for the
  naturalistic purposes that Masaccio had
  envisaged.
• His themes were biblical and historical
• He used tempera as a medium often on wood.
• He is remembered for his use of perspective,
  colour and pattern

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Artists influenced by Uccello

• Mantegna (1431 1506)
• Leonardo da Vinci (1452 1519)
• Michelangelo (1475 1564)
• Rapheal (1483 1520)

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The Battle of San Romano

• This painting is one of three battle scenes.
• This scene depicts Niccolo da Tolentino leading
  Florentine troops onto battle.
• It hangs in the National Gallery London.
• It was part of a decorative mural for Lorenzo the
  magnificent (Medici family)
• The painting is an essay on perspective,
• pattern, colour and mathematical order.

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Rout of San Romano
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Three Battle scenes

• Left, Tolentino leading troops into battle
  London (NG)
• Middle, Bernardino della Ciarda Thrown off his
  horse Florence (Uffizi)
• Right, Micheletto da Cotignola engages in battle
  - Paris (Louvre)

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Vanishing point
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• This painting is similar to a stage set. With
  decorative details working from left to right of
  the painting
• Everything is placed at convenient angles for
  Uccello to experiment with perspective, including
  the helmets on the ground, fallen knights,
  scattered lances etc. all receding towards the
  horizon line.

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• His battles also show a strong interest in
  pattern and decoration.
• Uccello made little attempt to make his figures
  look real, they are flat and highly decorated.
  Unlike Giotto, little tone or shading is used.
• Dead men, broken lances and pieces of armour
  litter the ground to persuade us that what we
  know is a flat picture plane is really receding
  into space.
• Everything is curiously suspended in time and the
  solders, both dead and alive are like wooden
  lifeless statues. The horses seem to have more
  in common with rocking horses than real animals

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The fallen soldier

• This dramatically foreshortened figure displays
  Uccellos full command of perspective, although
  the figure is not technically to scale. This
  figure shows Uccellos desire for realism.

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• In the background isolated figures continue to
  fight, which provides an interesting backdrop to
  the main subject of the painting
• Niccolo Da Tolentino is shown in ceremonial dress
  rather than full battle armour. His large
  brightly coloured hat resembles a mosaic and is
  typical of Uccellos love of pattern.

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Portrait of Giotto by Uccello
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Five masters