Abstract

The present paper discusses some new findings on the topic of Masaccio's Trinity fresco perspective reconstruction. Some scholars have tried to reduce the fresco's anomalies with the help of photogrammetrical reproductions and computer analysis. On this basis, it has been argued that Masaccio used the normal case of costruzione legittima. It is very likely that Masaccio took the lines of the plane joining the abaci of the capitals as a guide for drawing the vanishing lines of the coffered vault. However, in doing so, he followed an erroneous method of construction disregarded till now. The aberrations thus discovered strongly support the view that Masaccio's Trinity fresco is not a model of linear perspective. The thesis that Masaccio designed the fresco with the help of a ground plan and elevations is dubious, and the search for the distance point is condemned to remain an unending problem.