Uccello
• Uccello was born in 1397 and died in
1475. He was a Florentine painter.
• Problems of space and perspective
occupied Uccello’s 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.
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.
The Flood / The Deluge
Detail below
Vanishing point
The Deluge
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.
Hunt by night /Hunt in the forest
• 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
Artists influenced by Uccello
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Mantegna (1431 – 1506)
Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519)
Michelangelo (1475 – 1564)
Rapheal (1483 – 1520)
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.
Rout of San Romano
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)
Vanishing point
• 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.
• 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
The fallen soldier
This dramatically foreshortened figure
displays Uccello’s full command of
perspective, although the figure is not
technically to scale. This figure show’s
Uccello’s desire for realism.
• 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
Uccello’s love of pattern.
Portrait of Giotto by Uccello
Five masters