The first works of Paolo were fresco paintings for the hospital of Lelmo,[1] where he depicted St. Anthony the abbot, in an oblong niche, painted in perspective, with St. Cosimo on one side of St. Anthony, and St. Damiano on the other.
In Annalena,[2] a convent of nuns, he executed two figures, and in Santa Trinita, on the inside of the church, and over the north door, he painted stories in fresco, from the life of St. Francis,[3] one showing the saint when he receives the stigmata, a second where he restores the church, which he is supporting on his shoulders, and the third representing his interview with San Domenico. In the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, in a chapel near the side door which opens on the road to San Giovanni, and wherein are certain works by Masaccio, Paolo painted an Annunciation,[4] also in fresco.
In this picture he represented a building, which is highly worthy of attention: it was then a new, and was considered to be a difficult thing, since it was the first edifice depicted in a good manner, and with true and graceful proportions; by this work artists were taught that, by due arrangement, the level space, which is in reality small, and closely bounded, may be made to appear extensive, and acquire the semblance of distance; and he who, after securing this, shall be capable of judiciously distributing his lights and shadows to their proper places, and of duly managing the colours, will doubtless produce the effect of a more complete illusion to the eye, cause his pictures to exhibit higher relief, and give them a more exact resemblance to life and reality. Not satisfied with this, Paolo desired to prove his power of conquering a still greater difficulty; and drew a line of columns retiring in perspective, which he caused to bend round an angle, so as to efface the sharp angles of the ceiling on which the four Evangelists are painted: this also was considered a beautiful and difficult thing; nor can it be denied that Paolo was an able and ingenious artist in this department of his profession.
- ↑ Afterwards of San Matteo, which stood on the site now occupied by the Academy of the Fine Arts in Florence. The works of Paolo Uccello are no longer to be seen.— Ed. Flor. 1832.
- ↑ This should be, “where the convent of Annalena afterwards stood”, since it was not founded until twenty-three years afterwards—in 1455, namely. These paintings have also perished.— Ibid.
- ↑ No trace of these frescoes remains. —Ibid.
- ↑ This Annunciation has disappeared, as has also the picture of Masaccio. —Ibid.
