UCCELLO

PAOLO UCCELLO
1397-1475


Perspective painter


INTRODUCTION

Paolo Uccello was a Renaissance artist. He was one of the first people to use perspective in his paintings.

BACKGROUND

Paolo Uccello was born in 1397. He was the son of a barber, and lived in Florence. Paolo Uccello's real name was Paolo di Dono, but he changed his name to Uccello, meaning "bird" in Italian, because of his love for animals.

Uccello was always poor because money did not matter to him; only his paintings did. At the age of 14, he was admitted to the Guild of Florentine Artists. In the 1450's Paolo Uccello had Piero de Medici as a patron. Uccello was apprenticed to the sculptor, Lorenzo Ghiberti.

Paolo Uccello passed away in 1475 , at the age of 78.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Paolo Uccello was known for his experimental studies in foreshortening (to make the lines shorter than they really are to give an illusion of proper perspective) and linear perspective.

He loved using the forms and movement of humans and animals in his paintings. Paolo Uccello's paintings are very famous for improbable tangles of horses, riders, lances and pennants, helmets and bits of landscape.

Paolo Uccello's greatest paintings were three panels: The Battle of San Romano, Night Hunt, and The Deluge. Other paintings done by Uccello are portraits of Sir John Hawkins, Giotto, Brunelleschi, Donatello and St. George and the Dragon. Uccello's paintings resemble life and confuse us into mistaking illusions for reality.

Paolo Uccello was not only a painter but he was also a mathematician.

IMPACT

Paolo Uccello's impact on people was the perspective he used in his paintings. Also an impact of his was his use of brilliant colours and the fantastic effects in his paintings.



The Battle of San Romano was one of Uccello's famous paintings.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Calkins, R.G. "Uccello, Paolo." Groliers Multimedia Encyclopedia. 1996.

2. Campbell, Ann. Paintings: How to Look at Great Art. London, George Rainbird Ltd., pp. 26-27.

3. Canaday, John. The Lives of Painters. vol. 4, New York, W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1969, pp. 100-103, 110, 113, 144, 171.

4. Cole, Alison. Eyewitness: Art of the Renaissance. London, Stoddart Publishing Co. Limited, 1994, pp. 28-29.

5. Cumming, Robert. Annotated Art. Montreal, RD Press, 1995, pp. 20-21.

This page was prepared by Kaleena and Meghan, Grade 8, Riverdale Junior Secondary School.