Continuing our forays into Florentine art and architecture, during our enforced coronavirus incarceration, I invite you today, after our contemplation of the mind-bending cathedral floor and the cathedral clock where time runs backwards, to have a look at old Sir John Hawkwood, a famous 14th century condottiere, leader of a mercenary company in the service of the city, sitting on his horse on the North wall.
Sir John’s portrait is the work of Paolo Uccello and it demonstrates the artist’s obsession with perspective. The idea is to make the flat fresco appear like a three-dimensional sculpture. So the old warrior and his horse are shown in full-frontal perspective, while the plinth is drawn with foreshortening, to make it look correct to the viewer below.
He was a funny old bird, Uccello. For instance, he kept portraits of five prominent Florentines in his house, to remind him of their achievements: Manetti for mathematics, Brunelleschi for architecture, Giotto for painting, Donatello for sculpture and himself, for perspective and animal painting*. He was a pioneer in the use of linear perspective, invented (or re-discovered) by my hero Filippo Brunelleschi.
Uccello was so obsessed with perspective that it affected his married life. His wife said that he stayed up all night in his studio making intricate drawings and when she called for him to come to bed, he would cry out: “Oh what a sweet thing this perspective is!” Mrs Uccello’s further comments are not recorded!
*We have named our Watermill bedrooms to remember the achievements of famous artists, too: Uccello, Brunelleschi and Donatello are commemorated here, along with, Botticelli, Bronzino, Fra Angelico, Gentileschi, Ghiberti, Ghirlandaio, Lippi and Vasari. We would love you to come and celebrate artistic genius on one of our creative courses. We’ll be ready for you as soon as you are able to come. A Watermill week will add a fresh perspective to your life!
