Early Renaissance art in Florence focused on an elaborate Gothic style of painting; very formal and traditional, but there was always something that seemed to be missing. Perspective and depth were two very important qualities in painting, but until the time of young Masaccio (born Tommaso Guidi), paintings were beautiful, but seemed simply to be art hanging on the wall. In Masaccio’s work, “rather than moving backward in space, the figures seem to move forward” (Cole 120). He may not have known it at the time, but his painting style would influence many painters long after his death; Donatello, Michelangelo, etc. Masaccio may have only painted for a total of 8 years, but in those 8 years he revolutionized not only the Renaissance era, but also the way in which painting could be created by the artist and seen by its spectators. Through the use of linear perspective and astronomical instruments, he was able to create astonishing works that challenged the limits of the human eye and allowed a painting to possess realistic depth. Through his skills, Masaccio was able to move away from the elaborate, gothic style of the time, and his paintings reflect the first use of perspective in order to create a sense of a realistic, three-dimensional world. In volume 1 of his "Lives of the Most Eminent Painters", Giorgio Vasari says that Masaccio "first attained the clear perception that painting is none other than the faithful imitation of all the forms presented by nature" (Vasari 95). Before Masaccio's time, many famous and brilliant painters lacked a fundamental sense of perspective and/or depth. Paintings such as Lavacour1 by Claude Monet or Saint John the Baptist Going into the Desert by Diovanni di Paolo2 were both beautiful and...... middle of paper ...... a lot of talent and skill, as well that his mastery of foreshortening, light, space and linear perspective, Masaccio succeeded in creating the illusion of a real three-dimensional world in his paintings; a world that viewers of his works could almost penetrate beyond the canvas. From the beginning to the end of his career as an artist, one can see that his skill level and confidence increased over time, until he finally created a realistic and near-perfect style of painting. Many painters study in the places where he created his art in order to study his styles and apply what they learned to their own art. What Masaccio started hundreds of years ago in Florence, Italy, can still be seen in art today; that desire to take a story and make it so realistic on a canvas, that others, even today, almost believe they could be part of the art itself.