Editing Paolo Uccello (section)

==Career==
[[Image:Paolo Uccello 044.jpg|thumb|left|200px|''[[Funerary Monument to Sir John Hawkwood]]'']]
[[Image:Paolo Uccello Heiliger Georg und der Drachen 1 470.jpg|thumb|250px|right|''[[Saint George and the Dragon (Uccello)|Saint George and the Dragon]]'' (c. 1470), showing Uccello's Gothic influences]]
[[File:Paolo Uccello — Flood and Waters Subsiding.jpg|thumb|''Story of Noah'', c. 1447, in the refectory of Santa Maria Novella, Florence]]
According to [[Vasari]], Uccello's first painting was a Saint Anthony between the saints Cosmas and Damianus, a commission for the hospital of Lelmo. Next, he painted two figures in the convent of Annalena. Shortly afterwards, he painted three [[fresco]]es with scenes from ''the life of [[Francis of Assisi|Saint Francis]]'' above the left door of the [[Santa Trinita]] church. For the [[Santa Maria Maggiore di Firenze|Santa Maria Maggiore]] church, he painted a fresco of the [[Annunciation (Uccello)|Annunciation]]. In this fresco, he painted a large building with columns in perspective. According to Vasari, people found this to be a great and beautiful achievement because this was the first example of how lines could be expertly used to demonstrate perspective and size. As a result, this work became a model for artists who wished to craft illusions of space in order to enhance the realness of their paintings.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=43yEDKzADr0C&pg=GBS.PA75.w.1.2.161.0.1|title=The Lives of the Artists|last=Vasari|first=Giorgio|date=1998-04-02|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=9780191605482|language=en}}</ref>

Paolo painted ''the Lives of the [[Church Fathers]]'' in the cloisters of the church of [[San Miniato]], which sat on a hill overlooking Florence. According to Vasari, Paolo protested against the monotonous meals of cheese pies and [[cheese soup]] served by the abbot by running away, and returned to finish the job only after the abbot promised him a more varied diet.<ref>Barolsky, Paul. [https://books.google.com/books?id=-yeEoGzFQIQC&pg=PA24 ''Why Mona Lisa Smiles and Other Tales by Vasari'']. Penn State Press, 2010. p. 24. {{ISBN|0271038527}}.</ref>

Uccello was asked to paint a number of scenes of distempered animals for the house of the Medici. The scene most appreciated by Vasari was his depiction of a fierce lion fighting with a venom-spouting snake. Uccello loved to paint animals and he kept a wide variety of pictures of animals, especially birds, at home. This love for birds is what led to his nickname, Paolo Uccelli (Paul of the birds).

By 1424, Paolo was earning his own living as a painter. In that year, he proved his artistic maturity by painting episodes of the now-badly-damaged ''[[Creation and the Fall (Uccello)|Creation and the Fall]]'' for the Green Cloister (''Chiostro Verde'') of [[Santa Maria Novella]] in Florence. Again, this assignment allowed him to paint a large number of animals in a lively manner. He also succeeded in painting trees in their natural colours. This was a skill that was difficult for many of his predecessors, so Uccello also began to acquire a reputation for painting landscapes. He followed this with ''[[Scenes from the Life of Noah]]'', also for the Green Cloister. These scenes brought him great fame in Florence.

In 1425, Uccello travelled to [[Venice]], where he worked on the mosaics for the façade of [[St Mark's Basilica|San Marco]], which have all since been lost. During this time, he also painted some frescoes in the [[Prato Cathedral]] and [[Bologna]]. Some suggest he visited [[Rome]] with his friend Donatello before returning to Florence in 1431. After he returned, Uccello remained in Florence for most of the rest of his life, executing works for various churches and patrons, most notably the [[Santa Maria del Fiore|Duomo]].

Despite his leave from Florence, interest in Uccello did not diminish. In 1432, the Office of Works asked the Florentine ambassador in Venice to enquire after Uccello's reputation as an artist.  In 1436, he was given the commission for the monochromatic fresco of ''Sir [[John Hawkwood]]''. This equestrian monument exemplified his keen interest in [[perspective (graphical)|perspective]]. The [[condottiere]] and his horse are presented as if the fresco was a sculpture seen from below.

It is widely thought that he is the author of the frescoes ''Stories of the Virgin'' and ''Story of Saint Stephen'' in the Cappella dell'Assunta, Florence, so he likely visited nearby [[Prato]] sometime between 1435 and 1440. Later, in 1443, he painted the figures on the clock of the Duomo. In that same year and continuing into 1444, he designed a few stained glass windows for the same church.  In 1444 he was also at work in [[Padua]], and he travelled to Padua again in 1445 at Donatello's invitation.

Back in Florence in 1446, he painted the ''Green Stations of the Cross'', again for the cloister of the church Santa Maria Novella. Around 1447–1454 he painted ''Scenes of Monastic Life'' for the church [[Basilica di San Miniato al Monte|San Miniato al Monte]], Florence.