Looky, Looky! A Uccello at the Met!

By Paolo Uccello

Dear Imaginary Friends,

One thing that sparked my interest immediately in my husband is his name: Uchello, which means bird in Italian, is the Americanized version of Uccello. As a student of art and art history, I am quite familiar with Paolo Uccello, who some art historians have credited with the first mastery of linear perspective. His very large, famous battle scenes hang in only the best European museums of art, including the Uffizi of Florence, the National Gallery of London, and the Louvre in Paris.  

Paolo Uccello was a pivotal member of the Early Italian Renaissance. He drove his wife crazy by constantly trying to create a system of linear perspective. He spent hour upon hour drawing and painting. Shortly before him, Medieval artists ignored the matter of perspective, and had no way of controlling the perception of depth.

Very few Uccello paintings exist today, but the famed Metropolitan Museum of Art holds this valuable portrait. And no, it is not an examination of perspective. Paolo Uccello was a contemporary of Christopher Columbus. So while he was toiling away at perspective, Columbus was exploring the exotic land of today's Americas, specifically Hispaniola, peopled with Native Americans.

So is Carlo related to Paolo Uccello? I am going to say yes. Now, go ahead and prove me wrong, if you can. And yeah, maybe you are descended from Christopher Columbus. Stranger things have happened.

Your imaginary friend,

Patsie

PS On the other hand, there are many Uchello paintings available for sale.