Paolo Uccello

Paolo Uccello an Italian painter was born Paolo di Dono in 1397. When translated from Italian Uccello means birds. He is believed to have changed his name due to his love of painting birds. Uccello was so obsessed on getting the perspective in his paintings perfect he would stay up all night in his study trying to grasp the exact vanishing point.

He grew up being an outsider because noone understood his deep love of art. He would dread leaving the house because he didn't know how to interact with others. He would spend most of his time locked away from others painting til all hours of the morning to achieve the perspective he so craved in his paintings. He was famous for painting trees in their natural colours which many before him did not do. He gained this skill from sitting for hours in his study looking at the trees that swayed in front of him.

Uccello bought a large block of land in his forties after his mother died. It was located in the countryside. He bought it to escape the busy city life and focus on his painting. It overlooks the villages main road that is filled with stores. He wanted a dedicated studio space where he could paint and observe the environment around him.

Uccello would barely leave his house and wanted a long entrance to his house so that he would know when someone was approaching. He would engage with the surrounding buildings by painting them and their occupants. He would wander throughout his house until he found a sight that caught his eye. All of this time spent observing meant he understood the personalities of all things around him yet no one knew the smallest details about him. His wife was the only person who got to see into Uccello's mind.

His wife's illness was what ultimately ended his painting work. In his last years of life he was a lonely forgotten man who was afraid of hardship in life.