THE ORIGINS OF LINEAR PERSPECTIVE "Perspective is the rein and rudder of painting” Leonardo da Vinci "Perspective is the rein and rudder of painting" Leonardo da Vinci

What is Perspective? Perspectival errors appear in paintings usually done before 1400. The perspective lines usually converge, but not to a single point and not on the horizon.

Masaccio’s Holy Trinity He was one of the first to use Linear perspective in his painting, employing techniques such as vanishing point in art for the first time. Invented by Filippo Brunelleschi in 1420 and Leon Battista Alberti in 1436 Masaccio (1401-c.1428) is considered by many to be one of the triumvirate, along with Brunelleschi and Donatello, who laid the foundations for the Renaissance in Italy. Masaccio's first known painting, the triptych Madonna and Child with Saints (c.1422) shows no sign of linear perspective. However, three other paintings, all done in the last four years of his short life, do show perspective, and are the works on which Masaccio's fame rests. Of the three, Masaccio's Trinity, painted for S. Maria Novella in Florence around 1427, is usually considered to be the oldest surviving perspective painting. It is considered his most mature work. We see a pyramid of figures topped by God, who holds the cross. The holy spirit is represented by the dove. St. John the Baptist on the right and the Madonna is on the left. The Madonna looks directly at us and presents Christ to us. The figures frame Christ, in the center. Massacio is said to have consulted with Brunelleschi on this painting. He used a grid framework, tooled right into the surface, and very rigorous linear perspective. Even the nails are shown in perspective! He placed the vanishing point at the Mound of Golgotha, or Cavalry, the place outside Jerusalem's walls where Jesus was crucified, at the eye level of an average person. He probably felt that the illusion of depth would be greatest with the viewer right on the centric ray. Masaccio’s Holy Trinity

As Brunelleschi made no written record of his perspective findings, it remained for Alberti to be the first to put the theory into writing, in his treatise on painting, Della pittura (1435). There, Alberti gave practical information for painters and advice on how to paint istoria or history paintings. We will discuss only the section which gives the first written account of linear perspective. Cover of Della Pittura

Cone of Vision

One point perspective

The Annunciation, attributed to Antoniazzo Romano,

Piero della Francesca, The Flagellation Some perspective terms: Horizon Line: That place where the land and the sky meet. Picture Plane: A make believe paper or canvas between you and the work you are illustrating. Vanishing Point: The single point on the horizon where all the lines on the ground level seem to be coming together. # Piero Della Francesca, Flagellation, approx. 1453, Galleria Nazionale at Urbino. 1-Point Perspective: A single vanishing point on the horizon line. 2- Point Perspective: Two separate vanishing points on the horizon line. 3-Point Perspective: Two vanishing points on the horizon and one in the sky or on the ground. Piero della Francesca, The Flagellation

Pietro Perugino, Christ giving the keys to St Peter

Piero della Francesca, view of an ideal city

Leonardo, Study for the Adoration of the Magi In this study for Adoration of the Magi, Leonardo has carefully drawn all of the lines needed to create perspective before sketching in all the figures. Look carefully and see if you can find the horizon line, orthogonals, and vanishing point. Leonardo, Study for the Adoration of the Magi

In this study for Adoration of the Magi, Leonardo has carefully drawn all of the lines needed to create perspective before sketching in all the figures. Look carefully and see if you can find the horizon line, orthogonals, and vanishing point. Adoration of the Magi

Albrecht Durer End of 15c in the north The Velo Alberti described how an artist could get a correct view of a scene by observing it through a thin veil, or velo. The idea is that we can get a correct image of some object seen through such a veil or a window by tracing the outline of the object on the window glass. Albrech Durer designed several such machines. Albrecht Durer

Johannes Vermeer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5ljByvlDP4 Girl with a Pearl Earing- "Camera Obscura” Directed by Peter Webber. 2003 Johannes Vermeer baptized in 1632 -1675)

Two Point Perspective

Raphael, School of Athens

Raphael, School of Athens

M. C. Esher