*** The invention of perspective *** (For detailed citations of sources of illustrations, see: http://graphics.stanford.edu/courses/cs99d-01/bibliography.html) The Greeks invent illusionistic art ("mimesis"): 540 BC Early Greek classical -> Vase in the black-figured style, Gombrich SoA, p. 80 o Achilles and Ajax playing draughts o still in egyptian style 500 BC Early high Greek classical -> Vase in the red-figured style Gombrich SoA, p. 81 o the warrier's leave-taking o foreshortening of foot State-of-the-art at the height of the Roman Empire: 50 BC "Second style" of Roman painting -> Wall painting from villa near Pompeii, Gardner, p. 212 o one-point perspective o decreasing spacing o circles as ellipses o aerial perspective 70 AD "Fourth style" of Roman painting -> Wall painting, Herculaneum Gardner, p. 217 o shading o shadows o highlights o transparency o refraction The disappearance of naturalism in the middle ages: 547 AD Early Byzantine -> Mosaic, San Vitale, Ravenna (a Byzantine city since 493), Gardner, p. 295 o naturalism completely gone o gold background o halo is from ancient Persia, = descended from the Sun Incorrect perspective drawing in the middle ages: 1420 Giovanni de Paolo's The Birth of St. John the Baptist, -> Dubery and Willats, p. 52 o the problem of drawing pavimento Definitions of "perspective": Common assumptions: 1. Light leaving an object travels in straight lines 2. These lines converge to a point (more or less) at the eye "Natural perspective": 3a. More distant objects subtend smaller visual angles -> drawing from Euclid, in Kemp, p. 27 "Linear (artificial) perspective": 3b. A perspective image is formed by the intersection of these lines with a "picture plane" (the surface of the painting) -> drawing from Piero, Kemp, p. 28 The invention of linear perspective in the Renaissance: 1413 Brunelleschi's panels of the Baptistery and Pza. Signoria, -> Brunelleschi's Duomo in Florence, Gombrich SoA, p. 225 -> Kemp, p. 12 and Alison Cole's Perspective, p. 12 About the baptistery panel: o peephole forces you to observe panel from correct viewpoint o assumes mirror held parallel to panel at the correct distance o mirrored background would, if you stood at correct real station point in the doorway of the cathedral, superimpose the real Baptistry, showing any errors 1435 Alberti's Della Pittura ("On painting") -> Alison Cole's Perspective, p. 13 o originally in Latin ("de pictura") o dedicated to Brunelleschi o specialized for one-point perspective of pavimento Early perspective masterpieces: 1428 Masaccio's Holy Trinity, Santa Maria Novella, Florence -> Cole, p. 14-15, with reconstructed 3D model o perspective is a player in the artistic programme: virtual wall, which continues the plane of the real wall, separates the mortal from the spiritual world o some errors - deliberate adjustments? o antique architecture - collaboration with Brunelleschi? 1455 Piero della Francesca's Flagellation of Christ -> Cole, p. 18-19, with partially reconstructed 3D model o again, perspective is a player in the programme: allows Piero to place a local light on Christ alone