Perspective Webster's dictionary defines "perspective" in a variety of ways:
2 a: the interrelation in which a subject or its parts are mentally viewed; also: point of view b: the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance
So perspective is really just a point of view. This section will deal with a variety of points of view. Visual systems such a linear perspective will be discussed as well theological, humanistic and neoplatonic points of view.
Cimabue, Madonna Enthroned c1280 Late Gothic Italian |
space, picture plane, and overlapping Paintings on a flat two dimensional space employ different ways of creating space. Before the Renaissance period artists looked at a picture as a kind of window. The front of this window is sometimes referred to as the picture plane. As you look through the front of the plane, like a window, you will see things that are in the foreground or front of the picture, then in the middle ground, and finally the background. In this painting in particular, this artist, named Cimabue, is trying to create the illusion of space by layering or overlapping one figure in front of another, however, you can see that he really does not create the illusion of space or deep space too convincingly. |
Giotto, St Francis Giving his Mantle to a Poor Man, c1305 Late Gothic sometimes his style is considered Proto Renaissance or Early Renaissance |
Giotto, a student of Cimabue, is one of the first Italian
artists to really try to create some sort of space in the picture plane.
If you look at this painting you can see that he has claerly created a
foreground, where the men and the donkey are, a mid-ground, where the mountains
start to rise, and then a background where the buildings are. He
creates this illusion in several ways.
One way is that he overlaps or layers the figures.
The other is that he uses dimunution. Things in the background
diminish, or get smaller. Giotto creates space is that he changes
the size of things as they move back in space. The buildings and
mountains are much smaller than the people are in the foreground.
This difference in size is refered to as a size scale relationship.
The building in this image and the others like it are rendered with the illusion of space called intuitive perspective and isometric perspective. (This kind of perspective is not as illusionistic as the linear perspective that is invented during the Renaissance around 1400 CE.) 
Different artists and different cultures through out time have tried their hand at creating the illusion of space or realism in their art. |
Fowling Scene from the tomb of Nebamun 1400 BCE - 1350 BCE Thebes, Egypt Dynasty 18 |
According to the Brittanica:
Perspective is a method of graphically depicting three-dimensional
objects and spatial relationships on a two-dimensional plane or on a plane
that is shallower than the original (for example, in flat relief).
Perceptual methods of representing space and volume, which render them as seen at a particular time and from a fixed position and are characteristic of Chinese and most Western painting since the Renaissance, are in contrast to conceptual methods. Pictures drawn by young children and primitives (untrained artists), many paintings of cultures such as ancient Egypt and Crete, India, Islam, and pre-Renaissance Europe, as well as the paintings of many modern artists, depict objects and surroundings independently of one another--as they are known to be, rather than as they are seen to be--and from the directions that best present their most characteristic features. Many Egyptian and Cretan paintings and drawings, for example, show the head and legs of a figure in profile, while the eye and torso are shown frontally . This system produces not the illusion of depth but the sense that objects and their surroundings have been compressed within a shallow space behind the picture plane. |
Leonardo da Vinci, Last Supper, 1495-7 Milan, Santa Maria delle Grazie 
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According to the Brittanica:
In Western art, illusions of perceptual volume and space are generally created by use of the linear perspective system, based on the observations that objects appear to the eye to shrink and parallel lines and planes to converge to infinitely distant vanishing points as they recede in space from the viewer. Parallel lines in spatial recession will appear to converge on a single vanishing point, called one-point perspective. Perceptual space and volume may be simulated on the picture plane by variations on this basic principle, differing according to the number and location of the vanishing points. Instead of one-point (or central) perspective, the artist may use, for instance, angular (or oblique) perspective, which employs two vanishing points.
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Masaccio, Trinity with Donors, c1425 - 8? fresco in the Church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence 21'x10'5" |
According to the Brittanica:
The early European artist used a perspective that was an individual interpretation of what he saw rather than a fixed mechanical method. At the beginning of the Italian Renaissance, early in the 15th century, the mathematical laws of perspective were discovered by the architect Filippo Brunelleschi, who worked out some of the basic principles, including the concept of the vanishing point, which had been known to the Greeks and Romans but had been lost. These principles were applied in painting by Masaccio (as in his "Trinity" fresco in Santa Maria Novella, Florence; c. 1427), who within a short period brought about an entirely new approach in painting. A style was soon developed using configurations of architectural exteriors and interiors as the background for religious paintings, which thereby acquired the illusion of great spatial depth. In his seminal Della pittura (1436; On Painting), Leon Battista Alberti codified, especially for painters, much of the practical work on the subject that had been carried out by earlier artists; he formulated, for example, the idea that "vision makes a triangle, and from this it is clear that a very distant quantity seems no larger than a point." Linear perspective dominated Western painting until the end of the 19th century, when Paul Cézanne flattened the conventional Renaissance picture space. The Cubists and other 20th-century painters abandoned the depiction of three-dimensional space altogether and hence had no need for linear perspective. |
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Dennis Hwang, a student from Stanford was so taken with the three dimensional quality of the image that he designed a virtual reality image that simulates another view of Masaccio's fresco. http://graphics.stanford.edu/courses/cs99d-98/online_projects.html |
Masaccio, Trinity with Donors, c1425 - 8? fresco in the Church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence 21'x10'5" |
Form: This is a tremendous work of art. The figures
in the work are just slightly bigger than life size. The overall
composition of the works is symmetrical and the composition within the
arch is based on a stable pyramidal form. While not strictly in accordance
with the rules of perspective, this form is a visual device that draws
the eye back into the picture plane.
The figures of God the Father, The Spirit (which is a
Dove that doubles for God's collar) and the crucified Jesus are placed
with a Roman triumphal arch complete with Pantheon like coffers and ionic
columns on the edges. Moving out of the arch on either side are two
flattened pilasters (squared off half columns) that have corinthian capitals.
The work is executed in one point perspective with the horizon line placed right on the level of the first trompe l’oeil ledge at the viewer's eye level. The figures representing the two donors or patrons are located on a ledge about six feet off the ground, just outside of the arch slightly above the viewer's point of view. Beneath the ledge/horizon line is a painted skeleton representing a tomb. Iconography: Symbolically speaking this image is packed with all kinds of different perspectives. The linear perspective is both a formal device, which creates space, and a way of including the viewer. The fact that the use of linear perspective is used actually symbolizes that the real subject of the painting is not the Trinity but rather the Renaissance man's relationship to it. This leads us to discuss the various themes that are hidden within the obvious meaning behind the fresco. It's almost a shopping list of ideas. idealism neoplatonism humanism theology |
Overall, the fresco does represent a theological (religious) point of view. More specifically it represents a unification of the Trinity as expressed in the Catholic Nicene Creed.
The Brittanica refers to Masaccio's Trinity as "rational, human-scaled and human-centred, and inspired by the ancient world." This statement illustrates that beyond a theological point of view, the naturalistic life-size scale and placement of the figures of God the Father, The Spirit, within a Roman triumphal arch complete with Pantheon like coffers and ionic columns on the edges, represents how the Renaissance person was framing their view of the world within a classicizing and humanistic point of view. Jesus' body is idealized and he looks almost as if he is a Greek god. God the Father looks like a Greek or Roman philosopher and these representations make reference to the new ideas concerning neoplatonism and humanism. The neoplatonic aspect, deals with the concept of humankind's ability to be perfected to an ideal state. One that is more spiritual and mental than flesh. The humanistic point of view deals with the concept that while humankind is spiritual it is also physical and emotional. When the body of Christ is depicted as a real human's body, the artist is showing you a point of view based on a more human and possibly even fallible point of view of the world. The perfectibility of man and the ideal conception of a what a perfect person should be is discussed in Mencher, Liaisons 109-112 Baldassare Castiglione (1478-1529) Il Cortegiano (The Courtier) Excerpts from "The First Book of the Courtier" and William Shakespeare c1600 excerpts from Hamlet 115-117All of these points of view are pulled together in by the appearance and text above the skeleton.We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten of his Father, of the substance of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father.
Above the skeleton is inscribed, "What I was you are. What I am, you will become." This idea that we are to be reminded of our mortality and frailty is a reminder or a lesson referred to as a memento mori. A literal reminder of death. This them is taken up not just in the visual arts but also in literature and theatrical productions. Read Mencher, Liaisons, William Shakespeare c1600 excerpts from Hamlet115-117 for another example. What kinds of iconography to they both share?
Masaccio. Tribute Money, and Expulsion, fresco c1427 Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine Florence, Italy, Italian Renaissance |
Context: Masaccio. Tribute Money, and Expulsion, fresco c1427 are prime examples of many of the innovations that marked 15th century Italian art. In addition to demonstrating all of the formal views concerning perspective, these frescoes also express all of the more philosophical points of view. According to the Brittanica: The Brancacci Chapel. Shortly after completing the Pisa Altarpiece, Masaccio began working on what was to be his masterpiece--the frescoes of the Brancacci Chapel (c. 1427) in the Florentine Church of Santa Maria del Carmine. He was commissioned to finish painting the chapel's scenes of the stories of St. Peter after Masolino (1383-1447) had abandoned the job, leaving only the vaults and several frescoes in the upper registers finished. Previously, Masaccio and Masolino were engaged in some sort of loose working relationship. They had already collaborated on a "Madonna and Child with St. Anne" (Uffizi Gallery, Florence) in which the style of Masaccio, who was the younger of the two, had a profound influence on that of Masolino. It has been suggested, but never proven, that both artists were jointly commissioned to paint the Brancacci Chapel. The question of which painter executed which frescoes in the chapel posed one of the most discussed artistic problems of the 19th and 20th centuries. It is now generally thought that Masaccio was responsible for the following sections: the "Expulsion of Adam and Eve" (or "Expulsion from Paradise"), "Baptism of the Neophytes," "The Tribute Money," "St. Peter Enthroned," "St. Peter Healing the Sick with His Shadow," "St. Peter Distributing Alms," and part of the "Resurrection of the Son of Theophilus." (A cleaning and restoration of the Brancacci Chapel frescoes in 1985-89 removed centuries of accumulated grime and revealed the frescoes' vivid original colours.) |
chiaroscuro  |
The picture plane is further unified by
its value structure or shading. This
use of light and shadow to create a dramatic and consistent picture plane
is referred to as chiaroscuro.
According to the Brittanica,
Chiaroscuro (from Italian chiaro, "light"; scuro, "dark"),Although Giotto uses the technique somewhat in his paintings, notice how chiaroscuro is employed by Masaccio in the image on the left to make the figures appear more life like. Also notice how Masaccio has become so involved with perspective that the halo atop the apostles heads are represented as an elliptical plates floating above rather than the more traditional circle of light that surrounds the heads of Giotto's and Cimabue's figures. |
Context and Iconography: In order to really understand this next section you need to know the story of the Tribute Money. I think that what Masaccio was doing was following the lessons and type of sermons that would have been delivered in Church. In these sermons, two stories concerning the testing of Jesus might have been combined.
Matthew Chapter 17
24 When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said, "Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax?" 25 "Yes," he said. When he came into the house, before he had time to speak, Jesus asked him, "What is your opinion, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax? From their subjects or from foreigners?" 26 When he said, "From foreigners," Jesus said to him, "Then the subjects are exempt. 27 But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax. Give that to them for me and for you." Matthew Chapter 22 15 Then the Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap him in speech. 16 They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone's opinion, for you do not regard a person's status. 17 Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?" 18 Knowing their malice, Jesus said, "Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin that pays the census tax." Then they handed him the Roman coin. 20 He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?" 21 They replied, "Caesar's." At that he said to them, "Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." 22 When they heard this they were amazed, and leaving him they went away.
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Masaccio also uses linear perspective to focus the attention
on the viewer to the central figure of Christ. In addition to this,
he also places the heads of the apostles on the horizon line almost as
if they were ducks in a shooting gallery.
The Tribute Money is a continuous
narrative. Meaning that all the episodes of the story are united
in one picture plane, such as we see in Nicola
Pisano's Nativity, however in Masaccio's image the space
makes more sense. He also divides the story in three segments by
using linear perspective.
The vanishing point also divides the picture plane in two sections. On the left we see the mountains and natural world depicted almost as an infinite place. To the right of the picture plane, and on the left hand of Jesus, the place where the damned are traditionally placed are the manmade structures of the city. What this may represent is a concept that is expressed by the story of the Tribute Money as interpreted by St. Augustine 354-430. According to the Brittanica, Augustine's, "adaptation of classical thought to Christian teaching created a theological system of great power and lasting influence. His numerous written works, the most important of which are Confessions and City of God, shaped the practice of biblical exegesis and helped lay the foundation for much of medieval and modern Christian thought." |
St. Augustine, came up with a concept in which he viewed the universe and man's existence as divided in two worlds. One was the City of Man which was temporary and fallible. This is represented by the architecture and the place in which the tax collectors stands and collects what is "due Caesar." The other world is the City of God which goes on forever and in which god will provide for the faithful. This is where Peter pulls the coin from the fishes mouth. Stokstad points out that this story was also used as a propagandistic tool and a way of instilling patriotism for Florence and raising funds.
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Form: These two nude figures are depicted in an
anatomically accurate manner. The angel of Michael above escorts
them out of a triumphal arch and out into a seemingly featureless landscape.
The bodies are arranged in expressive poses.
The torso of the angel floating above has been somewhat
foreshortened.
Iconography: The classical arch symbolizes the figures expulsion from a classical and ideal world: the Garden of Eden. The expression of there bodies ties in with some of the ideas of human expression that one can see in monuments like the Parthenon's metopes and the Ara Pacis Augustae, except in this case, Masaccio uses the language of gesture to directly communicate what each one of these figures is feeling. My Professor Broderick, from Lehman college, suggested that the figure of Adam is ashamed of himself in a more internal way and therefore hides his face from us and from God. In contrast to this, Eve, is more superficially ashamed and hides her body. For Broderick, this was an expression of male and female roles during the Renaissance. |
Albrecht Durer, Alberti's Veil c1500  |
One way of dealing with perspective and foreshortening
is to use mechanical devices to help the artist figure out how perspective
works.
In the central image, Durer is using a device based on
a treatise by Alberti. This device allows the artist to abstract
the image and chart the image into a series of squares. This gives
the artist many more reference points and allows him to check and measure
the way things are foreshortened.
This machine is based on a device that artists used to make multiple copies of the same image or to enlarge a drawing accurately for placement on a wall or canvas. This process is called "grid and transfer" or "squaring." According to the Brittanica, "Squaring" in painting, simple technique for transferring an image from one surface to another (and sometimes converting the image from one scale to another) by non mechanical means. The original work to be transferred is divided into a given number of squares; the same number of squares is then marked off-- with charcoal or some other easily removable medium--on the surface of the receiving area. The contents of each square of the original are then drawn in the corresponding square of the reproduction. The use of the grid ensures the accurate placement of images onto the reproduction. The Egyptians used squaring at least 5,000 years ago. It has been used to transfer cartoons onto murals, to transfer preparatory drawings onto canvas paintings, and to alter the scale of any work in the same media.This process was used extensively during the Renaissance. Check this out: http://www.clevelandart.org/techniques/squaring.html also see this http://www.aliciastrose.com/f-process.html |
1) To draw a simple shape in two point perspective you start with a single line across the picture plane called the horizon line. 
3) Next, add converging lines from the top and bottom of the vertical line and draw two vertical lines which will become the back corners of the box. |
2 Then add two vanishing points. Place one at each end of the horizon line. Then draw a vertical line as big as you want the first box. 
4) After erasing some of the horizon line (the part behind the box) it looks like a three dimensional form. |
http://www.proviso.k12.il.us/EAST/GeometryWorld/2PER.HTM
Gustave Caillebotte, Paris a Rainy Day, 1877 French, Impressionism |
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Here's where the lines should have gone.
 (Ognissanti Altar,) c 1310. Tempera and gold on wood, 10'8"x6'8" Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence |
 from the Church of Santa Trinita, Florence c 1280. Tempera and gold on wood, 12' 7"x7'4" Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence |
Masaccio, Madonna Enthroned, 1426, oil on panel, 56x29" London, National Gallery |
Go back to the page where you first learned about them.
Ignore this question if you are in the ART 101 class.
hu.man.ism n (1832) 1 a: devotion to the humanities: literary culture b: the revival of classical letters, individualistic and critical spirit, and emphasis on secular concerns characteristic of the Renaissance 2: humanitarianism 3: a doctrine, attitude, or way of life centered on human interests or values; esp: a philosophy that usu. rejects supernaturalism and stresses an individual's dignity and worth and capacity for self-realization through reason -- hu.man.ist n or adj -- hu.man.is.tic adj -- hu.man.is.ti.cal.ly adv me.men.to mo.ri n, pl memento mori [L, remember that you must die] (1596): a reminder of mortality; esp: death's-head
me.men.to n, pl -tos or -toes [ME, fr. L, remember, imper. of meminisse to remember; akin to L ment-, mens mind--more at mind] (1580): something that serves to warn or remind; also: souvenir
Neo.pla.to.nism n (1845) 1: Platonism modified in later antiquity to accord with Aristotelian, post-Aristotelian, and oriental conceptions that conceives of the world as an emanation from an ultimate indivisible being with whom the soul is capable of being reunited in trance or ecstasy 2: a doctrine similar to ancient Neoplatonism -- Neo.pla.ton.ic adj -- Neo.pla.to.nist n
trompe l’oeil - (French: "deceive the eye"), in painting, the representation of an object with such verisimilitude as to deceive the viewer concerning the material reality of the object. This idea appealed to the ancient Greeks who were newly emancipated from the conventional stylizations of earlier art. Zeuxis, for example, reportedly painted such realistic grapes that birds tried to eat them. The technique was also popular with Roman muralists. Although trompe l’oeil never achieved the status of a major artistic aim, from the early Renaissance on, European painters occasionally fostered illusionism by painting false frames out of which the contents of a still life or portrait appeared to spill, or by creating window-like images suggesting actual openings in the wall or ceiling. (Brittanica)
Value Structure
Is the lightness or darkness of a color or shade. Chiaroscuro and tenebrism both employ the use quick shifts of light and dark.
Value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color. It is a variable that can substantially alter a color's appearance, and as we will see later, it is also an important factor in achieving legibility with type and color. A hue changes in value when either white or black are added to it. A color with added white is called a tint (fig.7) ; a color with added black is called a shade (fig.8). Generally speaking, pure hues that are normally light in value (yellow, orange, green) make the best tints, white pure hues that are normally dark in value (red, blue, violet) make the most desirable shades. The palettes colors below shoes a spectrum of tints and shades based on the hues from the colors clearly shows that changes in value greatly expand color possibilities.
fig.7
fig.8
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