The Invention of the Perspective In the Renaissance - Essay Example

The Invention of the Perspective In the Renaissance The inventors of perspective started with the 'the linear perspective ' (1) that gave the illusion of space and distance on flat surface. the first person who wrote down the rules of 'linear perspective was Leon Batista Alberty, then Brunelleschi, an Italian artist and architect who demonstrated this type of 'perspective'. Leonardo da Vinci learned the system of 'linear perspective' and used it in his painting. A linear perspective drawing took into considerations the following techniques: horizon line (2) : the line of confluence of the sky with the ground vanishing point (3) : marked down as a point where all the parallel lines called orthogonals appear to come together towards the horizon line orthogonal lines (4) : are straight diagonal lines considered 'visual rays' that connects points around the edges of the canvas to vanishing point. They help draw the viewer' eye into the depth of the picture Regarding the 'linear perspective' an artist starts from imagining a picture as 'an open window' and through it he tries to see the painted world. It's also mentioned 'the aerial perspective' or 'atmospheric perspective' ( Leonardo da Vinci) that gives a sense of depth in painting. This refers to the clarity of the objects in a picture, the distant ones seems more bluish. The geometry for linear perspective was available starting with Euclid, later on at Leonardo da Vinci, Pierro de la Francesca and Albrecht Duerer .The visual space created in their work is impressive. Regarding to Piero de la Francesca and his 'De Propectiva Pingendi' book we can find a brief summary if his methods in " Piero della Francesca and the Two Methods of Renaissance Perspective" by Kim H.Veltman (5) Talking about his painting resources, Piero explains his principles of creating 'perspective' effects. The first 'book' refers to the 'diminution of plane surfaces' (6), the second explains the trial of ' diminution of square bodies' and those having a number of faces positioned at right angles to the planes'(7) and the third one 'the diminution of bodies' (8), that seems more difficult to realize. Analyzing Francesca's different ways of perspective, Kim Veltman notices 'geometrical proportion using diagonals' (9) a 'surveying type using a rod or a plane' (10) and 'a diagonal' (11) to determine the distance. Piero's Second Method of creating perspective refers to the 'power of lines' (12) in drawing, this meaning the effect of diminishing the objects and the skills of making the appropriate contours. There are also new 'perspective views' considered by Francesco in his book 'The Geometrical Method' ,these were basically used in the context of pavements, ceilings, facades and buildings and. He also used 'The Window Method' that had more elaborate details and was represented in architecture. Francesco's perspective views were based both on Euclidian geometry and 'combination of geometry, optics and surveying'. (13) It was also mentioned 'the Legitimate Construction perspective' Method that is explained as a combination of 'optics and surveying' (15).'ground plan and elevation' (16) Duccio di Buoninsegna was an Italian painter (1278-1319) who demonstrated the use of perspective in architectural forms. His style seems to be different in his tendency of giving his figures more volume. His 'perspective 'infuses elements from Byzantine style with more dramatic scenes and specific figures. In his 45 panels representing scenes from the Bible and saints he inspired from primitive Christian style regarding the outlines of figures, gestures, and clothes. In this way he tried to create a more natural visual impression. His art of 3 D perspective created a special spatiality, a type of 'breathing space' (17) around the persons and objects. The artist used a special technique of registering in his paintings intricate details (for example the style of painting hair with curls, straight, bushy) or materials. Duccio is appreciated for his skills of creating spatial volume , his perspective technique was influenced by Arena Chapel of Giotto. Some elements of figural perspective at Duccio can be noticed at 'Maesta'( Madonna and Child Entroned with Angels and Saints): the symmetry of the painting having Madonna in the middle, the fabric of the garments, the gold color used for the effect of glorification of Mary, the contrast of warm tints around her and the intense ultramarine blue mantle she is wearing. The artist solved the problem of representing three dimensional space on flat surface by special arrangements of color, light , and movement, in other words creating more perspective effects than the linear perspective of early Renaissance. He emphasized on the expression of emotions, the movement of figures through space and intense exploration of three D space using shading and foreshorting. Thinking of architectural forms in space at the ancient Romans and the different techniques to create perspective, we might take into consideration the portrait and relief sculptures, incrustations where the interior of the houses were painted to resemble colored marble, also painted interiors to represent detailed scenes from the nature. The ancient Romans were famous for their passion for theatre and their wall painting graphics showing lines of perspective and three D representations of theatre stages with high grade depth and volume. The effect of volume and picturesque through the 'perspective' was present at the great ancient forums and ensembles. (example:Vatican) . Generally speaking, the Renaissance examples relied on a point perspective (linear), then, as centuries progressed, the artists succeeded in shifting the vanishing point and created more arbitrary ones. In 15th Filippo Brunellschi raised a sensation with his ideas about 'perspective'. He made a 'demonstration' to prove his perspective technique asking his friends to stand while painting the panel directing them to look upon the original scene he painted .He held up the painting up with the back side directly in the viewer's face and asked them to look through the tiny eye hole drilled through the middle of the panel. Brunelleschi came with new ideas of perspective based on illusion impressions. An example in this sense is the aspect of the 'sky' in the upper part of his work. He used burnished silver there instead of painting, so the viewer saw wind blown clouds drifting across the top of the painting. In painting the Baptistery of St. John in Florence, Brunelleschi discovered the strict rules of geometric perspective He developed the concept of linear perspective showing depth on a flat surface. The Baptistery captured his attention as a 'visual pyramid' realized through straight lines raying from all surfaces of the building to his own eye. Brunellschi painted the picture of the Baptistery on the surface of a small mirror on the top of its own reflection. He drilled a small hall in the mirror and then stood in front of the Baptistery to see the real building. Then he cleaned the mirror in front of his painted panel to see the real building, A second mirror blocked the view of the real building but reflected his painted version on the original mirror. (19) His perspective rule could be described as a 'projection of the scene' from an eye point' (20) .It can be experimented by tracing a scene on a window while keeping an eye closed and the other one stationary. The cupola of the Dome with self -supporting structure was Brunelleschi's invention. His architectural design contained two shells, an inner one made of light weight material and one outside, made of heavier wind -resistant material. The birth of Cubism marked' the eruption of different styles in the 20th century'(21).It was inaugurated by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braques who allowed the artists to transpose the three dimensional subjects into the flat images on the surface of the canavas. The objects could be reconstructed using particular separate views which overlapped and intersected . This painters rejected the traditionalism , neglected the perspective' rules using foreshortening( shortening parts of representation of an object in order to create the illusion of depth and distance ), modeling (the representation of depth or 3 D solidity in drawing and painting ) , chiaroscuro (distribution of light and shade in a picture) and the imitation of nature. The paintings realized in this period presented a surface as broken into facets (small plan surfaces).The idea of Cubism was to express a synthesis of form, sometimes introducing different materials of construction. This Cubist art style is called 'collage'. The viewer has the impression of looking simultaneously to depict these small facets. Considering these techniques styles might be obvious that Cubism destroyed the perspective in paintings violated the unified space .Each object is shown through its own viewpoint and not through the relation to the other objects, the proportion was neglected. It distrusted the 'whole' idea of the images and considered them artificial also it considered that the perspective space was illusory as a sign inherited from Renaissance period. Cubism tries to reproduce different 'perspectives' or forms in a simultaneously appealing to our mind's power to abstract and synthesize. The paintings are characterized by fractured forms, geometric shapes, unspecified edges, simultaneous angles of view on the same canvas. The first stage of Cubism named 'Analytic' (1910-1912) was characterized by structural constituents, neutral organic colors, human beings, the last stage (1912-1914), 'the Synthetic Cubism' came with more decorative elements, collages, bright colors and non paint materials (sand, newspaper lettering, cigar wrapping). Both Picasso and Braques experimented a system using flattened space, later on Paul Cezanne worked in the same style defying the logic of space and gravity. The French writer Guilaume Apollinaire described the Cubist art as 'a poetic kind of painting which stands outside the world of observation'. The 'perspective' considerations were destroyed and there was no distinction between the foreground and the background, so they appeared to be on the same plane. The fragmentation of spaces, jagged lines made impossible to obey the 'perspective' techniques discovered by the predecessors. In the historical context, the Cubism expressed a kind of need of reconstruction, this attitude being specific during the World War when many of the artists of the time were conscripted to become soldiers. Picasso created "The Poet" painting in 1912 , where we can see a poet that is' fragmented', 'flat' represented showing his breakdown in front of the war terrors. Works cited: - (17) Duccio www.mystudios.com/art/gothic/duccio/ - (1), (2), (3), (4) "Explaining Linear Perspective" - (6), (7), (8), (12) Francesca "De Propectiva Pingendi" - (5), (9), (10), (11), (13), (14), (15), (16) Kim H. Veltman "The Perspective Unit" Mc Luhan Centre, University of Toronto - (18), (19), (20), (21) Talbott Stephen "Seeing in Perspective". Chapter 22 Read More