What is a linear perspective as it has been defined by Alberti? When did it emerge and what kind of historical and philosophical implications did it have in terms of the status of the observer?
Thursday, September 24, 2009
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Alberti describes linear perspective as a mathematical technique by which artists can accurately render perspective and create realistic paintings by creating a framework of lines that converge at a centric point. He describes it by first explaining how the eye sees and measures objects in view by means of rays, which extend from the eye to meet points on a plane. The rays of sight form a pyramid with the apex at the viewer’s eye, the extreme rays forming the boundary of the plane, the median rays assessing space within the plane, and the centric ray, fixed on the center point of the plane.
ReplyDeleteLinear perspective emerged in the 15th century at the beginning of the Renaissance. It provided artists with a systematic method that could be applied in the same manner in various settings to create convincing perspective and more realistically render the world around them.
Crary guides us to consider the "observer" as more than "one who sees," but to consider the overlapping components of the social surface, which include developments in technology and science, social and political changes, and developments in art and visualization. In addition to the emergence of linear perspective, new discoveries were reshaping the way people studied and understood the word around them. The shift from art of the Middle Ages to the Renaissance coincided with a shift in the function and purpose of art in society. During the Middle Ages, artists sought to create images with a spiritual function whose religious role was more important than careful study of the physical world. During the Renaissance, while religion remained a primary subject, artists became more interested in realism and scientific study. Art no longer existed solely for spiritual contemplation, but also as a means of studying and depicting the natural world.
In Crary's essay, he says that art or "signs" are tied to social hierarchies, and that imitation and the techniques used to imitate, including linear perspective and photography, challenge aristocratic control over imagery. Therefore, linear perspective changed the status of the observer by beginning to destabilize the exclusiveness of imagery, making it more accessible to more people.
From Mariam:
ReplyDeleteLike Peter Greenaway focuses on the viewer’s perception of cinema, Alberti focuses on the viewer’s gaze in his chapter “On painting”. Alberti describes what he calls the linear perspective which is a pure mathematical description of a painting along with art theory in how the eye sees the lines and points which form a figure not mentioning any biological or optical theories that describe the eye and its relationship with the image.
Alberti’s description is very thorough and it makes the reader actually imagine the lines and planes and connect them to each other and form a visual figure. What he calls linear perspective is that a painter creates a plane which is a floor on which figures and objects would be placed. The viewers eye measures the objects placed on the planes with the help of rays which come from the eye and meet points on object itself.
This kind of systematic method for painting had been introduced in the 15th century. Many painters studied Alberti’s method and used it later in their work as for the observer it gave the observer a more analytical gaze of paintings and lines. Alberti stresses on the difference between filling a drawn figure with paint and actually making the lines and the pyramid stand out by painting.
Although Alberti asked the reader to look at him as a painter, his systematic description lacks artistic expression, leaving the reader trapped in a complex analysis of points, planes, rays, color, and light.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, Alberti did not spend the majority of his chapter discussing color and light, I found this part most intriguing. When Alberti commences his description of color and light his diction becomes more expressive and elusive. He claims the four color generas (elements) to be red, blue, green, and grey - colors which he finds in nature. I find this interesting because they are dissimilar to the primary colors of the color wheel (red, yellow, and blue). In addition, when Alberti describes light he recognizes the division of light, noting, fire, stars, the sun, and the moon. For some reason, this separation of light reminded me of Plato's Allegory of the Cave.
Limited in power, men are only able to create these fragmented realities by fire light. Being a man-made form of light, fire does not have the capacity to see the whole picture. For example, fire sheds light up and out to all sides, however it is incapable of shedding light onto what lies directly beneath it. Unable to see below the surface, fire does not provide the complete truth. Yet, pure light, in the form of sunlight, allows truth to flourish. When shadows are created in the presence of sunlight, the image is fluid in that it is connected to the object. This permanent link allows one a full understanding of the shadow in relation to its subject.