Historical Foundations of Visual Technology Workbook

4 A perspective on perspective

The "Middle Ages" are so named because they separate the fall of Rome in the late 400's and the Renaissance about a thousand years later. During this period Europe was wracked by invasions from the north and east. This was a time of instability and the disintegration of what had once been the monolithic Roman Empire into many smaller geopolitical units. During this period the church took over as the main institution of cultural continuity, preserving a part of the knowledge of antiquity. In the late Middle Ages knowledge of geometry and physical forces was applied to the building of churches and cathedrals, first in a pattern emulating Roman buildings (Romanesque) and then in innovative "Gothic" cathedrals. In parallel the purpose of visual objects gradually expanded to fill roles beyond the telling of religious stories with intentionally simple pictures. In the Renaissance ("rebirth of knowledge") beginning about 1400 techniques of realism in art met and even surpassed those of ancient Greece. We explore linear, atmospheric, light, focus, and positional perspective.

The audio chapter commentaries here provide lecture material on the indicated Units of Gombrich's Story of Art, 16th edition. To listen to the audio lecture along with slide viewing on a computer, click the “Audio lecture” link first to start the audio, minimize any screen your sound player produces, and then click the “Slides” link to view the slides. If you only want to view the slides, just click that link. The audio file may be used separately on a portable sound player by viewing the illustrations in the Gombrich text itself, since the audio calls out page and figure numbers.

Chapter 10 – The Church Triumphant	Audio lecture	Slides
Chapter 11 – Courtiers and Burghers	Audio lecture	Slides
Chapter 12 – The Conquest of Reality	Audio lecture	Slides
Chapter 12a – Intro to linear perspective	Audio lecture	Slides
Chapter 12b – Illusion through perspective	Audio lecture	Slides

Web links:

web link: Perspective overview
web link: Summary of linear perspective
web link: Filippo Brunelleschi's development of linear perspective
web link: Good article with illustrations of linear and atmospheric perspective
web link: Museum of Science, Boston, illustrates various kinds of perspective, explore!
web link: Implementing the perspective of Renaissance artists
web link: Illustrations of various types of perspective
web link: Exploring chiaroscuro