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PERSPECTIVE Flat Figures Before the Renaissance, Most Art in Europe Centered Around Christianity

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SPOTLIGHT PERSPECTIVE Flat Figures Before the Renaissance, most art in Europe centered around Christianity. The most important figures were placed Art History in centrally and painted larger than the others. It wasn't important for them to be in realistic-looking settings. Perspective At the start of the Renaissance, artists became interested in painting more of the world around them. However, they did not Renaissance artists forever changed have the visual tools to create depth on a the way we depict the world around us two-dimensional picture plane. In Giovanni di Paolo's [joh-VAHN-ni OEE-pow-Ioh] 1445 Paradise [below left), the figures look flat uring the Renaissance [1 400­ and appear to be floating in space. They're Why do the figures 1600), the air in Europe seemed all the same size and are stacked on top of in this scene appear charged with ideas. Artists, one another in rows. The horizon line [the unnatural and unrealistic? writers, musicians, architects, line dividing the earth from the sky] is scientists, and mathematicians placed near the top rather than at eye G! .annl dl PlolD fc .l'103-c.l49!?J. Pc(adJse. precf.e ili;\' ~anel Ca. lC~ 5 . clamored for knowledge and new leve l, as we see Earth's horizon in real life. T~m otl ••",d ogld on eanva,. , transferred from wood, 17 t.4 x 15 ways of looking at the world. It was one of U6 1n Rog!l, FUfld . 19 06 (06. !01.l'6J. Tht! M etropolltClin Mutlum o. f ':'rt. ' lew YQ;I ,.(. NY. lwa". cco'r:tght the most exciting times in history. Art Meets Math OihE!: Met ropc!lta., \~ U';I IJ", ell Art Sourc€ : Art Rnou,e-e. NV. Renaissance artists experimented with ways to create the illusion of deep space on a flat surface. Th ey figured out that in real life, parallel lines [for example, a road] appear to converge, or meet, as they recede into the horizon. Additionally, objects that are close appear to be larger and in better focus than those farther away. By applying these concepts to their canvases, artists could mimic the way we see the orld. This mathematical system of using lines to create realistic-looking depth is called linear perspective. School of Greats By the 1500s, many artists had mastered the new system of using perspective. Whe n a young artist named Raphae l was hired to paint a fresco on a wall of the li brary at St. Peter's Church in Rome , e as excit ed to show off this technique. From our point of view, wh en we look at School ofAthens [above, right) it is hard to tell where the real architecture ends and the painted arches begin. It is as if we are looking through the wa ll it is painted on and into the next room. In that room are some of q SCHOLASTIC ART' MARCH 2012 the great thinkers of history who inspired Raphael, including the Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle in the center. Raphael used one-point perspective to compose this work. The lines on the floor tiles and the pillars converge at a single vanishing point on the horizon line. It is between Plato's and Aristotle's heads (see diagram). The converging lines also draw our attention to the t wo figures. Even though they are painted smaller and with less detail than the figures in the foreground (the closest area to the viewer), we can still tell they are the most important. School ofAthens is considered one of the best examples of linear perspective. For ore than 500 years, artists have ntinued to use the techniques developed Study the diagram showing one-point :;~ n g the Renaissance. Today artists like perspective. Then look for additional _- ar Estes play with these techniques to converging lines in School ofAthens, cr.,a 8 even more realistic scenes than Rap hael [l483·1520l. Th~ School of At hens, ca. 15 10-1512. Fre sco. Stanza dell a Segnatura. Stanle di Raffaello. Vatica n t hough' po ssible in Raphael's time. Palace. Va t ican St ate, Ph oto; Scala I An Reso urce, NY. MARCH 2012 • SCHOLASTIC ART 5 SPOTLIGHT PERSPECTIVE Pietro Perugino's The Delivery of the Keys inspired Raphael's School ofAthens. Pietr o Pe' fU!;JII'I !J tc .ll.l1.l5-1523J. GI •.llg c( the Heys tlO Sr. Peu::r . lIlSl. The Sistine Qo,lI jlol. Vati ca ... City. P'1nlCJ. ~f)-E 8.idgeman Ar t Uorary.luncon ONE-POINT Things Raphael, who painted School ofAthens on page 5, was a great Renaissance master, but he didn't invent perspective. His to Knovv teacher, Pietro Perugino (Pee-EH-troh Pehr-ooh-JEEN-ohl. taught him. In Perugino's painting above, done 30 years before Raphael's, About large detailed figures stand in the foreground and the figures in the background are smaller and harder to see. As in Raphael's painting, Perspective all of the architectural lines recede to a single vanishing point. TWO-POINT Early Renaissance artist Masaccio (mah-SAH-choh) 2 used the new system of perspective to set his solid, three-dimensional figures in very real-looking settings. In this detail from his fresco The Tribute Money, two men stand in front of a building painted using two-point perspective. The corner is closest to us, allowing us to see two sides of the building at once. One wall recedes toward one vanishing point. and the other recedes toward a second vanishing point located outside the frame of the picture. For a diagram showing two-point perspective, turn the page! Using two-point perspective, Masaccio shows two sides of one building. ~.l e 6a cc lO· (lQo!-IQ-?sl. The jrUllJ ,-~ .~.,rQ n ey (d-e c. 'H:). Fresco . ii'l: 8rancacci Chapel, S. M3ri 8 -::le i CarmIne, FIQre::ics', Itafy. Fh"C o: S:c a'a ' Ar t I;'es.oo.;r ce. NY. 6 SCHOLASTIC ART· MARCH 2012 Mona Lisa's smile gets the most attention, but the mountains also add mystery to Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece. AERIAL leona rdo da V'n: i [l4S2-1519}, ..fone Li sa. Oil on '.'."Qc d. T7 " 53 em. The l CUlJre. Pari s, F{ance. Ph.o to. ReunIon des Mtosees 1~ at io -..'Ju)( J Not all perspective is linear. Art Resource. t~ y. Renaissance artists also made their paintings-especially their landscapes-look more real using aerial perspective. You can see an example of this in Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece Mona Lisa. In the background, the closest mountains are darker and clearer. Farther away, the forms are smaller and hazier. On the horizon, the colors of the forms blend in with the blue of the sky. The winding roads and mountain peaks draw attention to the focal point-the figure's face and her famous smile. q ~O~~R~~i~?n~~~i~~~i~that Paolo Uccello [POW-Ioh oo-CHEL-oh) was obsessed with perspective. He'd stay up all night making mathematical diagrams for his paintings. In his famous Battle of San Romano [detail at left), the foreground is filled with foreshortened objects like the back legs of the brown horse on the right. The hooves are enlarged so they seem to be coming toward the viewer. Can you spot other foreshortened objects in this scene? How does Paolo Uccello use perspective in this battle scene? Paolo Ucc e!lo [1397-1475]. The Bartle of San Romono, (detail), 1423. lLl5S. The Uffill Gall.ry. Florence . lta , ~'. Photo: Eric l.-e ssing I Art Resource, NY. DISTORTION By the 20th century, photography had taken the place of most realistic painting. Artists began using perspective to comment on the anxiety of modern life. Surrealist Giorgio de Chirico (JOR-joh duh-KEER-ih-koh) painted the scene at right using one­ point perspective. But he exaggerated the angle of the converging lines, so the buildings seem to rush at the viewer. The diagonal shadows clash with the lines, creating confusion. A ship's sail rising above the horizon line gives the work a dream-like quality. What elements make Giorgio de Chirico's painting seem unnatural and surreal? GiorglD de Chilico H88S-19781, ne Aft,o i,ty of L'Vo itinq, Fo :'\dazlone Maog'l ani Rocca. Corte di Ma mi :InO, Italy. Photo. Scala I Art Re scufce, rN 0 20 2 Artlsts RrBhts SC'.: ie ty (ARS). NewYor.", I SIAE. Rome. SPOTLIGHT PERSPECTIVE New Views of America American realist painter Edward Hopper used perspective to show different aspects of American life What is the point of rtists of the Renaissance used Haunting House view in this painting the then-new system of linear Hopper is famous for painting scenes of by Edward Hopper? perspective with mathematical Where would you have urban and rural Ameri can life. Many of his to stand to get this precision. The y carefully placed paintings have a lonely or isolated mood. perspective? each line to achieve the The artist thought of these emotions as E¢.'. ."n::I Hot/pel U 882·19 671, afl~e greatest illusion of depth on features of fast-paced modern life. in 0 SmQIf Ci(y, 1 9~ . 0 t an cen\o as, 28 x "O il'\. ihe Met ro::.olrtan the picture plane. Artists continued to work The 1825 painting House by the Railroad \~us eu '-" 1:I f Al"i. tn', G &o ~ !i: e A. Heam F'~ nd 1953 153.
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