The Discovery and Application of Perspective Representation in Modern Italy

Authors: Matthias Stange

Abstract:

In the early modern period, a different image of man began to prevail in Europe. The focus was on the self-determined human being and his abilities. At first, these developments could be seen in Italian painting and architecture, which again oriented itself to the concepts and forms of antiquity. For example, through the discovery of perspective representation by Brunelleschi or later the orthogonal projection by Alberti, after the ancient knowledge of optics had been forgotten in the Middle Ages. The understanding of reality in the Middle Ages was not focused on the sensually perceptible world, but was determined by ecclesiastical dogmas. The empirical part of this study examines the rediscovery and development of perspective. With the paradigm of antiquity, the figure of the architect was also recognised again - the cultural man trained theoretically and practically in numerous subjects, as Vitruvius describes him. In this context, the role of the architect, the influence on the painting of the Quattrocento as well as the influence on architectural representation in the Baroque period are examined. Baroque is commonly associated with the idea of illusionistic appearance as opposed to the tangible reality presented in the Renaissance. The study has shown that the central perspective projection developed by Filippo Brunelleschi enabled another understanding of seeing and the dissemination of painted images. Brunelleschi's development made it possible to understand the sight of nature as a reflection of what is presented to the viewer's eye. Alberti later shortened Brunelleschi's central perspective representation for practical use in painting. In early modern Italian architecture and painting, these developments apparently supported each other. The pictorial representation of architecture initially served the development of an art form before it became established in building practice itself.

Keywords: Alberti, Brunelleschi, Central perspective projection, Orthogonal projection, Quattrocento, Baroque.

References:

[1] Schlimme, H., Holste, D., & Niebaum, J., "Bauwissen im Italien der Frühen Neuzeit" in Wissensgeschichte der Architektur. Band III: Vom Mittelalter bis zur Frühen Neuzeit, ed. Renn, J., Osthues, W., & Schlimme, H. (Berlin: Edition Open Access, 2014), p. 131.
[2] Burioni, M., "Architecture - Art, Craft or Technique? Giorgio Vasari, Vincenzo Borghini, and the Order of the Arts at the Accademia del Disegno in the Early Absolutist Duchy of Florence." in Technology in the Early Modern Era - Pacemakers of European Modernity, ed. Engel, G. (Frankfurt a. M.: Klostermann, 2004), pp. 391ff.
[3] Gull, E., Perspektivlehre, Vol. 6 (Basel: Birkhäuser, 1981), p. 9.
[4] Manetti, A., Das Leben des Brunelleschi, Hrsg. Saalman, H., übers. Enggass, C. (University Park/PA: Penn State University Press, 1970).
[5] Büttner, F., "Rationalisierung der Mimesis. Anfänge der konstruierten Perspektive bei Brunelleschi und Alberti." in Mimesis und Simulation., Hrsg. Kablitz, A. & Neumann, G. (Freiburg i. Br.: Rombach Wissen-schaften, 1998), S. 57 ff.
[6] Grave, J., Architekturen des Sehens: Bauten in Bildern des Quattrocento (Paderborn: Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 2015), p. 9.
[7] Alberti, L.B., "De re aedificatoria," cited in Grave (2015), p. 10.
[8] The School of Athens, Raphael (c. 1510/11), Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican. Retrieved from https://gemaeldeonline.wordpress.com on 19.02.2023
[9] Reclams Kunstführer Volume V, Rome and Italy, ed. Manfred Wundram, Stuttgart 1981, p. 413f.
[10] The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci, 1494-98, Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan. Retrieved from https://gemaeldeonline.wordpress.com on 19.02.2023
[11] Zöllner, F. & Nathan, J., Leonardo da Vinci: Sämtliche Gemälde und Zeichnungen (Cologne: Taschen, 2015).
[12] Jöchner, C. "The Outer Hold of the City. Topography and Political Territory in Turin," in Political Spaces. City and Country in the Early Modern Period. Ed. Jöchner, C., 67-89. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2003.
[13] Gerber, A., Metageschichte der Architektur. A textbook for prospective architects and architectural theorists. (Bielefeld: transcript, 2014), p. 181.
[14] Wölfflin, H., Kunstgeschichtliche Grundbegriffe: das Problem der Stilentwicklung in der neuen Kunst (Munich: Bruckmann, 1915).
[15] Günther, H., "Bildwirkung von Architektur in Renaissance und Barock" (paper presented at the Kolloquium Architektur und Bild in der Neuzeit, Stuttgart, 2002), p. 1.