FREE ESSAY ON SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE

SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE

Perspective
Use of perspective in art finds its root in one man, Filippo Brunelleschi. Although we
don't know for sure, it is likely that Brunelleschi also invented linear, or scientific
perspective. Donatello's "The Feast of Herod" is the earliest surviving example of
scientific perspective, which is established through the use of a "vanishing point", an
imaginary single point on the page in which all the parallel lines meet. Donatello's
Feast of Herod was a groundbreaking work by that day's standards, and a complete failure
in the fulfillment of compositional requirements of traditional classical or medieval
standards. The focal point of the piece, the presentation of St. John's head to Herod, is
in the far left corner, and the crowd watching is clustered into the right corner. Upon
examination of the action, however, Donatello's intention is clear; by placing the people
in this way, the gesture and emotion of the scene is more implicit and effective. It is
also more clearly established that the scene does not end at the focal point, it in fact
continues off into every direction, an impression more clearly made with his use of
scientific perspective. This "window" view into the scene was a radical step, and would
influence how the picture plane was to be seen from that point on.
Another important milestone in the history of perspective is Pietro Perudino's "The
Delivery of the Keys". Painted in 1482, this work employs a grave, symmetrical structure,
a tool he used to emphasize the importance of the scene being represented: The authority
of St. Peter as the first pope, and all of his successors, rests on his having received
the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven from Christ himself. The onlookers are all rendered
with powerfully individualized faces. Equally powerful is the vast expanse of the almost
surreal background. The spatial clarity, established by the use of mathematically precise
perspective, is the influence of Brunelleschi. 
Andrea Mantegna was another 15th century painter. He was a prodigy that rendered in paint
with skill from the age of 16 on. With the painting "St. James Led to His Execution"
Mantegna established himself as a person who wasn't afraid to break with traditional
painting techniques, and adds a daring touch by painting from a ground up view of the
scene. This was used because the painting was hung so tha the bottom of the painting was
at the viewer's eye level. Because of this the architecture looms intimidatingly, and is
made more convincing by his use of scientific perspective.His desire for authenticity can
be seen in every small detail, including the Roman soldiers' costumes. It even extends to
the use of wet drapery patterns, an invention of classical Greek sculpture that was then
passed onto the Romans. We can also find a reference to Donatello in Mantegna's rendering
of the lean, tense bodies of the Roman soldiers. The intensity that Mantegna establishes
by using these techniques hardly fits the subject matter, as the condemned saint, on the
way to his execution, stops to bless a paralytic man and command him to walk. The
onlookers facial expressions and gesture hint at how deeply this sight has stirred them.
Mantegna has even painted a violent scene erupting off to the right as the crowd becomes
agitated.
In writing this paper, I assumed that you assigned the paintings in the Met because of
their accessibility to engineering students who may not have any art books. I knew of
these works as important stepping stones in the modern use of perspective, and I felt the
need to write