1. Byzantine “perspective”—reverse perspective
reverse perspective: parallel lines appear to diverge instead of converge
the Byzantines did not conceive of pictorial space the way the Romans had—as a view of the natural world seen through a “window”
in the Byzantine aesthetic theory, invisible rays of sight joined the eye and image so that the pictorial space extended forward from the picture plane to the eye of the beholder and included the real space between them

2. Empress Theodora and Her Attendants c
Empress Theodora and Her Attendants c mosaic on the south wall of the apse, Church of San Vitale, Ravenna Italy

3. Medieval “Perspective”
How artists tried to create pictorial space or a sense of depth before Filippo Brunelleschi “rediscovered” linear perspective in about 1420.
pictorial elements are stacked on top of each other to create a sense of space or depth—look for rows of people or angels
thrones are often used to occupy space and create depth—angels and saints are often set up in rows alongside the throne’s sides
rocks or rocky hills angle across the pictorial frame and become slightly smaller to create sense of depth

4. Feeding the Pigs with Acorns c
Feeding the Pigs with Acorns c Illumination on parchment Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Den Haag

5. Page with Christ in Majesty Book of Mark, Godescalc Evangelistary ink, gold, colors on vellum
Note the influence of a Roman visual vocabulary on this representation of Christ in Majesty.
What is Christ doing?
Why does the wall behind Christ represent? On what is Christ sitting? What is Christ holding--probably?
What does the “strange” wide-eyed stare signify?

6. Multiplication of the Loaves from Magdeburg Ivories 962-968

7. Death of the Virgin
a detail from
Duccio’s
Maesta Altarpiece
Siena

8. Duccio
Maesta Altarpiece
Siena

9. The Visitation
Giotto di Bondone
Arena Chapel Padua, Italy for the Scrovegni family c

10. The Kiss of Judas
Giotto di Bondone
Arena Chapel Padua, Italy for the Scrovegni family c

11. Lamentation (The Pieta)
Giotto di Bondone
Arena Chapel Padua, Italy for the Scrovegni family c

12. February
Limbourg Brothers (Paul, Herman, Jean) Tres Riches Heures
February

13. December
Limbourg Brothers (Paul, Herman, Jean) Tres Riches Heures
December

14. Panoramic Perspective
No such comprehensive panorama of the natural world and its human inhabitants is know to us from the entire previous history of art.
No single point of view (he is a medieval painter)—the artist instead wants to show the viewer as much as he possibly can of the landscape.
To understand this view, what is necessary?

15. detail: Effects of Good Government in the Countryside Ambrogio Lorenzetti Allegory of the Good Government fresco Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

16. Mathematical Perspective Linear Perspective One-Point Perspective
Humanist belief that “man is the measure of all things” altered the perspective used in works of art.
A man’s eye view began to replace a God’s eye view.
First demonstrated by Filippo Brunelleschi about 1420
A mathematical system for representing three-dimensional objects and space on a two-dimensional surface by means of intersecting lines that are drawn vertically and horizontally and that radiate from one point (one-point perspective), two points (two-point perspective), or several points on a horizon line as perceived by a viewer imagined in an arbitrarily fixed position.
The picture’s surface is understood as a flat plane that intersects at a right angle with the viewer’s field of vision.

17. Paolo Uccello
Bernardino della Ciarda Thrown Off His Horse 1450s Tempera on wood, 182 x 220 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

18. Paolo Uccello Miracle of the Desecrated Host (Scene 2) 1465-69 Panel, 43 x 58 cm

19. Paolo Uccello St. George and the Dragon c
Paolo Uccello St. George and the Dragon c Oil on canvas, 57 x 73 cm National Gallery, London

20. Paolo Uccello
The Hunt in the Forest 1460s Tempera on wood, 65 x 165 cm Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

21. Paolo Uccello Funerary Monument to Sir John Hawkwood 1436 Fresco, Duomo, Florence

22. Paolo Uccello Funerary Monument to Sir John Hawkwood

23. Donatello
Herod's
Banquet
1427
bronze
Baptistery,Siena

24. Masaccio Trinity 1425-28 Fresco, 667 x 317 cm Santa Maria Novella, Florence

25. Masaccio Trinity 1425-28 Fresco, 667 x 317 cm Santa Maria Novella, Florence

26. Intuitive Perspective and Atmospheric Perspective
Intuitive perspective is when an artist makes objects in the background smaller than objects in the foreground to visually signal that these objects are further away.
Atmospheric perspective is when an artist softens or blurs the edges of objects in the extreme distance to imitate atmospheric effects—moisture in the air. The artist will also give these same objects a bluish tinge.

27. Arrival in Basel (scene #2)
from the Martyrdom of St. Ursula reliquary Hans Memling 1489

28. Martyrdom of St. Ursula reliquary Hans Memling 1489

29. Piero della Francesca Battista Sforza Frederico da Montefletro 1472-1473