The Central Nave of Basilica di Santa Maria Novella, Florence

Photograph Copyright ©2013 Loo Yen Yeo. All Rights Reserved.

Concept: Perspective (diminishing)

Description: The Dominican friars Fra Sisto Fiorentino and Fra Ristoro da Campi designed the central nave with a trompe-l'œil effect, seen upon stepping through the central portal of the main façade - the piers between the nave and the aisles get closer to each other towards the apse. This trick of diminishing perspective makes the nave look longer than it actually is.

The above photograph was taken with my back right up against the main portal doors. The below photograph was taken from the dais just slightly in front and to the right of the main altar. Compare the sense of distance and space, particularly between the counter-façade and the fabric screening at the other end of the nave closest to it. The optical properties of diminishing perspective and knowledge of how to manipulate it was known to Renaissance designers.

Photograph Copyright ©2013 Loo Yen Yeo. All Rights Reserved.

The Bridges of Florence

Photograph Copyright ©2013 Loo Yen Yeo. All Rights Reserved.

Concept: Lines (literal); Lines (implication); Cartesian lines (horizontal); Perspective (linear)

Description: Non-directional light resulting from overcast skies produces a low-contrast scene where the contiguity of shape can be better appreciated i.e. the lines of the bridges are maintained because they are not interrupted by the casting of strong dark shadows, thus emphasising their horizontality. The horizontal lines of the bridges' edges extend into implied lines - the windows of houses on the right river-bank - through Gestalt's Principle of Continuity.

The feeling of calm is reinforced by the ripples, which themselves gain horizontality with increasing distance - a by-product of linear perspective.

Title: Arno Oltrarno

Spring Showers on Ponte Vecchio, Florence

Photograph Copyright ©2013 Loo Yen Yeo. All Rights Reserved.

Concept: Depth (diluting depth); Perspective (tonal); Perspective (colour); Perspective (sharpness); Muted colours (contemplative)

Description: The presence of historic Florence is immediately felt due to the downplay perspectival clues.

• linear perspective - convergence of lines decreased using the zoom facility
• tonal perspective - diffused lighting lowers the difference between foreground and background contrast
• colour perspective - the lack of bright colours as worn by the pedestrians (by fortunate circumstance) and muted by lighting conditions, causes the foreground elements to recede, while the bright golden orb atop the Duomo appears to advance, compressing the viewing planes together. 
• sharpness - outlines of distant buildings are only slightly less sharp

Title: --

02.10 Perspective

Perspective is the appearance of objects arranged in space, from the viewpoint of the observer. It is one of the defining characteristics of Renaissance art, distinguishing it from the late-medieval Gothic art which preceded it, and one of the reasons why this project on visual composition began.

Optics presents distant objects as being comparatively smaller than identical ones nearby, and yet, our brain is able to understand them as being small and yet full-scale simultaneously. Multiple identical points arranged into two lines equidistant from each other; for example, milestones on either side of a straight road, will appear to get closer to each other (converge) as we travel further away from them, even though we know they remain the same distance apart. This is the perceptual phenomenon of "scale constancy".

We should have a conscious knowledge of the perspectival clues our eyes recognise when comprehending depth, as a necessary first step to being able to control the feeling of depth in an image.

Perspectival clues

1. Linear perspective
   Two or more parallel lines converge or imply convergence at a distant vanishing point. This applies vertically as well as horizontally, but the latter is easier for the eye to accept.
2. Diminishing perspective
   A special instance of linear perspective, where objects of known scale have aspects in inverse proportion to their distance from the viewer e.g. a single row of trees receding into the distance.
3. Aerial perspective
   Contrast and colour tone diminish as distance increases due to diffusion by atmospheric haze.
4. Colour perspective
   Air absorbs warmer-hued light (longer wavelengths) than colder-hues; we perceive warmer colours as advancing and cooler colours as receding.
5. Tonal perspective
   As a result of our reality-exposure to atmospheric diffusion, we perceive higher contrasts as being closer to us and lower contrasts as farther away.
6. Sharpness
   Diffusion of light due to atmospheric haze makes the outlines of distant objects less sharp.

The Walls Of San Marino

Photograph Copyright ©2012 Loo Yen Yeo. All Rights Reserved.

Concept: Horizon (foreground interest); Itten's contrasts (smooth/rough); Itten's contrasts (narrow/broad); Perspective (aerial); Perspective (linear)

Description: Although the horizon is located slightly above the mid-line, the aerial perspective increasingly mutes the colours of Emilia Romagna in the distance, making the horizon feel lower. The visual convergence of the handrail leads the eye into the scene enhancing the sense of perspective, climaxing in a dramatic plunge to infinity. A featureless blue sky balances the stone wall with contrasting texture and colour tone.

Title: A Plunge Into Infinity