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ERIC Number: EJ1002475
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 11
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-8510
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
That Deceptive Line: Plato, Linear Perspective, Visual Perception, and Tragedy
Killian, Jeremy
Journal of Aesthetic Education, v46 n2 p89-99 Sum 2012
In "The Renaissance Rediscovery of Linear Perspective," one of Samuel Edgerton's claims is that Filippo Brunelleschi and his contemporaries did not develop a three-dimensional style of representing the world in painting as much as they reappropriated a way to depict the natural world in painting that most mirrored the human perception of it. Edgerton claims, and convincingly supports, the idea that many earlier cultures had utilized linear perspective in their visual arts, and he points to one of the earliest extant works on architecture, Vitruvius's "De architectura," to support that claim. Though there is some controversy surrounding the proper interpretation of this statement, it would seem that Vitruvius is describing the depiction of a three-dimensional image on a flat surface, so that the horizon line of the stage is seemingly extended into the painted backdrop. Though there are no surviving examples of Greek wall painting or scenography, there is some evidence to suggest that the Greeks understood and utilized the visual principles of linear perspective in their painting. In this essay the author will make the assumption that the Greeks utilized linear perspective in painting, and he will tease out a Platonic response to this technique in the visual arts. He will begin by offering reasons to think that one of Plato's concerns with painting is that it relies on a singular line of sight that is inherently problematic. (Contains 12 notes.)
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A