LINEAR PERSPECTIVE Study Guide

Notice the fine horizontal lines in this study, especially those in the lower half of the drawing. Can you see that the horizontal lines gradually move closer together as they recede in space? What do the vertical lines do? How has the artist used these lines as guides elsewhere I the drawing? Leonardo da Vinci, Study of Stairs and Horses, 1491 – 82. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.

What is Perspective in Art?? Perspective is the visual technique in drawing that creates the illusion of three- dimensional space on a two-dimensional plane. The use of perspective originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century. Leon Battista Alberti and Filippo Brunelleschi developed rules for the foundation of perspective. Artists such Donatello, Massacio, Leonardo da Vinci and Piero della Francesca further refined the development. With the introduction of perspective came other ways to create depth in a drawing. The concepts of linear perspective, overlapping forms, objects receding in space and use of a vanishing point became essential parts of drawing.

One-point Perspective

Two-point Perspective

Three-point Perspective

The fresco Trinity (c. 1425, Santa Maria Novella, Florence) used full perspective for the first time in Western art.

Key Terms Linear Perspective Vanishing Point Eye Level Scale Foreground Middle Ground Background