Perspective in the Visual Culture of Classical Antiquity

Erscheinungsjahr 2014
ISBN: 978-1-107-02590-5
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 224 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 496 g

Linear perspective is a science that represents objects in space upon a plane, projecting them from a point of view. This concept was known in classical antiquity. In this book, Rocco Sinisgalli investigates theories of linear perspective in the classical era. Departing from the received understanding of perspective in the ancient world, he argues that ancient theories of perspective were primarily based on the study of objects in mirrors, rather than the study of optics and the workings of the human eye. In support of this argument, Sinisgalli analyzes, and offers new insights into, some of the key classical texts on this topic, including Euclid's De speculis, Lucretius' De rerum natura, Vitruvius' De architectura and Ptolemy's De opticis. Key concepts throughout the book are clarified and enhanced by detailed illustrations.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Sinisgalli, Rocco

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Kunst Kunstgeschichte Kunstgeschichte: Klassisch (Griechisch & Römisch)
• Geisteswissenschaften Architektur Geschichte der Architektur, Baugeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction; 1. The ancients and mirrors; 2. Lucretius; 3. Vitruvius; 4. Perspective at the center of power; 5. Perspective in the area of Vesuvius; 6. Ptolemy.

Über Autor(innen)

Sinisgalli, Rocco
Rocco Sinisgalli is Professor of Sciences of Representation in Art and Architecture in the Faculty of Architecture at the Sapienza University of Rome. He is the author of more than twenty books, including A History of the Perspective Scene from the Renaissance to the Baroque, Leonardo and the Divine Proportion and Leon Battista Alberti: On Painting: A New Translation and Critical Edition.