Why ‘Perspective’ Changes the Way You View Art

Welcome to the 244th insertion of DEMUR®, an analytical series highlighting the intricacies of the artistic world and the minutiae lying within. In this episode, we explain the history of perspective in art, challenging the hidden mechanisms tricking your mind into believing canvas’ aren’t flat. 

In art, ‘perspective’ is a polysemous word that holds many meanings depending on the context in which it’s used. From a social setting, perspective can have significant cultural, historical, and political value. Physically, however, it can refer to the spatial relationships of a painting regarding the placement of drawn buildings and the position of the viewer’s eye. Integral to the creation of 3D spaces, perspective, concerning the techniques of painted illusions, is perhaps one of art’s most remarkable historical breakthroughs. 

Hundreds of years ago, paintings looked vastly different from their contemporary counterparts. Depth was a widely misunderstood concept, making it difficult for artists to convey their ideas precisely. It was known that far away objects looked small and nearby objects appeared larger, but applying this on a flat surface proved quite the feat. 

More often than not, before the invention of linear perspective, painters would stack individuals vertically to illustrate their layered positioning. For instance, if you wanted a subject to appear as if they were behind someone else, you’d put them on top of one another, creating a false, two-dimensional fabrication of what was intended to be a 3D work. The result was underwhelming, but artists just couldn’t figure it out - until an Italian architect named Filippo Brunelleschi came along.  

From 1415-1420, Brunelleschi experimented by drawing orthogonal lines that converged on a vanishing point to mimic buildings as they looked in real life. Birthing linear perspective, his rule would allow artisans to create endless depth on a flat plane, becoming a fundamental principle in fine arts. Aiding creatives in illustrating portraits and architects in planning cityscapes, in modern times, his work shapes the world around us, from the photos we interact with in person and online to the video game universes we live within.