Anamorphic Perspective & Illusory Architecture Dr. Tomás García Salgado, BSArch, MSArch, PhD, UNAMprize, SNIm. Faculty of Architecture, National Autonomus University of México. mailto:tgsalgado@hotmail.com Abstract namorphic perspective can be sometimes quite paradoxical. This is the case with the famous false vault by Andrea Pozzo at Saint Ignatius in Rome. Pozzo himself did not consider this painting as an anamorphic projection, but it is indeed. Pozzo deduced the correct perspective drawing for the large canvas (intelaiautura), but what the observer sees is quite different. This article is divided into three parts that can be read separately depending upon the reader’s inúterest. The first part gives us an historical review through some treatises related to the subject and some famous masterpieces. The second part deals with the principles that govern anamorphic perspective, considering the basic cases of projection. One of these cases is preúsented in detail in this part. Finally, the third part is devoted to the analysis of the vaults of Sant’Ignazio and Collegio Romano by means of the author’s method, termed Modular Perúspective. For a better understanding of the origin of Saint Ignatius’s vault, we include a brief historical background in order to grasp the idea that Pozzo’s painting is fundamentally an architectural solution instead of a purely pictorial exercise. 1. Historical Background It is quite common to encounter the theme of anamorphic perspective in the standard literature for all types of applications, from portraits to murals and scenography, to architecture itself. Yet curiously it would appear that the praxis of anamorphic perspective is reserved to its creators alone, its popularity being overshadowed by linear perspective. We will review some brief historical examples as a way to dig into the theme, extracting consistent principles in the execution of this singular application of perspective [1]. The first treatment in a detailed study on the perspective appearance of a sphere may be De Prospetiva Pingendi by de Piero della Francesca (1482) for the work Virgin with Child, Saints, and Angels (1474). When one appreciates the original work from the vantagepoint, what stands out is the intriguing shape of the ovaloid hung from the decorative shell over the altar niche. One would expect the artist to have chosen a perfect sphere, more in line with the symmetry of the pictoral theme. Yet if we come closer toward the center of the painting, keeping the view at the same height while turning the angle of view obliquely, the ovaloid becomes a perfect sphere. Figure 1 suggests the proper viewing angle. We deduced from this drawing that central deformation of the ovaloid generates a viewpoint different from that projected from the rest of the painting. This may be the first painting that superimposes an anamorphic projection onto a linear projection. In the 1533 painting The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein, a “painting” may be seen lying on the floor between two persons. Its extreme deformation makes it barely recognizable, but a nearly edge-on view of the work from above reveals a skull in the direction of the odd “painting.” Erhard Schön’s work Three Kings and a Pope (1535) explored the representation of a portrait hidden among landscapes, an idea he also applied to the discreet illustration of obscene scenes in anamorphic perspective. In 1567, Baldassare Lanci designed a instrument to obtain perspectives with a visual field opening of 180°. The instrument was made of a circular bronze platter placed horizontally upon a tripod which adjusted the height. Semi-cylindrical paper was wound around its edge. A tubular eyepiece was placed in the middle with a retractable metallic stylus underneath. The eyepiece was high enough to overlook the semicircle of paper and sight points of interest while the retractable metallic stylus drew on the paper. Egnazio Danti, in his edition of Vignola Due regole della prospettiva pratica (Rome, 1583), presented a profile portrait drawing deformed at a ratio of 4:1; an idea Marolois would replicate years later. Salomon de Caus, in his treatise La Perspective, avec la raison des ombres et miroirs (London, 1612), studied the appearance of uniformly- sized inscriptions on a vertical wall, whose strokes are closely related to the concept of distance. His preface notes, “Of all mathematics, Perspective alone is pleasing to the eye” – giving us courage to press on. Samuel Marolois followed up on Danti’s erroneous methodology in his attempt at canine anamorphic profile (1614) drawn at the same 4:1 ratio —without considering any specific viewpoint. He also studied the problem to be able to draw on surfaces in corners. Johann Heinrich Glaser portrayed the Biblical scene of Adam and Eve’s Fall from Grace (1638). What appears as a lake in the landscape resolves into the face of Christ with his crown of thorns when viewed from the extreme right of the engraving. Jean-François Nicéron executed an anamorphic mural of Saint John in Patmos in Rome’s SS. Trinità dei Monti monastery, which he also illustrated in La Perspective curieuse ou Magie artificiele des effets merveilleux (1646 edition). He also researched anamorphic projections onto conical and cylindrical surfaces. Abraham Bosse, a disciple of G. Desargues, studied the procedure to transfer a flat projection onto a cylindrical vault by means of a net of “visual” threads, as illustrated in his work Moyen universel de pratiquer la perspective sur les Tableaux, ou A A 31.07.2003 11:24 Uhr Anamorphic Perspective & Illusory Architecture Seite 1 von 11 http://www.generativeart.com/salgado/anamorphic.htm