Trompe l'oeil, Anamorphism and Perspective

TROMPE L'OEIL / TRAMPANTOJO & ANAMORPHISM

• Deals with Manieristic & Barroque games of PERSPECTIVE.

SEEING VS. FEELING / KNOWING

• Machiavelli: "Men judge more through the eyes than through intelligence, because all of them can see, but few of them can understand what they see".
• Original Quote: “In generale, gli uomini giudicano più con gli occhi che con le mani, perché tocca a vedere a ciascuno, a sentire a pochi. Ognuno vede quel che tu pari, pochi sentono quel che tu sei.”
• This highlights the difference between superficial appearance and deeper understanding.

FROM TROMPE L’OIL TO VIRTUAL REALITY

• The lecture transitions from discussing Trompe-l'oeil to virtual reality.
• It references the "invention" of perspective by Brunelleschi and Giotto.
• The discussion will include the manipulation of space, framing our built environment, potentially leading to fake sensations.

THE VERY FIRST “VIRTUAL REALITY”

• The origin of representation is rooted in early humans making present the animals they hunted.
• These representations served as a way to attract and make the animals present in a cultic space, ensuring sustenance.

AVE ORA DIENT ONS TEEV BIDCH TV-T-MYLIUS

• TERINGILLA DOMINE FLAT TIDHI SEONVEY TVA
• 248

Urban Planning and Spatial Concepts

• Roman Obsession with Symmetry:
  • Forums
• Greek Agora with Stoa:
  • Examples: Assos, Amman Citadel Souq Square
• Campidoglio Square:
  • Michelangelo (Rome)
• Borromini's Galleria Perspettica:
  • Palazzo Spada (Rome)
• Bernini’s Scala Santa:
  • Vatican (Rome)
• Bernini’s S. Peter Square and how its spatial concepts were ruined Anamorphisms:
  • Andrea Pozzo’s Sant Ignazio Vault and Dome (Rome)
  • The Ambassadors (Painting by Holbein)

The Roman Obsession for Symmetry in Urban Planning

• Forum of Trajan within Plan of Imperial Fora Dedicated A.D. 113 Rome Forum.
• Porticoes with Dacian captives; Basilica Ulpia (nave, apses).
• Architect: Apollodorus of Damascus
• Forum as landscape of Roman power has to be symmetrical.

Ostia Theater and Forum of the Corporations

• Plan Augustus period ENLARGED in 200AD

UNDERSTANDING THE LAWS OF OPTICS AND THE GEOMETRIC RELATIONS BEHIND…

• Brunelleschi and the “discovery” or “invention” of perspective.

Camera Obscura

• First published picture of camera obscura in Gemma Frisius' 1545 book De Radio Astronomica et Geometrica

GIOTTO AND THE "INVENTION" OF PERSPECTIVE

• The expulsion of merchants from the temple by Giotto COTONES
• Giotto discovers his extraordinary talent of the narrator, who can diversify the main event of the plot by showing the accompanying motives.
• Giotto never misses the main thing, rigidly subordinating everything else to him.

MASSACCIO THE TRINITY STA MARIA NOVELLA FIRENZE

• 1427

PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA, SACRED CONVERSATION, 1474

• THE FLAGELLATION (ABOVE)

PORTRAIT WITH THE HANDS COMING OUT OF THE FRAME

• VIDEO OF HOCKNEY ON THE DISCOVERY AND USE OF THE “CAMERA OBSCURA” AND THE “CAMERA CHIARA”

THE VANISHING POINT THAT INDICATES THE EXTERNAL LOCATION OF THE OBSERVER

The Christian Iconography of the Annunciation as case study

• From the “non real” space and background of Byzantine iconography (away from naturalistic reproduction of actual world ABOVE).
• To the renaissance experimentation when it will become as an excuse to practice and explore the representation of Natural world, and of Architectural Environment (with the excuse that are heavens’ creature, the Angel Gabriel to Virgin Mary on Earth).

Renaissance Artists

• FRA ANGELICO L'ANUNCIAZIONE
• FRANCESCO DEL COSSA
• MASOLINO
• LUCCA SIGNORELLI
• IL PERUGINO MIRACOLI DI SAN BERNARDINO
• DOMENICO GHIRLANDAIO
• RAFFAELE SANZIO
  • THE MARRIAGE OF S. MARY
  • LA SCUOLA DI ATENE (THE SCHOOL OF ATHENS)
• LORENZO LAURANA (NO FRA ANGELICOL)

S lorenzo & sto spirito brunelleschi

• Alberti iglesia (arco monumental romano) S. PIETRO MONTORIO

Roman fake perspectives

• Pompei petra Byzantines flat churches (“recortables”) como en Ravenna MACHUCA Palacio Carlos V Brunelleschi Cupulone, galleria innocenti S. Lorenzo capella pazzi etc

BYZANTINE ART

• Does not attempt to recreate earthly nature… but that of heavenly world… both when representing people (specially divine in nature, although there are still some actual portraits like the emperors ) and when representing built environment and nature.
• Byzantine artists were no interested in merely replicating the nature, but to recreate heavens in earth, …to present the supraterrenal beauty and magnificence of heavens.
  • Thus the realistic re- representation of our normal architectural and natural environment was not their goal but that of the divine afterlife…

Byzantine Art: Poikilia

• Byzantine liturgical and luxury objects were set in rich spaces of mosaics, marble, fragrance, and changing light.
• They possessed polymorphous appearances, which were set to perform when the vessels were carried in space or when shifting ambient light or density of air ruffled their variegated textures.
• The Byzantines called this spectacle of change POIKILIA (phenomenal presence effects experienced by the senses).
• Nikodim Kondakov remarked on the emerald-jewel-like effect of green enamel, filled with the energy of iridescence. He observed how this same shimmering 'fish-scales' quality vanished in the steadied photographic snapshot.

Byzantine Mosaics

• CITY IN PERSPECTIVE (ALEXANDRIA) IN BYZANTINE MOSAICS 5TH 6TH CENTURY D

• REMAINS OF THE FIGURES OF THEODORICAND HIS ENTOURAGE IN ST. APOLLINARE NUOVO, CANCELLED AFTER THE CONQUEST OF THE CITY BY THE BYZANTINES … CAN STILL BE SEEN

• The mosaic representation is NOT a simple elevation, but A COMBINATION of the frontal elevation and the two lateral ones BIZANTINE MOSAICS RAVENNA

• CAPELLA PALATINA PALERMO CONSTRUCTION OF BABEL TOWER Mosaics from 1132 CE No perspective, just frontal elevation

Imitation of Nature vs. Alter-Reality

• Roman naturalistic realism to imitate nature and actual built environment.
• Byzantine will to represent an alter-reality, that of the heavens, re-presenting ideal cities (even when they are real) very schematic and simplified, as naturalism is not the goal sought after.
• With the Renaissance, the ideal of the Roman imitation of nature… the realistic naturalism will start, will develop with the control of the geometric rules behind the optical ones that rule our vision (and the use of optical devices as proven by Hooper) until the invention of photography.

Fayoum Mummy Portraits

• Roman realism in portraits was kept in Egypt during Roman rule (between 1st and 3rd century), combining the tradition of Roman realistic painting with Egyptian mummification.
• The arrival of Christianism put an end to this fascinating artistic and religious syncretism (Fayoum Mummy Portraits).

Influence of Optics and Perspective

• From Roman naturalistic realism attempt to replicate nature (which will be attempted and achieved in Renaissance (with the substantial help of optics from 1400) …to the Byzantine recreation of a not natural space and portraits… an attempt to recreate an heavenly space

• EMPEROR JUSTINIAN, EMPRESS TEODORA AND GENERAL BELISARIUS TRUE PORTRAITS (ALMOST NATURALISTIC) OF THE KEY CHARACTERS OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE S. VITALE RAVENNA 6TH CENTURY CE

Camera Obscura, Camera Chiara & the Experiment of Brunelleschi using a mirror

• According to David Hockney, the huge amount of very detailed portraits found in Flanders and Italy after the 1420’s was due to the use of optical devices which allowed to trace the profile of the objects projected NOT TO A Change of taste towards a more naturalistic representation away from the old and hieratic Byzantine and medieval Taste NOT BECAUSE Everybody was able to draw portraits better due to the creations of school and manuals for drawing.
• Camera obscura (1) It is a darkened room with a small hole or lens at one side through which an image is projected onto the wall opposite the hole. The term can also refer to analogous constructions such as a box or tent in which an image of the outside is projected inside.
• Camera lucida (2). It is an optical device used as a drawing aid by artists, which performs an optical superimposition of the subject being viewed upon the surface upon which the artist is drawing. The artist sees both scene and drawing surface simultaneously, as in a photographic double exposure. This allows the artist to duplicate key points of the scene on the drawing surface, thus aiding in the accurate rendering of perspective.

Photography and Artistic Liberation

• The development of photography in the 19th century allowed the artists NOT to achieve to produce hyper-realistic works of art with the help of photography. Artists were thus finally able to achieve a fully naturalistic real and reliable imitation of nature.
• BUT to be liberated from the tyranny of the naturalistic and realistic imitation of nature (which had been required by patrons and clients), allowing them to explore other means and ways of expression beyond realism… opening the door to experimentation, cubism, surrealism, etc…

Naturalistic Imitation of Nature and Artistic Liberation

• From the concave mirror, the camera chiara & the camera obscura &…From the camera obscura to the photographic camera
• With the invention and spread of photography many portrait painters remained jobless. Photography fulfilled the will of “naturalistic imitation of nature better than any artists”.
• The positive outcome was the liberation of artists from the tyranny of this naturalistic and realistic imitation of nature and allowed them to explore other means and ways of expression beyond realism… It opened the door to experimentation, cubism, surrealism, etc…

Medieval and Baroque Urbanism in Rome

• THE POWER OF THE VISION AND THE VISION OF A POPE THE FIRST TOURISTIC CITY EVER !
• The Reinvention of Rome:
  • In 1290 after the definitive lose of Jerusalem, and the related impossibility to pilgrimage to the Holy Land, pilgrimage to Rome was reinforced, with the creation of “jubilee years”.
  • In the 14th century due to political conflict with France and the subsequent 1378 schism (and the moval of the papacy to Avignon) Rome had lost all its relevance.
  • In 1417 papacy returns to a phantasmagoric Rome and Popes attempt to regain splendour and relevance through urban planning (urban “adaptive reuse”).
• ROMA CIUDAD "PROCESIONAL"
  • TERMINADAS CRUZADAS CON LA CAIDA DE SAN JUAN DE ARCE 1292, LOS PAPAS CAMBIAN EL DESTINO DEL "JUBILEO" Y LO SUSTITUYEN POR PEREGRINACIÓN A ROMA. QUERÍAN CONVERTIR ROMA EN CAPITAL "DIGNA" DE LA CRISTIANDAD.
  • BONIFACIO VII ATINÓ CON LA IDEA DE UTILIZAR EL AÑO "JUBILAR" COMO MEDIO PARA ESTIMULAR EL ENTUSIASMO DE LOS CRISTIANOS Y CONTRIBUIR A LA MEJORA DE LAS CONDICIONES FINANCIERAS DEL PAPADO CON LA VENTA INDULGENCIAS.
  • LOS PLANES PAPALES PARA LA RECONSTRUCCIÓN DE ROMA ESTUVIERON BASADOS EN FACILITAR LA MOVILIDAD DE LOS PEREGRINOS EN LA VISITA A LAS 7 BASILICAS, EN PROPORCIONARLES ALOJAMIENTO ADECUADO Y MANTENER EL ORDEN PÚBLICO PARA SU SEGURIDAD. ERAN LOS OBJETIVOS PRIORITARIOS.
  • LOS PAPAS ORANIZARON UN PLAN INGENTE DE REFORMAS URBANAS DISPONIENDO AMPLIAS AVENIDAS QUE ENLAZABAN LAS 7 BASILICAS, POR DONDE CIRCULABAN PEREGRINOS Y ESCOLTAS. CON LA TÉCNICA DE "SVENTRAMENTOS".

Renaissance Rectification of Roman Roads

• Renaissance Popes realigned streets, recovered rectilinear paths, and opened new streets, adopting “sventramento” - demolition and realignment of old layouts considered inappropriate for growing traffic and display of new noble palaces.
• Renaissance Popes focused on the lineas "rectas" (straight lines) for the new city, using enormous earthworks to open new avenues.
• They were influenced by religious pilgrimages and established the route of the Seven Basilicas.
• The new buildings were linked to the large previous urban operations that were giving a new urban plan to the chaotic existing medieval urban fabric.
• THE NEW ROMAN STREET
  • The Via Lata (del Corso), the great north axis of the Imperial City, had lost the right direction throughout the medieval centuries and had certain sinuosity. In 1467, Paulo II (1464 and 1471) realigns it beginning the processes of urban rectification of the streets of Rome. This first performance was followed by many throughout the following decades.

Pope Sixtus V and Urban Planning

• Pope Sixtus V (1585-1590), with his architect Fontana, designed a new urban plan with straight streets aligned with obelisks.
• These obelisks marked the main points of pilgrimage, facilitating pilgrim movement and reorganizing the urban plan.
• The construction of the Aqua Felix aqueduct fed fountains for pilgrims and allowed the re-occupation of abandoned quarters, creating a new monumental scenography.

Pope Sixtus V

• POPE SIXTUS V (FIFTH) AND HIS ARCHITECT FONTANA DESIGNED A NEW URBAN PLAN WITH STRAIGHT STREETS ALIGNED/ENDING WITH OBELISKS, WHICH FOCUSED THESE ALIGNMENTS AND THE INTERSECTIONS, MARKING THE MAIN POINTS STAGES OF THE PILGRIMAGE, FACILITATING THE MOVEMENT OF PILGRIMS IN THE CITY (THE SEVEN BASILICAS PILGRIMAGE PROMENADE), AND THE RE- ORGANIZATION OF THE URBAN PLAN.

• The Popes realigned streets and recovered rectilinear paths.

• These openings inaugurated the urban “sventramento” strategy that inspired future planners and that would produce so many examples in the following centuries.

• The “sventramento” acted on the old routes that were considered inappropriate by narrow and sinuous, incapable to favor the increasing traffic and to offer the amplitude necessary so that the new palaces of the nobility could be observed and admired.

• The Popes realigned streets and recovered rectilinear paths that had fallen into disuse but, above all, opened new streets. These openings inaugurated the urban “sventramento” strategy that inspired future planners and that would produce so many examples in the following centuries.

SIXTO V 1585-90

• LOS PAPAS UTILIZARON LOS INGRESOS PROPORCIONADOS POR LOS PEREGRINOS EN LOS "AÑOS JUBILARES" PARA FINANCIAR LAS GRANDES OBRAS Y REFORMAS DE LA CIUDAD. EL AMBICIOSO PROGRAMA DE SIXTO V CON SU ARQUITECTO DOMENICO FONTANA SE PLANTEA LOS SIGUIENTES OBJETIVOS:
  • 1- HACER DE ROMA LA CAPITAL DIGNA DE LA CRISTIANDAD.
  • 2-INTEGRAR EN UN ÚNICO “SISTEMA VIARIO" LAS CALLES ABIERTAS POR PAPAS RENACENTISTA, CON LAS NUEVAS PROYECTADAS POR FONTANA. TENÍA COMO BASE LA "STRADA FELICE" Y ENLAZABA LAS 7 BASILICAS.
  • 3-REPOBLAR LAS COLINAS ROMA, DOTARLAS DE SUMINISTRO DE AGUA CON EL ACUEDUCTO FELICE. SIXTO V ERA CONSCIENTE DEL PAPEL ESTRATEGICO DE LAS NUEVAS CALLES PROYECTADAS EN LA REPOBLACIÓN DE LAS COLINAS DESHABITADAS, PERO CLIMATICAMENTE + SALUDABLES.

Urban Interventions in Rome

• Spanish Steps
  • Baroque staircase of 137 steps links the Spanish Square with the Trinità dei Monti church. Climax of scenographic effects on a grand scale
  • The Escalinata resolves a topographic difference by becoming the central visual and spatial element.

INTERACTION BETWEEN ARCHITECTURE & URBAN PLANNING

• FROM THE RENAISSANCE & MANIERISTIC PERIOD ONWARDS UNTIL THE BAROQUE PERIOD AND BEYOND

Bramante's San Satiro in Milan

• WHEN PERSPECTIVE HELPS TO SOLVE PROBLEMS WITHOUT APPARENT SOLUTION

Michelangelo's Campidoglio

• Michelangelo's basic idea was revolutionary.
  • Up to that time, Renaissance architecture had been very much a matter of single, isolated buildings. Occasionally several important structures were purposely placed around a central open space, but the aim was to display each individual building to maximum advantage, not to relate it to its neighbors and create an aesthetically unified whole.
  • Michelangelo's concept of a building ensemble – an out- door interior, as it were, where the exterior walls of a group of buildings shape an outdoor space the way interior walls shape a room – was utterly new.
• Michelangelo took as his ruling ground-plan shapes a trapezoid and an oval.
  • Moreover, he used these forms in a way that earlier Renaissance architects would probably have deplored: despite their disparate shapes, he placed the one inside the other.

Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne by Baldassarre Peruzzi

• CLASSICAL ELEMENTS BUT NOT ARRANGED IN A CLASSICAL WAY (SPECIALLY THE COLUMNS)… AND REINFORCED BY THE MANIERISTIC CURVATURE OF THE FAÇADE (PRE-BAROQUE)… PLUS ITS APPROACH…

Andrea Palladio's Teatro Olimpico

• The Teatro Olimpico (