Renaissance Optical Trick Paintings

April 17, 2016 10:42 AM

Can anyone suggest a well-illustrated overview (optimally on the web, or via a YouTube video) of Renaissance paintings achieved via mirrors (e.g. curved/"trick" mirrors) and other optical tricks? Of particular interest: paintings which need to be viewed in a special mirror to be "decoded"?
posted by Quisp Lover to Media & Arts (7 answers total)

Best answer: I believe you're referring to "anamorphic" art. Wikipedia as a starting point. You might also look into the archives of Scientific American.
posted by baseballpajamas at 11:09 AM on April 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: More related to your first point but if you have not yet watched Tim's Vermeer I would start with that. A very well done and interesting film that hypothesizes this is how Vermeer painted his more famous works.
posted by z11s at 11:19 AM on April 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: And in the vein of Tim's Vermeer, don't forget Hockney's "Secret Knowledge." The book is wonderful, as is the video form. Here's part 1 of the video (part 2's linked within).
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 12:40 PM on April 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: From baseballpajamas's Wikipedia link, Anamorphic Art from New Scientist.
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:34 PM on April 17, 2016

Best answer: And on mirrors: Conical Mirror Anamorphoses.
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:38 PM on April 17, 2016

Best answer: Another page on anamorphic art. Includes a method they used to calculate anamorphic images for differently-shaped mirrors.
posted by BungaDunga at 10:05 PM on April 17, 2016

The Bros' Quay made an excellent little film about it with stop-motion animation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EfSmGSrF3w
posted by Dressed to Kill at 5:39 AM on April 18, 2016