Akademik

   A mathematical method thought to have been devised by Filippo Brunelleschi and used to render convincing three-dimensional spaces on two-dimensional surfaces. In this method, all orthogonal lines converge at a single vanishing point placed on the horizon line. According to Antonio Manetti, Brunelleschi's biographer, the architect demonstrated the method by using it to paint the Baptistery of Florence. He drilled a hole in the center of his composition so the real building could be seen through it. Placing a mirror in front of the viewer who peeked through the peephole to reflect his painting and then removing it to reveal the Baptistery, Brunelleschi was able to prove that his rendering was indistinguishable from the actual building. The first to introduce one-point linear perspective to painting was Masaccio in works such as the Holy Trinity (1427) at Santa Maria Novella, Florence. Donatello was the first to use it in relief sculpture, with the panels he executed for the altar of San Antonio, Padua (1444-1449), serving as some of his best examples. Until 1435, the method was only spread by word of mouth. In that year Leon Battista Alberti's treatise on painting, which includes discussion on one-point linear perspective, was published, allowing for its wider dissemination.