Filippo Brunelleschi Essay, Research Paper

Use

of perspective in art finds its root in one man, Filippo Brunelleschi. Although

we don?t know for sure, it is likely that Brunelleschi also invented linear,

or scientific perspective. Donatello?s ?The Feast of Herod? is the

earliest surviving example of scientific perspective, which is established

through the use of a ?vanishing point?, an imaginary single point on the

page in which all the parallel lines meet. Donatello?s Feast of Herod was a

groundbreaking work by that day?s standards, and a complete failure in the

fulfillment of compositional requirements of traditional classical or medieval

standards. The focal point of the piece, the presentation of St. John?s head

to Herod, is in the far left corner, and the crowd watching is clustered into

the right corner. Upon examination of the action, however, Donatello?s

intention is clear; by placing the people in this way, the gesture and emotion

of the scene is more implicit and effective. It is also more clearly established

that the scene does not end at the focal point, it in fact continues off into

every direction, an impression more clearly made with his use of scientific

perspective. This ?window? view into the scene was a radical step, and would

influence how the picture plane was to be seen from that point on. Another

important milestone in the history of perspective is Pietro Perudino?s ?The

Delivery of the Keys?. Painted in 1482, this work employs a grave, symmetrical

structure, a tool he used to emphasize the importance of the scene being

represented: The authority of St. Peter as the first pope, and all of his

successors, rests on his having received the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven from

Christ himself. The onlookers are all rendered with powerfully individualized

faces. Equally powerful is the vast expanse of the almost surreal background.

The spatial clarity, established by the use of mathematically precise

perspective, is the influence of Brunelleschi. Andrea Mantegna was another 15th

century painter. He was a prodigy that rendered in paint with skill from the age

of 16 on. With the painting ?St. James Led to His Execution? Mantegna

established himself as a person who wasn?t afraid to break with traditional

painting techniques, and adds a daring touch by painting from a ground up view

of the scene. This was used because the painting was hung so tha the bottom of

the painting was at the viewer?s eye level. Because of this the architecture

looms intimidatingly, and is made more convincing by his use of scientific

perspective.His desire for authenticity can be seen in every small detail,

including the Roman soldiers? costumes. It even extends to the use of wet

drapery patterns, an invention of classical Greek sculpture that was then passed

onto the Romans. We can also find a reference to Donatello in Mantegna?s

rendering of the lean, tense bodies of the Roman soldiers. The intensity that

Mantegna establishes by using these techniques hardly fits the subject matter,

as the condemned saint, on the way to his execution, stops to bless a paralytic

man and command him to walk. The onlookers facial expressions and gesture hint

at how deeply this sight has stirred them. Mantegna has even painted a violent

scene erupting off to the right as the crowd becomes agitated. In writing this

paper, I assumed that you assigned the paintings in the Met because of their

accessibility to engineering students who may not have any art books. I knew of

these works as important stepping stones in the modern use of perspective, and I

felt the need to write.