ACTIVITY: OPEN WINDOW
Using Leonardo's Perspectograph
Construct and use a replica of Leonardo's drawing machine to create a drawing with a natural and correct perspective.
Leonardo's Perspective - Leonardo's Window
"The most praiseworthy form of painting is the one that most resembles what it imitates" - Leonardo da Vinci
Look around you! People and objects look larger when they are nearby and smaller when they are far away. But how can we realistically capture this on a canvas?
During the Renaissance in Italy, architects and artists investigated the question of how to draw three-dimensional objects on flat surfaces. They began to think of a painting as an "open window" through which the viewer sees the painted world.
Painter and architect Leon Battista Alberti wrote an influential book in 1435 that included a system of mathematical rules known as linear perspective to help painters achieve their goal of realism. Leonardo da Vinci probably learned Alberti's system while serving as an apprentice to the artist Verrocchio in Florence.
"Perspective is nothing else than seeing a place or objects behind a plate of glass, quite transparent, on the surface of which the objects behind the glass are to be drawn" – Leonardo da Vinci
Just knowing that an object that is further away in a painting should look smaller wasn't enough for Leonardo da Vinci, he wanted to find ways to more realistically and consistently capture depth in his artwork.
Leonardo learned the rules of perspective and practiced using a window as a device for drawing perspective correctly while he was an apprentice in Verrocchio’s studio. In his notebooks, he wrote and sketched his ideas, and described his experiments and observations.
Could a machine help capture perspective?
Building off of his observations, Leonardo invented a machine to help him sketch scenes with the correct linear perspective. This machine was called a perspectograph, and it was made of a pane of glass in a frame with a small viewing slot. Leonardo put the pane of glass in front of the scene he wished to paint, then looked through the viewing slot and sketched the outline of the scene onto the pane of glass. The rough outline on the glass was then used as a guide for the final painting on canvas, ensuring the final scene matched the perspective as it was viewed by the artist.
Since Leonardo’s time, many other artists have created their own versions of the perspectograph to bring realism to their artwork.
Classroom Activity
LESSON PLAN
Main Idea: Students use a glass window as a canvas. Looking through one eye they can trace the outlines of objects seen through the window to create a drawing with a natural and correct perspective.
Learning Objectives: To become more aware of perspective. To learn and apply a Renaissance technique for creating proper perspective in drawing a scene.
Materials: windows with views, sheets of paper, and straight edges
Teaching Tip: If you have large windows with views and a large number of portable chairs, all your students may be able to do this activity at one time. More likely you will want to explain the procedure and then have a few students try it at a time.
Place the chair close to the window but facing backward.
Sit with your legs around the chair's back.
Hold the paper to the window centered at eye level.
Close one eye.
Carefully trace the outlines of the objects you see through the window. You may want to use a straight edge when tracing straight lines.
If you stop to rest, be careful not to move, and be sure to put your paper back in the same place.
DISCUSSION
Where is the horizon line in your picture? Looking back at the original view may help you locate it.
Can you find any lines or pieces of lines coming closer together as they approach the horizon line? These are orthogonal lines. Can you find the vanishing point? If you aren't sure where it is, try using a straight edge to extend any receding straight lines you find until they meet at the horizon line.
