Vanishing Points

This book traces the history of three dimensional perspective in art from prehistoric and ancient times, during which the portrayal of depth was practically nonexistent, through its early development by the Greeks and Romans; its virtual disappearance in the Middle Ages; and its re-emergence and perfection in the Renaissance. The book also examines the role of the right cerebral hemisphere in appreciation of aesthetics and particularly of three dimensional art. It further points to similar human attributes that have risen and declined in tandem with the use of perspective, and which are also mediated by the right hemisphere: expressiveness of the human face, use of metaphor, love of the grand panoramas of nature, and the sense of self. The book considers not only the role of three-dimensional art in the rise of landscape painting, but also its contribution to the admiration and investigation of nature and the rise of the scientific age.