8/18/2019 Parent Connection Artful Math Vanishing Point Library Program

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PARENTCONNECTION

Vanishing Point Perspective Art  A vanishing point is that spot on the horizon where the road disappears. Where everything gets

smaller in your view, letting you know it is farther away. The perspective is the view you see that

point from, and how things look from the viewers angle.

 Architect and artist, Leon Battista

 Alberti, wrote an entire treatise in 1435

titled De pictura   (On Pictures) which

laid out some very specific geometric

examples of how to create the illusion

of a three-dimensional image on a

two-dimensional paper. Much of his

 work is still referenced today.

It is not so much that he “invented”

perspective, or even that he “re-

discovered” it, but that he worked out precisely what worked, why it worked, and wrote it down for

others to share.

For kids, much of this may seem like simply drawing lines, but this is highly connected to geometry

 which (through its emphasis on spatial sense) can make a person better at things like engineering

sports, driving, billiards, and navigation. Geometric concepts can also help a person gain a betterunderstanding of personal space.

WHATS NEXT? Give your kid paper, a ruler, and a copy of a photograph. Let them

try to find the vanishing point by drawing lines on the photograph. In real life, there

might be more than one vanishing point! 

ArtfulMATH

8/18/2019 Parent Connection Artful Math Vanishing Point Library Program

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MORE BACKGROUND INFO

Much of ancient art was created without

perspective. It was on a flat surface, and

had no depth of field. Everything looked

like it was the same size on the same level.

Differences in size were often used simply

to show importance, or a lack of it.

 All over the world, at different times in

history, various unknown artists played

 with images, size, and scale; searching for

 ways to make those images more real.

One example of an ancient form of perspective/realistic drawing,

is this picture from a Roman fresco. There is a clear use of

perspective involved, but it is a different system –  involving moreof an “eyeballing” of how things look, and less of a set of rules.  

Instead of using just one or two points for the horizon, as we

typically do now, there are multiple vanishing points in different

locations.

 What we think of as modern perspective in art (linear perspective)

is a mathematically based system for representing three-

dimensional space on a flat surface.

It is also one of the mathematical concepts that allows

the hyper-realistic 3D street art so popular on social

media to work.

From the proper angle and perspective, the vanishing

point envisioned by the artist tricks the eye into seeing

a very realistic image.

But if you are looking at the wrong vanishing point,

from the wrong angle, the illusions created on thestreet do not work. They appear distorted, or have

pieces missing.