Lecture 15: Thinking 3D
February 15th, 2023
Daryl Green and Laura Moretti:
At the end of the 15th century, it took an artist of the calibre of Leonardo [da Vinci] to conceive
and correctly represent … objects in perspective. These complex images are difficult to transpose
onto a page's flat, two-dimensional surface.
● Nothing will be the same after Leonardo … designed these polyhedra: the artist creates a
precedent that could not be ignored by experts in the discipline, nor by the then rapidly
developing world of printing.
● Abstraction and communication of the infinitely large was as much a problem as
abstraction of the micrographic complexity of the human form.
○ Anatomical treatises needed to communicate the position of a particular organ or
pressure point … as this paradigm developed, it became necessary also to
communicate the interconnectivity of these systems.
● Printing made us reject ground – it has no ground (it cannot be stabilized)
16th century “fugitive sheets” were anatomical engravings enhanced by a series of flaps
designed to take the viewer under the skin of a figure and explore the spatial relationship
and interconnectivity of the body’s systems.
● The Theoricae novae planetarum by Georgius Purbachius printed in Nuremberg in 1473
is “one of the first attempts to use printed colour not merely as a decorative element, but
as a means to service the concept to be transmitted”
● A “central circle is inscribed within several other circles, representing the orbit of other
heavenly bodies, with little attention paid to scale or real distance and, most importantly
three-dimensionality … this illustrative technique uses a simplistic, flattened universe to
describe a complex concept” (18-9)
In 1494, Luca Pacioli published a book on arithmetic, geometry and proportion that used shading
in its illustrations to create the …
● Andrea Palladio likewise used shading in his book on architecture published in 1570.
“Shadows are consistently employed to confer depth to the architectural elements” (38)
● Daniele Barbaro’s 1568 The Practice of Perspective (La practica della perspectiva)
sought to provide rules for
Albrecht Durer’s 1525 book on geometry (Institutionum geometricarum) contained a number of
fold-outs used to illustrate perspective.
● Galileo’ Starry Messenger (Sidereus Nuncius) of 1610 used shading dramatically to
illustrate the surface of the moon.
● The ability to look deeper into space shook the paradigm of the known universe. As the
magnitude of telescopes continued to improve, the vastness of our universe began to
unfurl.
● To convey the vast depths of infinite space, the English physician Robert Fludd used a
heavily inked black page in his Ultriusque cosmi historiae (1617-21).
February 15th, 2023
Daryl Green and Laura Moretti:
At the end of the 15th century, it took an artist of the calibre of Leonardo [da Vinci] to conceive
and correctly represent … objects in perspective. These complex images are difficult to transpose
onto a page's flat, two-dimensional surface.
● Nothing will be the same after Leonardo … designed these polyhedra: the artist creates a
precedent that could not be ignored by experts in the discipline, nor by the then rapidly
developing world of printing.
● Abstraction and communication of the infinitely large was as much a problem as
abstraction of the micrographic complexity of the human form.
○ Anatomical treatises needed to communicate the position of a particular organ or
pressure point … as this paradigm developed, it became necessary also to
communicate the interconnectivity of these systems.
● Printing made us reject ground – it has no ground (it cannot be stabilized)
16th century “fugitive sheets” were anatomical engravings enhanced by a series of flaps
designed to take the viewer under the skin of a figure and explore the spatial relationship
and interconnectivity of the body’s systems.
● The Theoricae novae planetarum by Georgius Purbachius printed in Nuremberg in 1473
is “one of the first attempts to use printed colour not merely as a decorative element, but
as a means to service the concept to be transmitted”
● A “central circle is inscribed within several other circles, representing the orbit of other
heavenly bodies, with little attention paid to scale or real distance and, most importantly
three-dimensionality … this illustrative technique uses a simplistic, flattened universe to
describe a complex concept” (18-9)
In 1494, Luca Pacioli published a book on arithmetic, geometry and proportion that used shading
in its illustrations to create the …
● Andrea Palladio likewise used shading in his book on architecture published in 1570.
“Shadows are consistently employed to confer depth to the architectural elements” (38)
● Daniele Barbaro’s 1568 The Practice of Perspective (La practica della perspectiva)
sought to provide rules for
Albrecht Durer’s 1525 book on geometry (Institutionum geometricarum) contained a number of
fold-outs used to illustrate perspective.
● Galileo’ Starry Messenger (Sidereus Nuncius) of 1610 used shading dramatically to
illustrate the surface of the moon.
● The ability to look deeper into space shook the paradigm of the known universe. As the
magnitude of telescopes continued to improve, the vastness of our universe began to
unfurl.
● To convey the vast depths of infinite space, the English physician Robert Fludd used a
heavily inked black page in his Ultriusque cosmi historiae (1617-21).
