Talk:Aerial perspective

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[edit] First use?

Aerial perspective may well have been 'discovered and named' by Leonardo. But to me it looks like it was used at least as early as the center panel of The Garden of Earthly Delights. (By Wikipedia standards, I have to find another source, apart from my own observation, right?) Abu ari 13:53, 27 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Leonardo's Contribution

If Bosch did use aerial perspective, it was pretty subtle, and it certainly wasn't from Bosch that other artists learned about it. It was Leonardo (as far as we know) who first used it in an obvious way, and explained in scientific terms what he was doing and why. That's why virtually all art historians credit Leonardo with the invention. (In scientific terms, it's a discovery, but in artistic terms, it's perhaps more like an invention.)

However, saying that Leonardo "named" it (as the article does) implies that he named it "aerial perspective," which I don't recall from his writings. He referred to "sfumato" (literally, "smoke") and "chiaroscuro" (literally, "clarity/obscurity") to refer to a few related effects of this kind. There's been disagreement ever since about what these terms mean -- most people today, for example, use "chiaroscuro" to refer to dark/light value compositions (as in Caravaggio) rather that what the term appears to mean. But that's a whole other conversation. In any event, my point is that Leonardo clearly invented aerial perspective -- both artistically and scientifically -- but I'm not sure he "named" it in the sense the article seems to imply.

[edit] Blurring in distance

Right now the article says: "It is important to emphasize that aerial perspective does not blur the outlines or the markings of objects..."

I find this hard to believe, and the argument (about the moon) less than persuasive. I think most artists (including, if I remember correctly, Leonardo) believe that the volume of air between us and distant objects tends to blur their edges, not just reduce their contrast with the background. I haven't removed the claim from the article, but it gives no citation. I think it needs one, or should be removed.