Jean François Niceron

Jean-François Niceron (1613 – 22 September 1646) was a French mathematician, Minim friar, and painter of anamorphic art, on which he wrote the ground-breaking book, La Perspective Curieuse.

Biography

Niceron was born in Paris, France and showed mathematical abilities at an early age. He studied under the famed mathematician and Minim friar Marin Mersenne at the College de Nevers. In 1632, at the age of nineteen, he joined the Order of Minims. He visited Rome twice.

He was an artist of some note and was interested in the uses of anamorphosis in religious art. He was acquainted with the leading scientists in France and Italy, such as Fermat, Descartes, Cavalieri, and Kircher, and was aware of all the latest theoretical developments. Intent on finding a scientific solution to the problems presented by perspective, Niceron worked out the geometric algorithms for producing anamorphic art and in 1638 published his definitive treatise, La perspective curieuse ou magie artificielle des effets merveilleux which is roughly translated as "The curious perspective or artificial magic of marvelous effects."


In the early 1630's there were more Scientific societies that were forming. Niceron took advantage of the opportunities and became a member of the 'Circle of Mersenne' which was named after his mentor, Father Marin Mersenne. The connection he with these societies led him to become associated with the top intellectual people from Paris and Rome: Fermat, Desargues, Gassendi, Descartes, Roberval, Maignan, Kircher, and Cavalieri. These relationships with the academic world really helped him stay up to date the intellectual advancements. He closely followed optics and geomety, to be able to use the knowledge he learned to create anamorphic paintings. Then when he was 25 he published his first book that he wrote on the topic of anamorphic paintings. He would have most likely gone to produce many more inspired books. The problem was that since he died at an early he did not complete 'The Curious Perspective.' [1]


The lexicographer, Jean-Pierre Nicéron, was his nephew.[2]

In 1646 he died in Aix-en-Provence, aged 33.

His portrait was engraved by Lasne.

Publications

  1. La perspective curieuse, 'Magie articielle des effets merveilleux de l'optique par la vision directe, Paris, 1638, in-fol., reissued together with l'Optique and the Catoptrique by P. Mersenne, ibid., 1652, in-fol. Niceron reworked it, augmented it by a large number of observations and translated it into Latin under the title: Thaumaturgus opticus, sive amiranda optices, etc., Paris, 1646, in-fol. This first part was to have been followed by two others, but the death of the author prevented this.

The 1663 edition can be downloaded from . The 1638 edition is better. It used to be on

This richly illustrated manual on perspective revealed for the first time the secrets of anamorphosis and trompe l'oeil. It contained the first published reference to Descartes's derivation of the law of refraction. First published in 1638 with 25 plates only, Niceron's work was later enlarged by Roberval in a far inferior edition (1663). Together with the first edition, posthumously published, of a scholarly work on optics and catoptics by Mersenne (1588–1648). In his major work, following the latest theoretical developments, Niceron concentrated primarily on the practical applications of perspective, catoptrics, and dioptrics, and on the illusory effects of optics, then traditionally associated with natural magic. Divided into four Books, the first Book presents briefly the fundamental geometrical theorems, and then develops a general method of perspective, borrowing heavily from Alberti and Dürer. The second Book addresses the problem of establishing perspective for paintings executed on curved or irregular surfaces, like vaults and niches, presents a general technique of anamorphosis. Here Niceron shows, for example, how to construct on the interior surface of a cone a distorted image which, when viewed from the end through the base, appears in proper proportion. Book three discusses and fully explains the anamorphosis of figures that are viewed by reflection from plane, cylindrical, and conical mirrors. Book four deals with the distortions created by refraction. The added work on optics by Niceron's colleague and confrère Mersenne contained the author's final contributions to optics, including experimental studies of visual acuity and binocular vision and a critical discussion of current hypotheses on the nature of light.

  1. L'Interprétation des chiffres, ou Règle pour bien entendre et expliquer facilement toutes sortes de chiffres simples, tirée de italien et augmentée, particulièrement à l'usage des langues française et espagnole, Paris, 1641, in-8°. This work has been translated in part by Ant.-Marie Cospi.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Curious Perspectives". BibliOdyssey. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  2. ↑ http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11051a.htm

Further reading

Other sources