11/20/03 MATHEMATICS
DEPARTMENT, FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY
MATH
COLLOQUIUM, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 11:00am, STARR 138
SPEAKER: Prof. James Walker
Humanities Department,
Ferris State University
TITLE:
The Geometry of Renaissance Art.
Abstract:
I will begin my presentation by showing a few examples of painting
done in the late middle ages that contained no sense of a third dimension or,
for that matter, any recognizable space whatsoever. Because patrons in the early Renaissance demanded a more
realistic look to the art they commissioned, new techniques were invented to
give painting a look that would more closely resemble real life. These
techniques evolved out of the study of geometry and mathematics. Using these
experimental techniques, paintings were drawn out first on a canvas using the
new geometry and then were painted over in color with the chosen subject
matter. I will show how this geometric look created a third dimension on a
two-dimensional surface and led to some of the great masterpieces of the
Renaissance, including Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper.
Not all artists of the Renaissance were of the caliber of
Leonardo, however. Many of lesser abilities were given other tasks in art
workshops that included the painting of maps for explorers who were crossing
the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in search of new lands. These maps were often
drawn from crude sketches handed to artists by explorers such as Amerigo
Vespucci. I will show how artists borrowed the geometric system that had been invented
during this time for large scale painting to create navigational lines on maps
that were the forerunners of latitude and longitude lines. This borrowed system greatly aided mariners
in their journeys and made an important contribution to the settlements made in
the Americas. I will show how these
early painters/cartographers used the system by displaying a number of examples
of their painted work.
REFRESHMENTS: 11:00 am, STARR 138
http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/colleges/artsands/Math/MATH_COLLOQUIUM/ColloquiumWeb/index.html