Part 1

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Rules and Examples of PERSPECTIVE _PROPER FOR_ Painters and Architects, etc.

In English and Latin;

_Containing a most easie and expeditious Method to_ _DELINEATE in PERSPECTIVE_ All DESIGNS relating to ARCHITECTURE, _AFTER A NEW MANNER_, Wholly free from the Confusion of Occult Lines:

_BY THAT GREAT MASTER THEREOF_, ANDREA POZZO, _Soc. Jes._

_Engraven in 105 ample folio Plates, and adorn’d with 200 Initial Letters to the Explanatory Discourses: ~Printed from Copper-Plates~ on y^{e} best Paper_

By John Sturt.

Done into English from the Original Printed at Rome 1693 in Lat. and Ital. _By M^{r} John James of Greenwich._

LONDON: PRINTED by Benj. Motte, MDCCVII. _Sold by John Sturt in Golden-Lion-Court in_ Aldersgate-Street.

PERSPECTIVA PICTORUM _ET_ ARCHITECTORUM,

_ANDREÆ PUTEI, E SOCIETATE JESU._

In quâ docetur Modus expeditissimus Delineandi Opticè omnia quę pertinent ad Architecturam.

LONDINI: Juxta Exemplar ROMÆ excusum, MDCXCIII. _Ex Sculpturâ Joannis Sturt, et ejusd. Curâ adornata_: TYPIS Benj. Motte, MDCCVII.

TO

Her most Sacred Majesty,

QUEEN ANNE.

_May it please your Majesty!_

_The Condescension of the late Emperor of ~Germany~ to patronize this ~WORK~ in the ~Original~, could not have incited me to the Presumption of laying the ~Translation~ at Your Royal Feet; had not the ~Art~ of ~PERSPECTIVE~, of which it treats, been so nearly ally’d to the Noble Arts of ~PAINTING~ and ~ARCHITECTURE~. The ~First~ of these Your Majesty has been pleas’d to honour, as well in expressing a Satisfaction with the Performances, as in extending Your Royal Munificence to that great Master thereof, Signor ~Verrio~._

_AND although Affairs of higher Consequence have hitherto deferr’d Your Majesty’s Commands for Raising ~WHITE-HALL~ from its Ruins; yet has not ~Architecture~ been without Encouragement, under ~Your Majesty’s~ Most Auspicious Reign: Witness the great Dispatch lately given to those Noble Fabricks of S. ~PAUL’s~, ~Greenwich~-Hospital, and ~Blenheim~._

_THESE seem to presage, that a Time is coming, when, through the Blessing of Peace, and the Happy Influence of Your Majesty’s Government; ~WHITE-HALL~ shall become a Structure worthy its Great ~Restorer~, and its Name as much Celebrated among ~Palaces~, as Your Royal Vertues are Illustrious among ~Princes~: When Your Majesty’s Subjects shall exert themselves as much to their Country’s Honour, in the ~Arts~ of ~Design~, and ~Civil Architecture~; as they have already done in the ~Art Military~, and ~Personal Valour~._

_PRELIMINARY to such Happy Season, I presume this ~Art of Perspective made Practicable~, may not be improper; being One of the most Useful, though hitherto the most Obscure and Confus’d, of all the Lineary Arts. I therefore, with all Submission, beg Leave to supplicate Your Majesty’s Pardon for this Address, and Your Gracious Protection of this Specimen of ~English~ Graving; to which if ~Your Majesty~ vouchsafe ~Your~ Royal ~PATRONAGE~, it will effectually animate the future Endeavours of,_

May it please Your Majesty!

_Your Most Obedient Subject_,

J. STURT.

PREFACE TO THIS TRANSLATION.

NOTWITHSTANDING the _Art_ of PERSPECTIVE must be acknowledg’d so highly and indispensably requisite in the Practice of _Painting_, _Architecture_, and _Sculpture_; that in the First of these especially, nothing commendable can be perform’d without its Assistance: Yet such have been the Difficulties and Obscurities met with in the first Attempts, and so great the Perplexity and Confusion of Lines in the Practice thereof; that the best Instructions, hitherto made _English_, have invited very few to such a Prosecution of this Study, as might render their Performances of this kind, truly valuable.

’TIS something unaccountable, that, among so many learned Persons as have handled this Subject, _Priests_, _Architects_, and _Painters_; very few, if any of them, have given Directions proper for shunning that Disorder and Confusion of Lines, which, in most Instances, must necessarily attend the Execution of their Rules: In all or most of which, the whole Space for the Performance is confin’d between the Lines of the Plan and Horizon; which, where the Scale is small, and the Height of the Eye not very much advanc’d, renders the Work exceedingly confus’d; and where those Lines are coincident, (which frequently happens) the Method becomes utterly impracticable.

THIS Author’s great Experience in the Practice of _Perspective_, having furnish’d him with excellent RULES for Shortning the Work, and Obviating the foremention’d Difficulties; he has here very generously imparted them, and especially the latter, in the Tenth and Eleventh Figures. And tho’ on Perusal of the first three or four Plates, this Method may possibly seem the same that some others have before made use of; yet whoever shall diligently observe and copy the Rules and Examples of the succeeding Figures, must necessarily acknowledge the great Advantage this has in a Perspective-Plan and Upright, clear and distinct; whence the finish’d Piece is deduc’d, without the least Incumbrance of the Work. The Explanations of the Rules here given, are short and instructive; and the Architectonical Designs produc’d to exemplify them, Noble and Magnificent.

THE Manner of Designing, where the Perspective is drawn on several Ranges of Frames one behind the other, and such Scenes of Theaters whose Grooves lie oblique to the middle Line, is also here laid down: And by our Author’s Method, _Horizontal Perspective_, or that of Ceilings, is render’d less difficult than the _Vertical_, or that against an upright Wall. Upon the whole, nothing seems wanting that may make a Work of this nature complete; unless what concerns Designs which are either Circular, or abound with many Columns: For the Performance whereof, the Author, as he promises in the Sixty-fifth Figure, has, in a SECOND Volume, given a Rule more proper for the purpose; which also may possibly be made _English_ in due time, if this Part meet with Encouragement.

WHAT the Author once intended should make a Part of that Second Volume, he afterwards inserted in the Ninety-third and following Figures of this Book: In the last of which, particular Notice should be taken of his Conclusion; _That if_ Painters _would not run into inextricable Errors, they ought as strictly to observe the Rules of_ Perspective, _in designing the Figures of Men and Animals; as they do in painting Columns, Cornices, or other Parts of Architecture_.

THAT none therefore be discourag’d in their first Attempts, through the Brevity or Silence of our Author; (who, writing in a Country where the Principles of this Art are more generally known than with Us, had no need to insist so long on some things, as might be thought necessary to _Beginners_) we shall endeavour to speak as plainly as we can to a point or two, most liable to be misunderstood, or to prove a Stumbling-Block at the Entrance; and then add a Word of Advice to such as shall attempt the putting these Rules in Execution.

THE Author, in both his Explanations of the first Plate, has given some Account of what he would have his Reader understand, by _Designing in Perspective_; and a right Conception of this point being of great Use to facilitate the Work, we thought it not improper, to describe something more particularly, what is meant by the Art _Perspective_: but shall at present speak only of That, which, whether Vertical or Horizontal, is receiv’d on a Flat and Even Superficies; This being of much the more general Use, and, when rightly understood, renders the Difficulties of the Circular or Irregular Surfaces, easy and familiar.

PERSPECTIVE is the Art of Delineating, on a flat Superficies, as a Wall, Ceiling, Canvas, Paper, or the like, the Appearances of Objects, as seen from One determinate Point: For tho’ in Works of great Length, Two, Three, or more Points of Sight are sometimes made use of; yet such may more properly be said to be Several Views conjoin’d, than One Piece of Perspective: Of which see the Author’s Opinion, at the End of this Treatise.

IN Perspective, the Eye of the Beholder is esteem’d a Point, from whence Rays are suppos’d to proceed to every Angle of the Object. The Wall or Canvas to be painted (which we shall here call the _Section_) is imagin’d to intervene at right Angles to the Axis of the said Rays, and, by dissecting them, to receive the Appearance of the Object, in greater or less Proportion, as the Section is more or less remote from the Point of Sight. Our Author’s Rule is, That the Distance of the Eye ought to be equal to the greatest Extent of the Object, whether in Length or Height: As, to view a Building that is a hundred Foot long, and fifty high; he would have the Distance a hundred Foot: To view a Tower sixty Foot wide, and a hundred and fifty Foot high; the Distance should be a hundred and fifty Foot. This Distance is not strictly to be understood of the Space between the Eye and the Object, but of the Space between that and the Section, the Plan of which our Author calls the Line of the Plan, or Ground-line; for it’s often requisite, that the Section be plac’d at some Distance before the Object, on account of Projectures of Cornices, and other Parts of the Work that advance, as in the Eighth Figure.

THE Place of the Eye, with respect to its Height above the Ground, ought to be such, as is most natural and agreeable to the Object. Thus in _Architecture_, the Basements and inferior Parts of a Building are improper to be set above the Eye, and their Cornices and Entablatures have but an ill Effect when below it. _General_ Perspectives indeed require the Sight to be taken at a Birds View; and on other Occasions the Place of the Eye may be vary’d: but the best and most general Rule is, not to exceed five or six Foot Height above the Ground. The Height of the Eye above the Ground, thro’ which a Line is drawn, call’d the _horizontal_ Line, is set on by the same Scale of Proportion, as the Design bears to the real Work; and the Point of Sight so plac’d therein, as may render the Object most agreeable. From the Point of Sight, either on one or both sides in the horizontal Line, you are to set, by the same Scale, the Distance you stand from the Section. And by means of these Points of Sight and Distance, and the Measures of the Parts brought on the Lines of the Plan and Elevation of the Section, by the same Scale; all the Examples of this Volume are reduc’d into Perspective; as is manifest on Inspection of the Figures.

WHAT we would add, by way of Advice, is,

I. THAT you very carefully observe, what the Author understands by _Breadth_, _Length_, and _Height_, in his Explanation of the Fifth Plate, before you proceed to practise on any Figure; otherwise you’ll certainly misunderstand him; especially in the Third Figure.

II. THAT the Rules of the Tenth and Eleventh Figures be particularly regarded, for avoiding Confusion in the Plans and Uprights.

III. THAT from the Disposition of the Perspective-Plans and Uprights, with respect to the finish’d Pieces in the Twelfth and many following Figures, you would observe, with what Dispatch the said Pieces may, without the Help of Compasses, be delineated by your Drawing-Square; _viz._ the Perpendiculars from the Perspective-Plan, and the level Lines from the Perspective-Upright, or Section.

IV. THAT you would accustom yourself in Works that have many Lines, to make the Perspective-Plans and Uprights for each Part distinct, so as to prevent all Danger of Confusion. Thus you may have one Plan and Upright for the Basement of a Building; and when that is drawn on your finish’d Piece, remove them, and place those of the Body of the House; and when that’s complete, do so by the _Attick_, &c. always observing so to place the Plan below, and the Upright on one side of your neat Draught, that your Drawing-Square may command each of them; which will mightily shorten your Work.

V. THAT the Author’s Advice of taking the Figures in Course, be strictly follow’d in the Practice; which will be a great means to render the Whole easy and pleasant.

THIS is the Sum of what we thought most proper to advertise you; and have only this farther to request, That if any Mistakes may have escap’d the Press undiscover’d, as we well hope there are few or none, you will favourably correct and pardon them.

MONITA ad TYRONES.

_Concinnitatem ac symmetriam opticæ delineationes ædificiorum habere nequeunt, nisi utramque mutuentur ab Architectura. Proinde necesse est, ut in istius graphide ac intelligentia te aliquandiu exerceas, donec uniuscujusque elevationis vestigium formare didiceris, ex eoque eruere sectionem totius longitudinis, ut in Opere toto videre est, præsertim figuris sexagesimaoctava & septuagesima. Siquidem ex vestigio & ex sectione derivatur in opticas imagines congrua rerum singularum profunditas._

_Subjiciam his consilium summi momenti; videlicet, egregiè intelligas oportet figuram secundam, priusquam progrediaris ad tertiam, idemque de cæteris dictum velim; nam singulas eo disposuimus ordine, ut quæ præcedit, necessaria sit ad percipiendas eas quæ sequuntur. Si aliqua sint in explicatione, quæ initio non intelligas, ipsum schema sæpius diligenter inspicies; ac vicissim si aliqua desint in schematibus, ex declarationibus ea supplebis. Lapsus verò quos deprehenderis, facilè pro tua benignitate, mihi, ut spero, condonabis._

ADVICE to BEGINNERS.

The Perspective of Structures here treated of, can have no Grace or Proportion, without the Help of Architecture. ’Tis therefore absolutely necessary, that you employ yourself for some time in Drawing, and the Study of that Art; till you can readily describe the Plan of any Upright, and from thence project the Section or Profile, as is shewn through the whole Course of this Work; and more particularly, in the Sixty-eighth and Seventieth Figures: Forasmuch as the proper Depth of each Part of the Perspective, is determin’d by the Plan and Profile thereof.

I shall add this one thing more, which is indeed of the last Importance; to wit, that you endeavour to understand the Second Figure throughly, before you proceed to the Third; and so of the rest: they being dispos’d in such Order, that the Knowledge of the preceding Figure is always necessary to a right Understanding of that which follows. If you meet with any thing which at first seems difficult in the Description, a diligent Inspection of the Figure may relieve you: And on the other hand, if you find not in the Figure every thing you desire, you may have Recourse to the Explanation. What Errours you discover in the Work, I hope you’ll generously overlook and pardon.

AD

Lectorem Perspectivæ studiosum.

_Ars Perspectiva, oculum, licet sagacissimum inter sensus nostros exteriores, mirabili cum voluptate decipit; eademque necessaria est iis, quibus in pingendo, tum singulis figuris positionem ac deformationem suam congruè tribuere, tum colores & umbras, magis vel minus intendere aut remittere, prout oportet, curæ est. Ad id autem sensim sine sensu illi perveniunt, qui solo studio Graphidis non contenti, singulis Architecturæ Ordinibus exactè deformandis assueverint. Nihilominus, inter multos qui opus hujusmodi magno impetu aggressi hucusque fuerunt, paucos numeramus, qui animum ipso statim initio non desponderint, ob magistrorum librorumque penuriam, ordinatè ac perspicuè docentium opticas projectiones, à principiis hujus artis, usque ad omnimodam perfectionis consummationem. Quum autem sentiam, longâ multorum annorum exercitatione, me non minimam facilitatem in hac disciplina mihi parasse: censeo Studiosorum voluntati me satisfacturum, eorumque profectui consulturum, si methodos expeditissimas in lucem proferam, ad singulorum Architecturæ Ordinum opticas delineationes perficiendas, adhibitâ communi regulâ, ex qua omnia linearum occultarum offendicula sustulimus. Deinde, si tempus & vires ad aliud Opus conscribendum Bonitas Divina dederit, projectiones quascunque absolvemus regulâ qua in præsentia uti soleo, ac multò facilior & universalior est regula communi & vulgata, quamvis hæc sit fundamentum alterius. Itaque, Lector studiose, constanti animo negotium tuum suscipe; ac lineas omnes tuarum operationum, ad verum oculi punctum ducere, ad gloriam scilicet DEI O.M. tecum omninò decerne. Sic votis honestissimis, ut auguror tibi ac spondeo, feliciter potieris._

TO

The Lovers of Perspective.

The Art of PERSPECTIVE does, with wonderful Pleasure, deceive the Eye, the most subtle of all our outward Senses; and is very necessary to be known of all, who in Painting would give a due Place and Proportion to their Figures, and more or less Strength requisite to the Lights and Shades of the Picture. This might be insensibly attain’d, if Persons, not content with the Study of Drawing only, would accustom themselves exactly to delineate the several Orders of Architecture. Nevertheless, among many who have hitherto vigorously undertaken this Work, there have been but very few, who have not been in a manner quite discourag’d, through want of Masters and Books to teach them clearly and methodically the Rules of Perspective-Projections, from the first Principles of the Art, to the entire Perfection thereof. Wherefore, apprehending that by long and constant Practice in Works of this kind, I had acquir’d a Method to facilitate the same; I judg’d it might be for the Satisfaction and Advantage of the Studious, to publish the shortest way for designing in Perspective the several Orders of Architecture, by a common and easy Rule, free from the Incumbrances of occult Lines. But if it please God to give me Life and Health to compose another Book, I shall therein shew the Method of putting Works into Perspective by the Rule I make use of at present, which is more easy and general than the common way, though this be the Foundation of the other. Therefore, Reader, my Advice is, that you chearfully begin your Work, with a Resolution to draw all the Lines thereof to that true point, the Glory of GOD; and I durst predict, and promise you good Success in so honourable an Undertaking.

THE

Approbation of this Edition.

At the Request of the Engraver, We have perus’d this Volume of PERSPECTIVE; and judge it a WORK that deserves Encouragement, and very proper for Instruction in that ART.

_Chr. Wren_, _J. Vanbrugh_, _N. Hawksmoor_.

POZZO’s

ARCHITECTURE IN PERSPECTIVE.

FIGURA PRIMA.

Explicatio linearum Plani & Horizontis, ac Punctorum Oculi & Distantiæ.

_Ut principia Perspectivæ faciliùs intelligas, pono tibi ob oculos Templum, in cujus interiori facie, præter cætera, pingendum sit aliquid ad Perspectivam pertinens. Templi hujus vestigium geometricum est ~A~, elevatio geometrica in longum est ~B~, in latum est ~C~. In ~A~ est locus Hominis aspicientis lineam ~DE~, cui paries pingendus incumbit. In ~B~ idem Homo ex eâdem distantiâ intuetur lineam ~FG~, quæ refert elevationem parietis. In figura ~C~ supponimus Hominem consistere è regione ipsius parietis: easdemque proportiones mensuratum translatas esse ex vero pariete in figuram ~C~, quæ ipsum in parvo repræsentat._

_Prima ergo linea ~HI~ dicitur linea terræ vel plani, ex quâ incipit, eidemque incumbit ædificium. Secunda linea ~NON~ priori parallela, dicitur horizontalis, in quâ ponitur ~O~ punctum oculi, & ~N~ punctum distantiæ. Duo autem puncta distantiæ à nobis posita sunt, ut unum adhibeas ex quâ parte volueris; nam ad figuras opticè contrahendas sufficit unum punctum distantiæ: nec fieri potest ulla optica delineatio, quin primo loco designentur duæ parallelæ, una plani seu terræ, altera horizontis, notando in lineâ horizontis, punctum oculi, seu opticum, & punctum distantiæ. Porrò unam eandemque rem triplici Schemate repræsentare oportuit, ut videas, locum ex quo aspicienda est figura ~C~ esse punctum ~N~ unius ex rectis ~NO~, quam concipere debemus veluti normaliter infixam in ~O~; ac distantiam inter ~O~ & ~N~ eandem esse debere cum distantiâ inter ~A~ & ~DE~, inter ~B~ & ~GF~._

_In picturis multum spatii occupantibus, punctum oculi poni solet in medio lineæ horizontalis: atque ubi altitudo picturæ sit major latitudine, distantia ~NO~ fiet æqualis altitudini. Si latitudo picturæ sit major altitudine, distantia ~NO~ fiet æqualis latitudini; ita enim unico intuitu totum picturæ spatium comprehendi poterit. Porrò quamvis eadem distantia diverso modo adhibeatur in vestigio ~A~, & in elevationibus ~B~ & ~C~; nihilominus sectiones visualium cum pariete vestigii ~A~, & elevationis ~B~, omninò conspirant cum sectionibus visualium figuræ ~C~._

_Jam si velimus ut spectatori in ~A~ & ~B~ paries depictus videatur distare à lineis ~DE~ & ~GF~, quanta est longitudo quadrati ~P~, cujus elevatio est ~Q~; ex punctis ~A~ & ~B~ fiant visuales ad puncta extrema quadrati, notando sectiones visualium cum pariete ~DE~ & ~GF~, qui ab aliis vocatur velum, vitrum diaphanum, sectio, tela, vel tabula. Invenies autem, lineas ~RS~ ac ~TV~ esse æquales, ac similiter lineas ~XZ~ & ~YK~; & sic de aliis._

The First Figure.

_Explication of the Lines of the Plan and Horizon, and of the Points of the Eye and of the Distance._

That you may the better understand the Principles of Perspective, here is presented to your View a Temple, on the inner Wall of which, amongst other things, one would paint something in Perspective. The Geometrical Plan of this Church is A, the Geometrical Elevation, or Upright, lengthwise is B, breadthwise is C. In A is the Place from whence a Man beholds the Line DE, which is the Plan of the Wall that is to be painted: In B the same Man, from the same Distance, looks upon the Line FG, that represents the Elevation of the Wall. In Fig. C, the Man is supposed to stand opposite to the said Wall; and this Figure contains, in Little, the very same Proportions of Measures transferr’d from the real Wall.