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

Respondeo, objectionem hanc dupliciter intelligi posse: vel enim intelligi posset, non esse assignandum unicum punctum toti illi spatio; atque in hoc sensu vera est; cum enim spatium illud valde oblongum sit, dividi debuit in partes, atque assignanda tribunæ, quam dicunt, tholo, & fornici, propria puncta; cum hoc communiter doceant, ubi situs nimium est longus, & parùm altus. Vel potest intelligi de qualibet ex dictis partibus, & sic intellecta penitùs falsa est. Primò, quia præstantiores fornices aularum, & templorum, qui optico artificio ornati sint, si unicum opus reddunt, à suismet authoribus determinatum idemque unicum punctum accepisse compertum est. Secundò, quia cum ars optica sit mera veri fictio, non id pictor facere potest, ut à qualibet parte simulet veritatem, verùm ab uno determinato puncto id ostendit. Tertiò, quia si, e. g. fornici, qui uno integroque optico opere ornetur, plura puncta assignaveris, nullum reperies locum, unde integrum opus spectare possis, & ad summum ex quolibet puncto tantùm partem illius spectabis, nusquam verò totum opus. Ex dictis igitur rationibus concludo ab inducentibus plura puncta in eodem opere induci malum majus eo, quod unicum punctum inducit; quare hoc omnino necessarium est situi in quo unicum opus formandum sit, ad quod collimare debeant ex omni operis parte figuræ simul & architectura. Quo posito, negari rationabiliter nequit, à me etiam concedi unicum punctum spectando fornici amplo, aptoque ad repræsentandum unicum opus, qualis est fornix in D. Ignatii templo. Si verò propter situm irregularem, ut dicimus, architectura extra punctum aliquantulum deformetur, & figuræ pariter operi optico intermixtæ extra commune punctum aliquam patientur deformitatem, præterquam quod à supradictis rationibus excusatur, nequaquam id vitio arti est, sed laudi; quandoquidem ars à suo puncto exhibet, proportione positâ, ut rectum, ut planum, ut concavum, id quod tale non est.

An Answer to the Objection made about the Point of Sight in Perspective.

Every one does not approve, that in a Perspective of great Extent one Point of Sight only should be assign’d the whole Work; as for Example, In the whole Length of the Nave, Cupola, and Tribune, express’d in the Ninety-third Figure, they will by no means allow of one single Point, but insist upon several.

I answer, This Objection may be understood two ways; either that one Point alone is not sufficient for that whole Length, and in this sense ’tis true; for that Space being very long, it ought to be divided into Parts, and proper Points assign’d to the Tribune, Cupola, and Vault of the Nave; as is commonly taught, where the Situation is of a great Length, and not very high. Or it may be understood of any One of the said Parts, and so is altogether false. First, Because in the Vaults of Halls or Churches painted by the greatest Masters, if they consist of one Piece only, we find but one Point of Sight assign’d. Secondly, Since Perspective is but a Counterfeiting of the Truth, the Painter is not oblig’d to make it appear real when seen from Any part, but from One determinate Point only. Thirdly, Because, if in a Vault, for Example, where you would paint one entire Design of Architecture and Figures, you assign several Points of Sight, you will find no place whence you may take a perfect View of the Whole, and at best you can only view each Part from its proper Point. From all which Reasons I conclude, that the Introduction of many Points into the same Piece, is more injurious to the Work, than making use of one only: Wherefore ’tis absolutely necessary in a regular Situation, and where the Work is all of a piece, so to place the same, as that the Figures and Architecture may from every part of the Design have respect thereto. This suppos’d, I confess that I myself make use of one Point of Sight only, in very large Vaults that consist of one Design, such as that of the Nave of the Church of S. Ignatius. If therefore through the Irregularity of the Place, the Architecture appear with some Deformity, and the Figures intermix’d therewith seem any thing lame and imperfect when view’d out of the proper Point, besides the Reasons just now given, it’s so far from being a Fault, that I look upon it as an Excellency in the Work, that when view’d from the Point determin’d, it appear, with due Proportion, streight, flat, or concave; when in reality it is not so.

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