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Perception of Space in Piero della Francesca's Annunciation: An Eye-Movement and Art-Historical Study

2010; The MIT Press; Volume: 43; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1162/leon.2010.43.2.153

1530-9282

Zoı̈ Kapoula, Maria-Pia Bucci, Qing Yang, Francesca Bacci,

Visual Culture and Art Theory

Although Renaissance artworks provide valuable information about the development of artistic depth cues, eye-movement studies of these works are rather scarce. This study examines how naïve viewers explore and perceive space and perspective in the Perugia Annunciation by Piero della Francesca (1467–1469). Seven participants viewed a high-quality image of the painting on a computer screen, while their eye movements were recorded with a video-oculographic device. Following recording, five subjects verbally described the painting, and all seven drew the painting from memory. Based on the sequence of ocular fixations, the authors conclude that the painting stimulates inquisitive spatial eye exploration, resulting in assimilation of complex spatial architectural details, even by naïve observers.