Depth Exploration

Objective: Understand techniques for presenting depth in artwork.

Materials: Printed copies of The Announcement of the Virgin's Death and The Flagellation

1. Look at the images below (click to make them larger). For each artwork, discuss techniques used by the artist to give a sense of depth.
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  Hall of the Bulls. Lascaux cave painting. France, c15000-10000BC
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  Tomb of Khnum-hotep. Egypt, c2400BC
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  The Laestrygonians. Wall painting. Greece, c100BC
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  Luoshenfu (middle section), Gu Kai Zhi. China, 344-406AD.
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  Christ crowns Henry and Kunigunde. Germany, 1007-1012
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  Annunciation of the Virgin's Death, Duccio, 1308
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  Flagellation, Piero della Francesca, 1455-1460
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  Planes by Colors, F. Kupka, 1910
2. Look at Escher's Depth (Magic of M.C. Escher #269). What techniques does Escher use to portray depth?
3. On a copy of Duccio’s The Announcement of the Virgin's Death, notice that lines which head away from the viewer are diagonal. Use a pen and a ruler to extend all of these lines. Do the same for the receeding lines in Piero della Francesca’s The Flagellation (painted 150 years later). What difference do you detect?

Handin: A sheet with answers to the questions, and marked up copies of Announcement and Flagellation.