Week 2: Math and Art

Math and Art are utilized more simultaneously than we realize. Artists have been particularly skilled in areas of mathematics and utilized these skills in the pieces they created. For example, the idea of perspective, a drawing technique developed in order to make paintings more realistic, inspired the development of the vanishing point by Filippo Brunelleschi in 1413.
The School of Athens by Raphael shows an example of perspective 
The vanishing point was a drawing technique by which all lines converged to one single point in a painting. This gave the artwork a more linear view. Additionally, Brunelleschi was not only an artist but an individual who was trained in both geometry and trigonometry. The vanishing point clearly illustrates the use of math in art, such that it has also contributed to the growth and progression of artwork throughout history and is still utilized today. This week in particular, I learned that the math has been utilized in art since the early ages of history. In Lecture, Professor Vesna elaborates on the names of famous artists like Picasso, Brunelleschi, Francesca, etc., pointing out that most of these artists were mathematicians or well trained in the sciences and math in addition to being skilled in the arts. This leads one to find the connections amongst math, art, and science. Math exists in everything that we do and can be utilized in the real world and biological factors that exist within it.Science helps to explain why things may form or appear a certain way on earth but one can find a correlation between the mathematical theories developed by early artists and certain objects in nature. For example, the idea of perspective is defined as technique used to depict three dimensional objects on a flat canvas. Between the two types of perspectives—artificial and natural—the natural perspective gives a more accurate depiction of how far away an object really is.
This version of Masolino da Panicale's St. Peter Healing a Cripple
 and the Raising of Tabitha has lines drawn on it to show an example
of the vanishing point
Given our existence in the third dimension and our knowledge of this based on scientific theories and laws, we can parallel the use of perspective to the dimensions of the world we live in. Artists use the mathematical technique of perspective to help their viewers understand their drawing as works of art that is similar to the real world. Through this example, we find the juxtaposition of art, science, and math—just as we would if we analyzed most of the early techniques developed for art.  
Picture of a walkway as an example of what perspective
like in real life. 


Works Cited 
Masolino da Panicale. "Fig. 3. Masolino’s ‘St. Peter Healing a Cripple and the Raising of Tabitha’ (1425)." Webexhibits.org. Publisher unknown. Publication Date unknown. http://www.webexhibits.org/sciartperspective/raphaelperspective1.html.  

Vesna, Victoria. "Mathematics-pt1-ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean.mov." YouTube.com. 9 April 2012, Web. Retrieved 19 April 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUr4xxZ_0gw&feature=youtu.be.   

Raphael. "The School of Athens." Scholastic.com. Publisher unknown, Publishing date unknown, http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3757092.   

 Abbott, Edwin A. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. CreateSpace Publishing. 28 February 2017. Print.  

Kyoto. "Gion One-Point-Perspective #2." Pinterest.com. Publisher unknown. Publishing date unknown. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/146648531596523863/. 

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