The perception of space and the illusion of perspective

This paper deals with some aspects related to the perception of space and the most important indexes of the perception of three-dimensionality. Physiological indexes (such as accomodation, convergence, and binocular disparity), and pictorial indexes (such as texture density gradients, occlusion, etc.) are reported. The interest will be focused on the representation of space in two-dimensional surfaces, with particular attention towards the linear perspective. The discover of linear perspective in western art, in the 1400’s, opened up an important field of artistic research. The representation of the three-dimensional world on a flat two-dimensional surface has been one of the most challenging aspects of the visual art for several centuries. The importance of linear perspective will be discussed also with respect to the interpretation of various visual illusions.