Drawing as a Form of Thought: The Evolution of Techniques, Methods, and Instruments in Architectural and Artistic Representation

This contribution offers a concise historical and technical overview of drawing and representation, understood not only as tools for visual restitution but as genuine forms of critical and design thinking. Through an analysis spanning from Paleolithic cave paintings to contemporary technologies of photomodelling and global illumination, the study investigates the intrinsic relationship between the perception of light, the geometric encoding of space, and the support of technological instruments. Particular attention is given to the treatises of Alhazen and Leonardo da Vinci, to Cigoli’s perspectival revolution, and to the use of optics among view painters. The aim is to show how each technological innovation has produced a shift in the visual paradigm and in the understanding of reality.