- Classical Education
Perspective signals a new way of looking at the world in art and architecture. It also enables Cities to build Basilicas, which improve Happiness.
Perspective in drawing or painting is an old concept, known to the Greeks and written up by Vitruvius in his 10-volume architectural treatise in 14 BC. Classical scholars condemned perspective as deceitful (after all, it was designed to ’trick the eyes’) and for the next 1000 years it was ignored in western art. Its rediscovery is generally attributed to Filippo Brunelleschi, the architect who designed and built the great dome for the cathedral of Florence, completed in 1428 AD. Working in the style of a classic ’Renaissance man’ Brunelleschi not only designed the dome, special construction techniques and cranes with which to build it, but also painted the baptistry in the cathedral piazza. His perspective rendering of this scene dramatically influenced the entire school of Florentine artists and with them, the art of the Renaissance. By combining a practical application of science and engineering with artistic vision that was beyond accepted convention of the time, Brunelleschi opened up a new way of thinking about innovation and the everyday world.