The 16th century was the period of an incredible interest in the practical and theoretical problems of linear perspective. Painters, mathematicians and even philosophers worked on them. Moreover, perspective was the basis of the new style fashionable among patrons and customers. However, neither the logically organised theory of perspective nor the standard technique of perspective drawing had been invented yet. Consequently, every master had his own set of practices, which gave him competitive advantages and was partly borrowed by others. Therefore, the analysis of perspective constructions gives us insights into the particular mechanisms of artistic cross-influences and is a useful tool for attribution.
This approach seems to be effective for the research in the English art of the 16th century: artists from different countries worked and cooperated there under the pressure of constant social change and a fierce competition.
The intuitive understanding of the phenomena is almost impossible due to the complexity of creative processes and conflicting influences determining them. Also our understanding can be biassed due to the fact that the rates of survival of paintings differ depending on the media.Therefore methods of investigation should be accurate and precise.
We are going to gather information about as many art pieces of the period as possible. Then they will be analysed with regard to whether the linear perspective was employed and how it was done. The types of space rendering will be established. The changes in the usage of those types will be detected and matched with the events in social life and the advancements in maths.
The result of the research will be the database (analysed and systematised art pieces of the period), which could be used for further investigation. Also we will obtain a clear description of the development and dissemination of aesthetic ideas, working techniques and mathematical knowledge and their mutual influences. As an additional outcome of the project some criteria of the attribution could be corrected.
