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Before the invention of modern photography, the best way to obtain images was painting. In the age of painting, how to draw things realistically has almost become a problem that plagues the painter's life. In order to accurately show the objective world and make the pictures look more realistic, ancient artists invented a series of unclear black technologies, such as camera obscura, projection drawing device, Claude glass, etc., to assist their paintings.
Magical auxiliary device
Some of the auxiliary devices invented by ancient painters even directly led to the birth of later cameras. These mechanical optical devices do not appear in the scientist's laboratory, but are placed in the artist's studio. Playing with these weird things to assist painting is quite cumbersome, but it invisibly strengthens the ritual sense of painting.
▲A dark box used to write outlines▲
▲Projection tracer for capturing images▲
▲Claude glass for composition and framing▲
Science and technology assisted painting
In my impression, the geniuses in art history are like shining stars. They capture the colors and light and shadow of the natural world with their keen senses, and draw us the art works that are truly real. But research shows that many paintings since the European Renaissance have used optical instruments to varying degrees.
The painter Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675), who was active in the Dutch Golden Age, is believed to have used optical instruments to create works. Known as a representative of Dutch Golden Age painters, Vermeer's works are known for their realistic light and shadow and delicate brushwork. However, if you carefully observe his works, you will inevitably find some intriguing visual expressions.
▲Part of "Astronomer"▲
His paintings do not have obvious outlines like the paintings of the same period. Vermeer used different colors to directly collage and blend, all of which made his painting techniques a mystery in the critics for a long time. The objects in his paintings will also show weird speckles. In his masterpieces, we can even see the red and blue chromatic aberration that only occurs when lenses are used.
"The Girl with Pearl Earrings" does not have a clear contour line. There are obvious "red and blue edges" on the girl's chin and collar. This is a chromatic aberration phenomenon that occurs through the lens.
▲ "Girl with Pearl Earrings" ▼
"The Maid Pouring Milk" also has no clear outline, and the maid's arms and skirts also have red and blue edges caused by poor coloring.
▲ "The Maid Pouring Milk" ▼
Coincidentally, in the earlier works of the Dutch painter Jan van Eyck (1390-1441), traces of suspected use of optical equipment to aid painting are also clearly visible.
The above picture shows his masterpiece "The Arnofini Couple". The convex lens in the center of the picture really has a sense of drama of "piercing". It shows us that in addition to the Arnofini couple and the painter himself, there are also works in the painting scene. A maid in blue, and there is a bright light above her head, as if there is still an optical device on the scene.
Those black technologies that can make people beautiful
In order to make images truly beautiful, artists have made many attempts. After the Italians invented the perspective method, accurate and proportional depiction of objective things became a criterion for assessing painters' skill. In order to cope with the ever-increasing aesthetic requirements, painters in the late Middle Ages had to draw with various measuring tools.
After a long time, people accidentally discovered that if a baffle was erected in front of the light source and a small hole was opened in it, a clear but tiny image could be obtained on the wall on the other side. Although only the inverted image is obtained, the image obtained through the small hole imaging is an accurate representation of nature, and it was quickly applied to painting by the artist.
Inspired by the principle of small hole imaging, artists in the 15th century invented a magical prop called a camera obscura. This optical instrument shaped like a camera allows the artist to capture images anytime and anywhere. By placing translucent paper on the frosted glass of the camera obscura, the artist can accurately draw the outline of the scene.
In Leonardo da Vinci's "Atlantic Manuscript" (1452-1519), a movable camera obscura resembling today's movie projector is recorded, using the camera to capture images and draw patterns.
In 1825, the French replaced the translucent paper on the camera obscura with a new type of material that could be light-sensitive, and the modern camera was born.
▲The first photo of human beings▲
Artists who pursue bright colors are more inclined to use projection tracers for artistic creation than in the dark scenes. The description of this complex optical device was first seen by the German astronomer Johannes Kepler (Johannes Kepler, 1571-1630) in "Refracting Optics" published in 1611.
▲Optical refractors for astronomy▲
The projection tracer is an instrument that uses the principle of light refraction. Through this device, the painter can see the canvas and the object itself at the same time. Compared to drawing in a dark box and then painting in a bright room, it is obviously more convenient to use the projection tracer to paint. The painter can not only accurately grasp the proportion and shape of the object, but also realistically reproduce the color and light at the same time.
In addition to complex optical devices, a small invention called Claude glass was popular in the 18th century in Britain. This small object like a car rearview mirror was once regarded as a B-frame artifact by the majority of British literary and artistic youths. Through the small mirror, young people who love literature and art can capture the beautiful pastoral scenery anytime and anywhere, and save the pain of selecting sceneries and composition.
The British painter William Gilpin (1724-1804) even installed Claude glass on the carriage, and stopped to paint when he saw the appropriate composition in the mirror. Gilpin's artistic life has thus become a British story. It is hard to imagine that the painting auxiliary props that led the fashion are actually just a mirror.
The aura of genius is part of the gift of science, but without the series of unclear black technologies invented by artists, it would be difficult for us to present the wonderful paintings in the history of aesthetics.
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