Refreshments are served at 3:15 p.m. in Physics room 298
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In 2000 artist David Hockney and scientist Charles Falco stunned the art world with a theory that would, if verified, profoundly alter our understanding of the history of optics and of art. They claimed that some Renaissance artists, as early as 1430, secretly built optical projectors, projected portions of their tableaus onto their canvas/panel, traced the real images, and then applied paint. The proponents believe this tracing procedure was responsible in large part for the rise in realism found in early Renaissance art. This talk will present the results of an international and independent set of 11 scientists, 8 historians of optics or art, and 2 curators addressing the optical projection claim. It includes dramatic physical discoveries in artworks themselves, new computer vision methods based on forensic image analysis, computer graphics reconstructions of artists’ studios and lighting, the application of sophisticated optical ray-tracing software to simulate putative projectors, experimental re-enactments by professional artists, and more.
The conclusions of these experts is in fact unanimous and sheds light on both art and science. You will never see Renaissance masterpieces the same way again.
