linear perspective

noun

: a system of creating an illusion of depth and distance in drawing, painting, relief sculpture, etc., by depicting parallel lines as converging

Consider the way in which modernist painting calls attention to the flatness of the two-dimensional canvas rather than employing the rules of linear perspective in order to generate an illusion of depth.

—Roger Copeland

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Avery composed with large areas of flat color, creating depth with color contrasts and harmonies instead of shifts in scale and linear perspective. —Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2022

People tend to have a linear perspective of history, but the exponential growth of tech has become more obvious in the past decades. —Ricardo Villadiego, Forbes, 28 Sep. 2021

Filippo Brunelleschi, considered the founding father of Renaissance architecture, used mirrors and geometry to generate 3D drawings with perfect linear perspective. —Dr. Will Roper, Popular Mechanics, 12 Jan. 2021

This period is marked by castles, cathedrals, and linear perspective in painting. —courant.com, 4 Sep. 2019

Completed in 1427, it is believed to be the first work to fully apply the laws of linear perspective. —Allesandra Pagano, National Geographic, 24 July 2019

But the true genius of using linear perspective is that its elements—a vanishing point and a horizon line—express the painting’s scriptural message. —Robert E. Gordon, WSJ, 13 July 2018

The invention paved the way for telescopes and revolutionized art, allowing the Italian painter Filippo Brunelleschi to discover the linear perspective in 1425. —Doug Main, The Atlantic, 7 Apr. 2018

See More

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1656, in the meaning defined above