International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Ivana Marcikić
University of Arts in Belgrade, Faculty of Applied Arts, Belgrade, Serbia; 
[e-mail]
Marijana Paunović
University of Arts, Faculty of Applied Arts, Belgrade, Serbia; 
[e-mail]
Inverse Perspective
The aim of this paper is to prove that the conclusion of Western theorists, namely that 
illusionism or 3D didn’t exist in Byzantine and Serbian medieval painting, is incorrect. 
For example, L. Wright emphasises the elimination of the third dimension. He also concludes 
that figures and objects are flat abstract symbols set on flat neutral surfaces and that man, when 
pictured, has no volume, depth or position in space, as well as no horizon. (Perspective in perspective, 
1983, pp. 39)
Simple evidence that the preceding statement is incorrect, lies in the fact that there is depth 
displayed in Byzantine fresco-painting and our medieval painting. In this way, an illusion of 
volume is created within the painting, which is to say that shapes and objects are displayed three-
dimensionally and placed so as to enhance the illusion of space in a fresco. The irregular application 
of the same projection system across the entire composition, characteristic of both Eastern medieval 
painting and Western creation, doesn’t mean that the above-mentioned elements (volume, depth, 
spatial position and horizon) are left out. The illusion of volume is enhanced through the use of the 
light and shadow ratio, not just on the drapery and objects, but also on the faces of the depicted 
figures. The frescos are characterised by the large surface on which they were painted, which is 
why the painter envisioned an observer moving within the space where the fresco was made, 
and he himself also changed his position (along the horizontal and the vertical) while creating it. 
Consequently, the composition is most often divided into horizontal and vertical zones. A frontal 
oblique or an axonometric projection is most commonly located in the composition’s central area, 
while we have inverse perspectives with highlighted, matching (left of right) side surfaces in the 
surrounding zones. The fresco painter uses a changing height position for vertical zoning by placing 
a new horizon in each of the aforementioned segments. The result is a kinetic effect of the observer. 
By obeying the canon of Orthodox iconography, the painter uses figure dimensioning strictly by 
their importance, i.e. perspective of importance.

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From a geometric aspect, the goal of researching the inverse perspective is to conduct its restitution 
so as to enable its transition into a system which would belong to the area of constructive projections.
In this work, a commonly held hypothesis about inverse perspective, which states that the 
viewpoint and the main vanishing point are located in the same point, is constructively resolved by 
using models of perspective collinear spaces and moving the relief perspective’s vanishing point into 
an inverse position.
The procedures for determining the inverse perspective and their application, it will be given, not 
only in the mural painting of the Byzantine and Serbia, but also for examples of contemporary painting. 
In addition to inverse perspective, elements of artistic perspective and visual effects were used 
in the comparative analysis of examples of Serbian medieval painting (the composition from the 
Visoki Dečani Monastery and the Patriarchate of Peć) and modern art (painting, graphic design, 
3D painting, animation…).
Of note are the works of Cézanne and the Cubists, but also the works of contemporary Spanish 
(Pérez Villalta and David R. Belmonte), British (David Hockney and Patrick Hughes) and Serbian 
painters (Zoran Grebenarović, Aleksandar Tomašević, Lazar Vozarević, Branislav Makeš, Mladen 
Srbinović, Ljubinka Jovanović, Kosta Bogdanović).
The visual effects of inverse perspective include: enlargement of the space in the picture when 
the distance is enlarged, the multiocular principle - the effect of the film image, several horizons 
which divide the image vertically into several zones, are defined.

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