Treatise on Perspective - Matteo Zaccolini
Matteo Zaccolini (1574-1630) wrote a four volume treatise on perspective that was never published. However, many scholars note it as a highly important manuscript of the time period. The ideas in Zaccolini's Treatise on Perspective are a seventeenth century continuation of Leonardo da Vinci's theories on painting (2). The argument is that perspective is at the basis of imitating nature so to be able to understand perspective in relation to nature and theories of color, would give a person the ability to create more realistic works of art (2). The first section, Prospettive lineale, gives practical guides for drawing as well as measurement and surveying techniques. The unique part about this treatise is that Zaccolini discusses refraction and reflection of images in water, a topic overlooked in other perspective treatises at the time. The second section, Della Descrittione Dell'ombre is an extensive discussion on the projection of cast shadows. The third section, Prospettiva Del Colore, deals with color perspective. This is a topic many scholars of the time struggled to examine and explain. The final section of the treatise is De Colori. This section deals with the nature of colors and examines the biological, chemical and sometimes mystical ideas about color. Rather than associating colors with the elements, (like blue for the sky and red for fire) Zaccolini explains in great detail how the four elements work together to create a variety of different colors.
Citations:
1. Janis C. Bell, "Zaccolini's Theory of Color Perspective." The Art Bulletin 75, no. 1 (1993): 91-112. doi:10.2307/3045933.
2. Janis C. Bell, "Zaccolini's Unpublished Perspective Treatise: Why Should We Care?" Studies in the History of Art 59 (2003): 78-103. http://www.jstor.org.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/stable/42622655