Art: Wireframe Chalice
Perspective Study of a Chalice by Paolo Ucello
In the 1400's, artists and mathematicians were studying perspective in an attempt to understand how to produce realistic images. Paolo Ucello applied these techniques in some of his more famous paintings; but this chalice (completed around 1450) captures the essense of perspective in an elegant blend of simplicity and complexity.[*]M.C. Escher adapted the rules of perspective in surreal ways - as illustrated elegantly in his House of Stairs.
Images like these may seem even more relevant in our modern world, with wireframe 3d models being used frequently in designing images and animations. In fact, the detail in the diagram was sufficient for a computer algorithm in 2005 to reconstruct a full three-dimensional model based on this figure. Although they note "It displays the first 'wireframe' drawing in history," this image includes as an element a mazzocchio[*]a type of headgear worn in Italy during the Renaissance which had previously been drawn by Ucello in a similar style. Other artists, including Leonardo da Vinci[*]in the Codex Atlanticus in 1478 and Lorenzo Sirgatti[*]in The Practice of Perspective in 1596 also drew detailed mazzocchios, though more as a skeletal physical object rather than as a wireframe (at least in these works).
Although this is a pen and ink drawing (and therefore simply black on white), it seems to call out for coloring. Enjoy, and make it magical.
This image © 2024 TALLabs using a 
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
Original is public domain, downloaded from https://www.wikiart.org/en/paolo-uccello/vase-in-perspective.
This version heavily edited to clean up background, improve contrast, and make grayscale.
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