Abstract. Renaissance artists developed the
mathematical theory of perspective as a means of accurately depicting the
three-dimensional world on a two-dimensional surface. They created works
of unprecedented realism through this mathematical technique.
Or did they? The British artist David Hockney has advanced a controversial
theory: Many Renaissance artists created paintings not with perspective,
but through optical projection. This talk will explain Hockney's ideas and
examine some of the visual evidence that supports them.