Ceiling of dining room in anamorphosis, private mansion. Paris 75006

By Dominique Antony

Anamorphosis
Discover and understand some examples of anamorphosis.
Anamorphosis is a particularity of perspective.
An anamorphosis consists of creating a distorted image which is recomposed when observed from a predetermined point of view.
We know Leonardo de Vinci's anamorphosis of a child's face and an eye (1485, Codex Atlanticus).
To be looked at close-up from the side, towards the right

A direct anamorphosis: there are also anamorphosis that need mirrors:  A conical or cylindrical mirror is placed in the centre of a very distorted painting.  Looking into the mirror one can see the painting in its correct perspective and the painting becomes intelligible.

Chinese anamorphosis date from the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644).


Anamorphosis, a secret perpective spoken about by Durer. Dominique's know how has enrichened his technique.  He is one of the few to practice this old art today.


The Ambassadors, painting by Hans Holbein (1533), National Gallery, London.

There is a hidden image in this painting




"A weird object looking like a cuttlefish bone hovering above the ground: it's an anamorphosis of a skull which becomes intelligible when seen from the above left.  It gives a hidden sense to the painting. and its solemnity weighs heavily on the whole scene".
Anamorphosis, or Thaumaturgis Opticus, Jurgis Baltrusaitis, Flammarion.
 


"What do you see in the painting?  What's that strange oblique, suspended object in the foreground in front of the two people?"
"Start leaving the room where you have been captivated for a long time by the painting and look back..  What do you see?  A skull."
Extracts from : Le séminaire, livre XI ,Les quatre concepts fondamentaux de la psychanalyse, by Jacques Lacan,  Seuil.

Vanitas is a type of painting including skulls but also bubbles, fruits, flowers or butterflies, musical instruments and clocks, symbols of brevity of live