Foreshortening

Foreshortening depicts an object or figure along a viewing direction so its dimensions appear compressed in depth. It creates the impression that forms recede toward or project from the picture plane.

Linear perspective: A system for depicting three-dimensional space on a flat surface through converging lines and a horizon. Converging lines help explain why forms aligned with depth appear shorter.
Ancient Greek art: The visual arts produced by Greek-speaking peoples from the Bronze Age through the Hellenistic period. Greek artists explored spatial effects, though systematic foreshortening became more prominent later.
The Holy Trinity (Masaccio): A fresco by Masaccio in Florence that uses linear perspective to create the illusion of a deep architectural chapel. Its painted architecture shows how foreshortened forms support a unified spatial illusion.
Figure drawing: The practice of drawing the human body, often from observation, to study its proportions, structure, and pose. Foreshortening is essential when limbs or torsos point toward or away from the viewpoint.
Atmospheric perspective: A technique that suggests distance through reduced contrast, softened detail, and shifts in color. It signals depth through atmosphere rather than shortening a form along the viewing direction.
Perspective projection: A geometric mapping that projects three-dimensional points onto a two-dimensional image from a viewpoint. Foreshortening is a visible consequence of projecting depth onto a picture plane.
Giotto: An Italian painter and architect whose work helped establish more convincing volume and space in late medieval art. His figures and settings use emerging spatial devices that anticipate Renaissance foreshortening.
The Dead Christ (Mantegna): A painting by Andrea Mantegna depicting Christ seen from the feet, with his body receding sharply into space. The viewpoint compresses the body and makes the image's spatial challenge unmistakable.
Anatomical drawing: The visual representation of bodily structures for studying or communicating anatomy. Accurate anatomy helps artists shorten body parts without making them appear malformed.
Orthographic projection: A projection that maps three-dimensional objects onto a plane using parallel lines perpendicular to that plane. It preserves parallel lengths instead of making depth-oriented dimensions appear smaller.

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