Considerations on the work of Andrea Pozzo

Abstract

I approach the Andrea Pozzo Treaty, for me the most beautiful and complete study on perspective, to express that the genius and imagination of its author are evident, not only for being the first to show how to realize the «sotto in su» perspective (down-up), and with it to show how to paint new scenes on ceilings, arches and domes, but also and above all because his theoretical body rests on the joint handling of orthogonal projections and perspective, which Monge would develop a century later laying the foundations of a common subject called descriptive geometry. From my point of view, until the appearance of this Treaty, never before had any other geometry student graphically considered the joint use of the three orthogonal projections to obtain perspective, despite the fact that since Serlio this occupied an independent chapter of the treaties dedicated to architecture and in them plans and elevations were handled continuously. My understanding is that Andrea Pozzo is capable of representing and using the most complex forms thanks to a comprehensive mastery of projections as seen from his treaty and it is this discovery that allows him to situate perspectives in specific scenarios that he starts from and draws from for the reader’s comprehension.