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  • Essay / ""La Camera Degli Sposi" - a work of art by Andrea Mantegna

    La Camera degli Sposi (1465-1474) by Andrea Mantegna is the first model of a work of art that attempts to overcome constrictions spatial through an illusion of depth The work is an example of trompe l'oeil painting, which uses realistic images to create optical illusions of a continuous space on an architectural surface Camera degli Sposi translates. by the bride and groom's bedroom This would have been the place where the newlyweds consummated their marriage at the Ducal Palace in Mantua, Italy (Web Gallery of Art, 2017, A). couple experienced this type of intimacy This is important because of the ideas surrounding privacy and division of architecture and the resulting spatial boundaries advocated by Schmarsow. sculptural image” due to the extreme emphasis on pictorial imagery among three-dimensional architectural training. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Architecture and painting have been exquisitely combined here to create an illusionistic surface, recalling the relationship between the two art forms. This connection is emphasized by the rib-like curves and sculptural busts protruding from the flat marble-like texture created by the paint and tactically applied to the ceiling surface. The wall paintings do not feature as much trompe l'oeil technique as the ceiling, reflecting the importance of division, enclosure and privacy that the couple would have desired. However, the room is only 8.1 square meters and the mural still gives us the impression that it is much more spacious (Web Gallery of Art, 2017, B). A modern analogy for these ideas can be found in the popular BBC series Doctor Who. Throughout the sci-fi programme, the Doctor's TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space) appears from the outside as a small police telephone box. However, it is much bigger on the inside than it appears on the outside. In Mantegna's work, the illusion of the open sky painted in the center of the ceiling is said to have encouraged the couple to imagine the "infinity and immeasurability" of space. The ideas presented in the creation of the TARDIS also explore this through its large three-dimensional interior and its ability to travel through infinite space. However, the particular imagery of the sky in the Camera degli Sposi blurs the boundaries between interior and exterior space through its images. It is this artistic illusion of depth that removes the disadvantage of any spatial limitations or claustrophobia without the privacy of the room being compromised. The “picture of infinity” (Boullé in Neumeyer, 1999, p. 245) is made even more effective thanks to the spherical structure of the ceiling. The dividing point between the walls and ceiling of the room does not exist, allowing the illusion of the painting to perceptually expand the space further (Neumeyer, 1999). Schmarsow's theory was put into practice here.