Anamorphosis backdrop
Anamorphosis

Anamorphosis

6.6 / 1019930h 15m

Synopsis

The Quays' interest in esoteric illusions finds its perfect realization in this fascinating animated lecture on the art of anamorphosis. This artistic technique, often used in the 16th- and 17th centuries, utilizes a method of visual distortion with which paintings, when viewed from different angles, mischievously revealed hidden symbols.

Genre: Animation, Documentary, History

Status: Released

Director: Timothy Quay

Website:

Main Cast

Witold Schejbal

Narration

User Reviews

CinemaSerf

I really enjoyed this - not so much because of the peep-hole style of animation it uses to illustrate it's point, but because of the intriguing science behind the principle of anamorphosis. A perspective within a perspective, a means of communicating artistically on an obvious level - you get what you see, but also on a more tangential level. Who knew that Holbein painted pictures that contain additional images that seen from a sideways aspect - using holes drilled in the frame or by looking lengthways rather than straight on - show additional objects or expressions that the traditional view doesn't notice. Some of that can even be quite dangerously menacing given the risks he and other Renaissance painters might have faced had their powerful commissioners been aware. The details here are intricate and interesting and the use of a virtual papier-mâché style of spy as well as the odd accommodating and real nun proves to be quite eye-opening as a tool for any curious art critic. It's definitely worth ten minutes a few times as like the art itself, there are hidden images for us here, too.