• Linear Perspective is a mathematical system used to create the illusion of space on a flat surface. This system is based on the fact that parallel lines appear to meet at a point in space.

• Invented in the early 1400s by artists in Florence, Italy.

•The artist, Masaccio, was one of the first to use perspective in his artwork.

Masaccio’s Tribute Money (1426-28)

Brancacci Chapel, Florence, Italy. Fresco

Horizon Line—Where the ground and sky meet…also, eye-level

Vanishing Point—Where the parallel lines appear to meet.

Guidelines (Orthagonals)—Lines that help to place the parallel lines in space. They meet at the vanishing point.