Lo inganno de gl’occhi – Pietro Accolti (1625)
Content
The subject of the book, as the title suggests, revolves around the deception of the human eye in regards to drawing and the trial of accurate replication.
Accolti introduces a set of constructional rules that can be used to evade the limitations of human perception. He rationalizes the act of drawing.
Organisation
The preface consists of a devotement towards a very important figure of Florence – Cardinale D. Carlo Medici. This is followed up by multiple poems dedicated to other noble men of Florence.
In the table of contents (it. tavola) the book is divided into 3 chapters:
Parte Prima: “Vedere et azzioni” (eng. To see and act.)
Parte Seconda: “De Corpi, e del levargli in disegno di Prospettiva.” (eng. Of human bodies and their elevation in perspective drawing.)
Parte Terza: “De Lumi et Ombre.” (eng. Of light and shadow)
Furthermore each separate paragraph inside of a chapter has it’s own title.
Parameters
Height: 303 mm
Width: 228 mm
Depth: 58mm
With this information and the notation used on the pages (O1, O2, O3, O4, P1, P2…) one can deduce that the paper is indeed quarto, which means four Book pages were bound out of one initial leave.
Number of pages: 160
Number of illustrations: 92
