Foreshortening

Foreshortening is the device of depicting an object or the human body at an angle to the picture plane so as to create a convincing illusion of projection into the depth of space. Forms pointing toward the viewer are shown shorter and compressed, while overlapping and sharp changes of scale reinforce the sense of three-dimensionality. Foreshortening is a particular case of the broader principle of perspective and became one of the chief technical challenges for artists, since it demands precise observation and often contradicts what the mind knows about the true proportions of the body. Masterly use of foreshortening has been a mark of high skill since the Renaissance: a classic example is the radically foreshortened figure in Andrea Mantegna's Lamentation of the Dead Christ, where the body seems to project straight toward the viewer. Caravaggio, Tintoretto, and the masters of the Baroque used dramatic foreshortening to heighten dynamism and emotional impact. The device remains fundamental to realist drawing, animation, and three-dimensional graphics.