The hypnotic anamorphic image hidden in Santa Maria dei Monti, Rome

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An ancient anamorphic image is hidden in Rome

Hidden in the Convent of Santa Maria dei Monti at the top of the Spanish Steps in Rome, there is one of the largest and oldest anamorphic images Depicting St. Francis of Paola, Performer of Miracles.

The gigantic fresco was painted in 1646 by Emmanuel Maignan (1601-1676). 

The painting consists of an extraordinary landscape that spans more than 6 meters, covering almost the entire wall of a long corridor. 

via GIPHY

As you move toward the end of the passage, the viewer reaches a place from where the landscape begins to disappear, slowly showing a hidden image of St Francis of Paola performing a miracle.

via GIPHY

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The convent also houses other examples of illusory painting and anamorphism such as the works of the Jesuit Andrea Pozzo (1694), and the mural by Jean François Nicéron (1613-1646).

The anamorphosis of Nicéron (then terminated by Maignan), due to the overlapping of multiple layers of lime, has fallen into oblivion for over two hundred years, since the Napoleonic invasion of the capital (late 18th century).

During the 2008 restoration of Nicéron’s painting, scholars also identified an inscription in Greek in the central area of the composition. This reads: “The apocalypse of optics is an eyewitness of the Apocalypse”.

The apocalypse of optics is the eyewitness of the Apocalypse

Between the two anamorphoses, there is a complex and fascinating catoptric astrolabe (the solar clock with a reflecting dial) made by Maignan himself.

Anamorphic perspective 

Anamorphism (from the Greek anamórphosis, “reconstruction of the form”) is a complex geometric technique conceived by ingenious scholars who, since the dawn of the Renaissance, have dedicated themselves to the perspective and its multiple applications. Anamorphosis is a distorted projection or perspective requiring the viewer to occupy a specific vantage point. The earliest known example, known as Leonardo’s Eye, was executed by Leonardo da Vinci and is included in the Codex Atlanticus (1483-1518). 

Ars Magna lucis et umbrae in decem Libros digesta by Athanasius Kircher, written in 1646, represents one of the most comprehensive studies on anamorphism, optics, and image analysis.

Ars Magna lucis et umbrae in decem Libros digesta by Athanasius Kircher
Ars Magna lucis et umbrae in decem Libros digesta by Athanasius Kircher

The book contains early descriptions of the camera obscura and magic lantern. The work also includes some of the earliest observations with a microscope, preceding those of Hooke and van Leeuwenhoek by two decades.

Source 1, 2, related Giuseppe Castiglione in China, Jesuits in China
Video source: Empire of the Eye: The Magic of Illusion-St. Francis of Paola, Performer of Miracles

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