by Hicks Geometry

Science and art are two activities that we tend to think that never interact, largely because of the tendency for splitting today most aspects of life in "science" and "letters".
But there is no science without letters, vice versa. That is why if you look closely the works of art, we can see that they are composed of infinite geometric elements, both simple forms like methods and representation systems.
Defining the conical perspective scientifically, would say that this is a graphic representation method by which allows us to capture in a horizontal plane the projection of a three-dimensional body by straight lines that intersect at the same point, obtaining a rough picture of what the human eye would see at a distance from the object.

In the picture you can see a cube of side x drawn in front conical perspective. The side of the cube is facing the viewer is drawn in actual size (although any scale could also apply, if necessary). To prepare the drawing necessary to know certain facts, such as the position of points D (that allows us to find the depth) y F (vanishing point). In this case we have a single vanishing point, but when trying to render an image with oblique perspective, need a second point of vanishing F ', for one of the addresses. The horizontal gray lines represent the ground line and the horizon, whose position depends largely on the result obtained.

To relate this method of drawing with reality, enclosed in the following scheme, in which the elements that are part of the design and external elements are shown.

Now instead, talk about the same from a more artistic standpoint

 

Back in the fifteenth century a new artistic movement that emerged in Europe again approaching, as far as art is concerned, to classical antiquity: the Renaissance.
That's when the concept of perspective took force in the paint. A century later (1500-1520) Italian artists such as Raphael, da Vinci and Michelangelo reached the summit as far as artistic and intellectual innovation concerns.
The main feature of Renaissance painting is, precisely what interests us: using the perspective. But, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so hence will:

At first sight, appears that between these two pictures there is no relationship, but if we combine ...

Now it is obvious that the first image was just an outline or rough sketch of what would be the School of Athens, Rafael.
We can see how the horizontal and vertical lines (some of which are highlighted in red and green, respectively) not deviate and still maintained parallel to each other and perpendicular to the other. But if you look at the depth contours (observed in black) we see as lines that are parallel in reality they approach until they converge on a single point, which in this case is approximately the center of the work.

There are many other paintings that can be seen using the conical perspective, that cross centuries, from The Ideal City de Piero della Francesca (1470)…

Works ... to current and Gran Vía, Antonio López García.

Passing by artists like Van Gogh, he used masterfully in his famous painting perspective The room Van Gogh (1888), as, though at first it was thought that the apparent deformation of objects into the right corner of the room was due to a mental imbalance author, years later he discovered the plan of this room, shown below, justifying the above deformation.