FORESHORTENING IN ROCK ART:

Eland rear view, 5 in. high. The Meads, Griqualand East, Cape Province. South Africa. Illustration from Wilcox, 1963, pl. 32.

We are so used to seeing rock art in side or frontal views that we don’t usually think of any alternatives but, once in a while, an image is found that is seen in a unique position which requires foreshortening, related to a technique called forced perspective.

Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary (2023d) defines foreshorten as “to shorten by proportionately contracting in the direction of depth so that an illusion of projection or extension in space is obtained.” What this means, if effect, is that the lines representing dimensions extending toward or away from the viewer are shortened to conform with the dictates of perspective which says that the more perpendicular the line or edge is to your position the shorter it will appear as it recedes from your position towards the ‘vanishing point.’

This is a minor element in ‘linear perspective’ as it was developed during the renaissance. “Filippo Brunelleschi, a famed Italian architect and engineer who lived from 1377 to 1446, rediscovered a specific methodology for achieving accurate perspective in art. Around 1420, Brunelleschi used a vanishing point and lines that connected to that vanishing point in order to sketch an incredibly realistic-looking picture of a baptistery in Florence. So, Brunelleschi was the first to accurately achieve perspective in art.” (Cummings)

Foreshortening is a small part of ‘linear perspective,’ but a very important part. Foreshortening allows the portrayal of something that is not just full-face frontal to the eye of the viewer, or crosswise (side view) to the viewer. Foreshortening allows for varying degrees of posture toward and/or away from the viewer, or more importantly, something that is in a bent or skewed posture toward or away from the eye of the beholder.

Close-up of eland, rear view, 5 in. high. The Meads, Griqualand East, Cape Province. South Africa. Illustration from Wilcox, 1963, pl. 32.

The examples I illustrate here all come from Africa, mostly from South Africa, and mostly produced by San artists. The first, and by far the most impressive, is a beautiful painting of two elands. This illustration from Wilcox shows one eland as if standing on a slight slope upwards to our right, and a second eland portrayed as if lying down seen from the back with its head partly raised and turned toward us. This second eland is listed as being 5” high. According to Wilcox the photo is from The Meads, Griqualand East, Cape Province, South Africa. In this beautiful picture the whole body of the second eland is foreshortened. (Wilcox 1963: Illus. 32)

Illustration from Wilcox, 1963, fig. 23, p. 58.

A petroglyph of an indeterminate antelope with its body facing to the right but its head turned around looking backwards requiring foreshortening of the upper neck. This petroglyph is listed as coming from Groot Moot. (Wilcox 1963:58)

Illustration from Wilcox, 1963, p. 76.

Other examples from Wilcox include a petroglyph of a giraffe facing away from the viewer, but with its head turned sideways to our right. This was recorded at Bosworth, near Klerksdorp, Transvaal. (Wilcox 1963: 76)

Illustration from Wilcox, 1963, p. 76.

A supposed gemsbock from Kinderdam, Vryburg district, Northern Cape Province, also facing away from the viewer but with the head turned looking to our left. (Wilcox 1963: 76)

Illustration from Wilcox, 1963, p. 76.

And, a sheep from the Vryburg district standing facing directly out at the viewer seen from the front. In the sheep example the foreshortening is shown in glimpses of the back and tail. (Wilcox 1963: 76)

Kathryn's Post, painted by Helen Tongue, photo Stella Myers Reed, p.79, Rock Art of Africa, Carson I. A. Ritchie.

My final example of foreshortening in this particular column, also from Africa, comes from Carson Ritchie (1979) with a much reproduced panel of a grouping of quadrupeds identified as elands, rhebucks, and oxen from a location listed as Kathryn’s Post, reproduced from a painting by Helen Tongue, photographed by Stella Myers Reed. (Ritchie 1979:79) In this very much faded image the central reclining animal has his head positioned either toward or away from the viewer with its body facing directly right.

All of these examples are believed to have been produced by San artists at unknown dates, and illustrate an amazing attention to detail as well as a sophistication in presentation. These so-called primitives were effectively using an art technique supposedly discovered by the famous artists of Renaissance history. Examples may be found from other rock art traditions, but, it is a technique that is quite advanced in visual portrayal, and thus relatively rare.

NOTE: For further information on these references you should read the originals  listed below.

REFERENCES:

Cummings, Erica, Linear Perspective in Renaissance Art, https://study.com. Accessed online 22 March 2023.

Merriam-Webster, Forshorten, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foreshorten. Accessed 12 March 2023.

Ritchie, Carson I. A., 1979, Rock Art of Africa, A. S. Barnes and Company, Ltd., Cranbury, New Jersey.

Wilcox, A. R., 1963, The Rock Art of South Africa, Thomas Nelson and Sons, Johannesburg, South Africa.