The Monk Between 2D and 3D by sandra46

Photography • Collage • posted on Oct 11, 2009

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Description

This is a Carthusian monk. The two fingers are pointing at the silence vow and the work vow typical of these monks. He's also pointing at St. Bruno's image on the door. In fact, this life-size painting is in the cloister of a former Carthusian monastery, built transforming part of the tepidarium of Emperor's Diocletianus' Baths. The cloister and a church using part of these ancient Roman buildings were designed, and partly built by Michelangelo, when he was about 80 yo. Is the monk a 2D, a 3D or a 2.5D? 2.5D (two-and-a-half-dimensional), also called pseudo-3D, is an informal term used to describe visual phenomena which appears to be three-dimensional but for some reason isn't completely so, be it for not being constituted by true 3D entities in the case of graphics, or not allowing full 3D movement—typically restricting it to two dimensions—in the case of videogames. As a matter of fact, my photo actually reproduces something which is an illusion using both 2d and 3D elements. In fact, the 16th century artist exploited a part which is 3D, that it the marble doorframe, the step and a wooden door (transformed into an illusory shelf-case with false objects painted inside it). He created a false 3D image, using architectural items such as a real door which had been closed! This technique was very fashionable during the late Renaissance, and later copied at least until the 18th century. It's interesting that the artist decided to introduce an element of fun by means of a trompe l'oeil(at that time they were crazy for practical jokes) within a very stern context such as the Carthusian cloister. I don't know whether it was intentional or not, but when the cloister became part of the huge Museo Nazionale Romano, which includes Diocletianus' Baths and other palaces, the curators put pagan, naked statues close to the monk! Thank you for your kind comments.

Comments (42)

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MOSKETON

11:09AM | Sun, 11 October 2009

FANTASTICO DETALLE, ME ENCANTA LA PUERTA CON LUGAR PARA DEJAR JOYAS, PARECIA UN CUADRO. MUY BUENA IMAGEN.

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brycek

11:18AM | Sun, 11 October 2009

Wonderful collage and facts!!

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carlx

11:18AM | Sun, 11 October 2009

Fantastic presentation!!!

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Minda

11:26AM | Sun, 11 October 2009

beautiful collage and great capture sandra!!

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mgtcs

11:57AM | Sun, 11 October 2009

Fantastic presentation my friend, super narrative!

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Miska7

12:03PM | Sun, 11 October 2009

Very nice collage and information! Great work.

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frieder

12:11PM | Sun, 11 October 2009

This work looks absolutely wonderful. Fine historical showing!

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flora-crassella

1:13PM | Sun, 11 October 2009

great historical story! Fantastic and interesting photos! the “old” artists could in perfection!

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magnus073

1:24PM | Sun, 11 October 2009

Sandra this is such a brilliant collage, it really was inspirational. Your thoughts and explanation on 2d & 3d were fascinating reading and when combined with the history here made this a wonderful experience for me.

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claude19

1:29PM | Sun, 11 October 2009

SPLENDID presentation for this Monk !!! EXCELLENT words for us !!!

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BessieB

1:34PM | Sun, 11 October 2009

Superb work!

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koosievantutte

1:54PM | Sun, 11 October 2009

a very fine piece, very well captured and explained.

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jeroni

3:49PM | Sun, 11 October 2009

Excellent shot, fantastic colors and details

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drifterlee

6:22PM | Sun, 11 October 2009

Interesting story and shot!

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jocko500

6:37PM | Sun, 11 October 2009

super cool

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psyoshida

7:13PM | Sun, 11 October 2009

I love how you've represented this for us so we can get some feeling of what it must be like to see this in person. Absolutely wonderful. Your descriptions are always a great wealth of new knowledge. Thanks.

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blondeblurr

7:24PM | Sun, 11 October 2009

I had to look again, enlarged of course, to make sure it wasn't a triptych... Thanks for sharing all this info in detail, it's like a free trip for tourist's, to learn all this here now and one will probably never get to see. Well done...BB

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