Bibliography

Books:


Brennan, Pip. The Camera Obscura and Greenwich. Published to celebrate the installation in 1994 of a camera obscura at the Old Royal Observatory, Greenwich, England. London: Pagesetters Ltd., 1994.
This booklet does an excellent job of explaining the mechanics and history of the camera obscura. Students in grades 7-12 should be able to handle the diagrams and text presented.


Cole, Alison. Perspective. Eyewitness Art Series. London: National Gallery Publications, 1992.
This book sparked the initial interest in our topic. Most of the figures and diagrams on our pages can be found in this source which presents the history of perspective studies from the Renaissance to Pop. A great place to get a general overview with an excellent visual presentation. Ms. Cole is to be congratulated on a fine book. We highly recommend it to everyone!


Polak, Ada. Glass and its Tradition and its Makers. New York: Putnam's Sons, 1975.
This book is listed because we used a diagram from it. The diagram is located on the optics page under microscopes and telescopes. While it does discuss glass instruments which were available to the public, it otherwise concentrates on the glass making trade rather than artists.
Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Perspective, Optics, and Delft Artists Around 1650.
Outstanding Dissertations in the Fine Arts Garland Ser. New York: Garland, 1977. Discussion of artists experimenting with the new technologies of their time. This is a published Ph.D. dissertation and the reading level is rigorous. An interesting book but may be beyond the level of most students in grades 7-12.

Reference Works:


The Bulfinch Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms. 3rd Ed. Ed., Diamond, David G Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1992.
A great pocket reference for art terms, which is appropriate for high school students.


Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary. 2nd Ed. USA: The World Publishing Company, 1983.
A standard reference for definitions.


Artists: From Michelangelo to Maya Lin. Vol 2. Ergas, G. Aimee. Thompson Publishing Company, 1995.
An encyclopedia-type reference about artists. Frequently a good place to start your research and is appropriate for students from grades 7-12.


International Dictionary of Arts and Artists: Artists. Vincent, James. St. James Press, 1990.

Great Artists of the Western World: Vol. 1 Pre-Renaissance in Northern Europe. Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 1990.

Great Artists of the Western World: Vol. 2 The High Renaissance. Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 1990.

Periodical Sources:


Binkley, Timothy. "The Wizard of Ethereal Pictures and Virtual Places." Leonardo. Supplement (1989) : 13-20.
A comparison of algorithms used by Renaissance artists to construct pictorial space with those used by modern artists in creating computer images. Reading level appropriate for upper level high school students.


Seymour, Charles. "Dark chamber and light-filled room: Vermeer and the camera obscura." Art Bulletin. 46 (1964) : 323-31.
Article examines several of Vermeers paintings with regard to the possible use of the camera obscura in their construction. Reading level appropriate for upper level high school students.


Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. "Constantijn Huygens and the early attitudes towards the camera obscura." History of Photography. 1 2 (1977) : 93-103.
Discusses Huygens interest in the camera obscura and its impact on artists and others to whom he introduced it. Good historical background and diagrams. Students in grades 7-12 should be able to understand the information in this article.


Liedtke, Walter. "Pepys and the pictorial arts." Apollo. 133 (1991) 227-237.
An excellent article connecting men of science, art, and society in England and Holland during the late 1600s. Students in grades 7-12 will be able to handle the pictures and most of the text in this article.



Go back to the main page...