Desargues’s Perspective Theory: A Critical Interpretation of the Fundamental Theorem

Abstract

This short essay gets to the heart of the debate that arose about the upper part of Table 151 of the Manière universelle, written by Abraham Bosse and Girard Desargues, to illustrate how the interpretation of the figure from a perspective point of view (see Jean Pierre Le Goff) not only is legitimate, but it can be also be extended as far as to acknowledge in the figure the complete representation of lines, planes and measurement operations. The Proposition fondamentale pour la pratique de la Perspective proves therefore to be the foundation of a general theory of perspective.