ABSTRACT
This chapter explores contemporary views on visual art, science and the brain. It outlines what is understood about the cortical systems responsible for visual perception and describes the different pathways and processing streams which allow us to perceive the visual world around us. Johannes Matthaus Koelz began work on his masterpiece, a large triptych called Du Sollst Nicht Toten. A striking similarity exists between the fate of Koelz's masterpiece and how visual information is processed in the brain. Information pertaining to the full visual scene and details regarding colour, movement and fine detail are dealt with by separate regions and even by separate neurons within the primary visual cortex. In addition to scotomas, which leave a gap or hole in the viewer's visual experience, there are a number of extremely specific visual disorders which can arise as a result of discrete damage to specific regions of the occipital cortex and the visual areas beyond.
