ABSTRACT
Perspective is one that needs to be played with in all its shades and possibilities. The construction of perspective with different vanishing points produces a convincing image through the illusion of space, but it is still only an approximation of it. The pictorial ground is divided into water and air, which do not at all follow the perspective we are used to but present a very unique interpretation of a three-dimensional space into a two-dimensional plane. Every small scene has its own personal perspective space, so viewers are always, wherever they are looking, right in the action. Zeduan uses the so-called jiehua technique, which is for Chinese art the accurate perspectival depiction of architecture and objects done with precision, measurements, and rulers to ensure straight lines when needed. Perspective was one of the tricks of baroque art and often used to expand the interiors, especially in the illusionistic ceiling paintings, also called quadratura.
