William Hogarth created an engraving titled Satire on False Perspective in 1754 for his friend John Joshua Kirby’s pamphlet on linear perspective.
The subtitle makes it clear what the work’s purpose is: “Whoever makes a DESIGN without the Knowledge of PERSPECTIVE will be liable to such Absurdities as are shewn in this Frontiſpiece”.
The scene in the work offers numerous intentional instances of perplexed and awkward perspective effects. Even though the scene’s individual elements appear to be self-consistent, the scene as a whole qualifies as an impossible object.
About the Satire on False Perspective painting
The first three or four mistakes stand out the most immediately:
The line on the fishing rod of the man in the background crosses that of the man in front of him.
The sign is fastened to two structures—one in front of the other—by beams that are identical in depth.
Two distant trees cover the sign in their shadows.
With the candle of the woman leaning out of the upper story window, the man climbing the hill is lighting his pipe.
In contrast, the crow perched on the tree is enormous.
It appears that the church faces the river. The church can be seen from both ends at once.
On the water, the left horizon drops sharply.
As he is shooting directly at the bridge abutments, the man in the boat underneath the bridge is unable to hit the swan on the other side.
In comparison to the left end, the right end of the arch over the boat is farther away from the viewer when it reaches the water.
Even though the two-story building is seen from below, the top of the roof is visible. As does the distant church tower.
The barrel that is closest to the angler in the foreground simultaneously reveals its top and bottom.
The fisherman in the foreground is standing on tiles with vanishing points that point in the direction of the viewer.
A tree is emerging from the bridge’s top.
Midway down the wall, the vanishing point for the near side of the first building changes.
The row of trees that obscures the sign is probably an example of how objects should get smaller as they get farther away, but in this case the scale is reversed.
As they move farther away, the sheep on the left side get bigger.
The swan in back of the boat dwarfs the crew members.
The canopy of the tree on the far left is in front of the tree to its right, but its base is behind the tree to its right.
When all three barrels should be on level ground, the one on the left seems to be on a lower level than the others.
The cow is slightly smaller than the swan at the bottom.
The pipe-wielding man towers over the surrounding trees.
The right and center barrels’ tops and bottoms are visible.
On the second building, the windows’ tops and bottoms have various vanishing points.
There are actually about 10 different horizons based on the various vanishing points, in addition to the scale impossibilities.
