SHORTENING (n.)
TERM USED AS TRANSLATIONS IN QUOTATION
RACCOURCI (fra.)FILTERS
LINKED QUOTATIONS
Quotation
Shortning.
Is, when a Figure seems of greater quantity than really it is ; as, if it seems to be three foot long, when it is but one : Some call it Fore-Shortning.
Conceptual field(s)
Quotation
Traveller.
The Shortning of a Figure, is the making it appear of more Quantity, than really it is ; the Figure having neither the Length nor Depth that it shows, but by the help of the Lights and Shades, and judicious mannaging of the Out-lines, it appears what it is not ; and this is much used in Painting of Ceelings and Roofs, where the Figures being above the Eye, must be most of them Shortned, to appear in their natural Situation. And it is a thing, upon which great Painters have Valued themselves, as supposing a great Knowledg of the Muscles and Bones of the Humane Body, and a great Skill in Designing. Michael Angelo, amongst the Modern Painters, is the greatest Master in that kind.
Conceptual field(s)
Quotation
we must consider if every Figure moves properly ; as, if a Figure be to strike, whether the Arm and all the Body show the vigour of such a Motion ; and the same if he is to Run or Dance ; and therein consists one of the greatest Masteries of the Art, and which requires some Knowledge in Anatomy, that the Muscles be rightly express’d. As for Shortnings, they are things of great Difficulty, and few understand the Beauty of them ; which is, so to cheat the Eye, that a Figure that in reality is not a Foot in length, shall seem to be five or six Foot long ; and this depends upon Opticks, and is most in use in Ceilings and Vaults.