Depth Structure Invariance in Mirror Reversed Paintings J Wagemans, D Gielen, A van Doorn, J Koenderink |
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Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium
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| Some painterly compositions are decidedly left-right polarized. Such paintings tend to appear very different when viewed mirror reversed, although it is hard to specify in which dimensions the difference is articulated. Here, we consider the depth structure of the pictorial scene. This is a likely target in a search for differences, because we already know that the spatial attitude of the apparent frontoparallel plane is very volatile, and depends both on observer and on viewing conditions. We used a pointing-in-depth task that may well be expected to be sensitive to such matters. We report results for many observers and two paintings taken from impressionist and symbolist art. Perhaps surprisingly, we find only minor differences between the intended and mirror reversed versions of the paintings. This appears in conflict with the fact that the two versions appear very different indeed. The depth structure is invariant with respect to pictorial mirror reversal. Apparently, the nature of the difference between these presentations is due to other factors than the layout of the scene in pictorial space. |
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