Anamorphosis: An Annotated Bibliography with Special Reference to Architectural Representation.

James A. Love is an associate professor of environmental design at the
University of

Calgary.

“Anamorphosis” is a distorted image that looks normal when viewed
with a special device; in architectural spaces such images look normal
when viewed from a particular vantage point. Artists in the Renaissance
used the technique when producing images on domes, vaults, and other
curved surfaces. Compiled by Alberto Pérez-Gуmez (the Saidye Rosner
Bronfman Professor of the History of Architecture at McGill University)
and Louise Pelletier (adjunct professor of architecture at McGill
University), this collection of notes on books about anamorphosis is
divided into three parts: the first addresses sources that are available
in Montreal, the second addresses sources that are not generally
available, and the third lists collections of drawings that include
examples of anamorphosis. The first two parts are further divided into
primary sources and secondary sources from the 20th century. Included in
the first part is a subsection on historical texts in which distorted
projection is discussed. This book is clearly a research tool for the
specialized scholar.