Early Renaissance perspective-based paintings and blind users. Reflections on multisensory communication strategies

THE RESEARCH FOCUSES ON THE COMMUNICATION OF EARLY RENAISSANCE PERSPECTIVE-BASED PAINTINGS TO BLIND PEOPLE. THESE ARTWORKS ARE DOMINATED BY LINEAR PERSPECTIVE, WHICH IS STRICTLY LINKED TO THE COMPREHENSION OF THE PAINTINGS’ VALUE AS IT DEFINES AND UNIFIES SPACE, TIME AND NARRATION. GIVEN THIS STRICT RELATIONSHIP, THE PAPER ADDRESSES THE PROBLEM OF COMMUNICATING THE MECHANISMS OF PERSPECTIVA ARTIFICIALIS TO A BLIND INDIVIDUAL – WHO CANNOT EVEN EXPERIENCE THE EFFECTS OF PERSPECTIVA NATURALIS. THE AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE SHOULDN’T BE NECESSARILY LIMITED TO THE PERCEPTION OF PURELY VISUAL VALUES BUT CAN EXPLOIT THE POSSIBILITIES OFFERED BY TOUCH AND OTHER SENSES. A PRIME EXAMPLE OF THIS PRINCIPLE IS PROVIDED BY “THE FEAST OF HEROD” PICTORIAL SUBJECT (E.G. F. LIPPI AND B. GOZZOLI’ VERSIONS), A THEME THAT ALSO OFFERS A NUMBER OF EXTRAVISUAL STIMULI (SMELLS, SOUNDS, TASTES) SUITABLE FOR AN INCLUSIONDRIVEN, MULTISENSORY COMMUNICATION STRATEGY THAT CAN INVOLVE AND ENRICH EVERYONE.