In 1413, Brunelleschi reflected a painting of a baptistery in a mirror allowing the viewer immediate comparison between the painting and the actual building. Observers found that it was difficult to tell the difference between looking at the actual building and the reflection of the painting in the mirror.

Brunelleschi’s method increased the effects of the 3-D pictorial cues and decreased the effects of the 2-D flatness cues by:

• Eliminating the frame of the painting
• Recreating natural light with the burnished silver
• Allowing for the movement of clouds and perception of infinite distance with the burnished silver and mirror
• Eliminating painting surface texture by using the mirror
• Increasing the depth of focus with the peephole
• Ensuring the viewers eye is at the correct station point through the peephole
• Eliminating stereopsis, convergence, and motion parallax by viewing through the reduction screen

This is a replica of what Brunelleschi's painting of the baptistery may have looked like since the original was lost. Click on the painting to see an annotated version of the changes Brunelleschi made.

Using Brunelleschi’s ideas and techniques, other artists worked toward creating paintings which would deceive the eye into believing it was looking at the real thing and not a painting. Although most Trompe L’oeil paintings are not viewed through a reduction screen, reflected in a mirror, or painted with burnished silver the artist’s goal is nonetheless to make the observer believe he is seeing the real thing. Brunelleschi was the first artist/architect to put the rules of linear perspective into mathematical form. Alberti then summarized and quantified Brunelleschi’s techniques in his Treatise on Painting for artists to use in their linear perspective creations.