Perspectograph by Samuel Marolois
From Inventions
Current revision as of 10:17, 27 July 2010
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Inventor
Samuel Marolois (??)
Historic Period
1614-1617
Description
The instrument designed by Samuel Marolois is a perspectograph serving at least three different functions, the first being that of drawing from life. The painter observes the various points of the object to be drawn through the sight, and intersects the visual ray with the vertical section rod sliding in a guide along the edge of the drawing board. A sliding cursor on the section rod fixes the perspective position of the point observed, which is then transferred to the sheet of paper by overturning the section rod forward. The mechanism is similar to that of the perspectograph.
The instrument was used for various purposes: with the vertical rod, it was an ordinary perspective instrument; with the horizontal rod and the small shaft it became a surveying instrument. The T-shaped rod with the cursor was used to draw in perspective starting from the plan and elevation. The two strings served to draw a plan in perspective, while the T-shaped ruler was used to draw heights in perspective. The draughtsman traced the real heights on the side of the drawing paper and, having chosen at random a point on the horizon, drew a pyramid of lines from each point on the height. The T-shaped ruler was placed on the perspective ground line at a point corresponding to the one taken from the plan drawing. The second cursor was raised to meet the perspective line of the matching height point, and then brought back onto the vertical of the plan drawing.
Bibliographical Resources
Marolois, Samuel. Opera mathematica, ou Oeuvres mathematiques traictans de geometrie, perspective, architecture et fortification. De nouveau reveue, augmentée et corrigée par Albert Girard. Amsterdam, chez Jan Janssen, 1662, tav. 28, 60, 61, 62, 63.
Author of the entry: Filippo Camerota
