Alberti's Perspective: A Mathematical Comment

The construction of a checkerboard pavement in perspective described by Alberti in De pictura depends explicitly on the choice of a base line, the divisions along it, a centric point, and a viewing distance. These choices do not in themselves determine the result of the construction. The exact placement of the horizontal parallels depends on precisely how one interprets Alberti's instructions. In particular, Grayson's and Parronchi's interpretations are, in principle, distinguishable from one another by the results to which they lead.