Perspective in a box

Perspective is an optional subject for students of some levels in Dutch secondary schools. A proper final task on this subject is the analysis of existing perspective drawings or paintings. This task is sometimes supplemented by a more creative and challenging assignment, that is, the design and construction of a perspective box. A perspective box is an empty box with, on the inner sides, perspective pictures giving a surprising spatial effect when observed through the peephole. The students who take up the challenge are in the first place inspired by the six still existing antique wooden perspective boxes, especially because they were created by Dutch seventeenth-century painters of architecture and interiors. In this article the setup of the perspective in these boxes will be discussed. But for a clear comprehension, we begin by reviewing the principles of linear perspective and their implications for the way perspective images can best be viewed.