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Depictions of fluid phenomena in art

Nature Physics volume 18, pages 1256–1259 (2022)Cite this article

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An analysis of representations of fluid flows in classical paintings reveals scientific inaccuracies. Some of these misrepresentations might be caused by a limited understanding of fluid dynamics and others by deliberate artistic choices.

Artists have studied human anatomy since antiquity in order to make their representations realistic and convincing for the connoisseur of art. For example, an influential Canon by Polykleitos (c. 450–420 BC) described the proportions to be followed in sculpture. In the later treatise Della Pittura (On Painting, 1435), Leon Battista Alberti also urged painters to construct the human figure as it exists in nature, with musculature built on the skeleton, and only then draped in skin. Similarly, it is believed that attempts to develop a system of perspective began around the fifth-century BC in Greece to achieve the illusion of depth in theatrical scenery. Although these early endeavours were largely based on intuition, later studies were also driven by science — such as Leonardo da Vinci’s dissections of the human body that resulted in his famous anatomical drawings, considered to be among the most significant achievements of the Renaissance.

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Fig. 1: Merchants from Overseas (1901) is one of the most recognizable paintings by Nicholas Roerich (1874–1947).

Eraza Collection/Alamy Stock Photo

Fig. 2: Bacchus (c. 1596) by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610).

GL Archive/Alamy Stock Photo

Fig. 3: La Source (1820–1856) by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780–1867).

Tuul and Bruno Morandi/Alamy Stock Photo

Fig. 4: Soap Bubbles (Les Bulles de Savon) (1733–1734) by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699–1779).

Archivart/Alamy Stock Photo

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Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to A. Stasenko, whose article5 sparked a life-long interest in the subject of depicting fluid phenomena in art — the illustrations of which have been used by the author in fluid mechanics classes both at the University of California at Santa Barbara and University of Alberta.

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  1. University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    Rouslan Krechetnikov

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Correspondence to Rouslan Krechetnikov.

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Krechetnikov, R. Depictions of fluid phenomena in art. Nat. Phys. 18, 1256–1259 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01789-4

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