anamorphosis
/ˌanəˈmɔːfəsɪs
/noun (plural anamorphoses /ˌanəˈmɔːfəsiːz/)
1A distorted projection or drawing which appears normal when viewed from a particular point or with a suitable mirror or lens.In these pages the ‘rude mechanicals’ are revealed, and the landscape suffers under their repetitious and certain anamorphoses....
- Each has its own angle, as the phrase goes, or slant - the calculated warp or distortion of a perspective; they are, in effect, more like anamorphoses than representations of the object to which they are applied.
- It is easy to read the death's head in The Ambassadors purely as an exercise in negation, particularly since the anamorphosis so unsettles one's sense of reality.
1.1 [mass noun] The process by which anamorphic images are produced.A torsion typical of anamorphosis twists the image, crumples it and alters it, attempting to introduce the eccentrical into the field of view....
- Recognising the fluidity and occasional capriciousness of perception, Leonardo delighted in it, contriving not only rebuses or visual puns, but also optical illusions and even demonstrations of anamorphosis.
- Indeed, a Double Head of a Fool from a century later by Jacob van der Heyden shows that fools, too, could be subjects of anamorphosis.
Derivatives
anamorphic
- The colours of the anamorphic landscape on the lid of the virginals also appear very bleached in the photograph.
- The anamorphic rendition shows occasional print damage, but few if any digital artifacts.
- The technical failings of the anamorphic lens can be surmounted, but the aesthetics of a wide frame cannot be altered.
Origin
Early 18th century: from Greek anamorphōsis 'transformation', from ana- 'back, again' + morphosis 'a shaping' (from morphoun 'to shape', from morphē 'shape, form').