Does pictorial composition guide the eye? Investigating four centuries of last supper pictures

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Does pictorial composition guide the eye? Investigating four centuries of last supper pictures. / Sancarlo, Rosa; Arato, Jozsef; Dare, Zoya et al.

In: Journal of Eye Movement Research, Vol. 13, No. 2, 7, 21.08.2020.

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

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Sancarlo R, Arato J, Dare Z, Rosenberg R. Does pictorial composition guide the eye? Investigating four centuries of last supper pictures. Journal of Eye Movement Research. 2020 Aug 21;13(2):7. doi: 10.16910/jemr.13.2.7

Bibtex

@article{248f801d90f1463ba93905bfed37d69f,
title = "Does pictorial composition guide the eye? Investigating four centuries of last supper pictures",
abstract = "Within art literature, there is a centuries-old assumption that the eye follows the lines set out by the composition of a painting. However, recent empirical findings suggest that this may not be true. This study investigates beholders' saccadic eye movements while looking at fourteen paintings representing the scene of the Last Supper, and their perception of the compositions of those paintings. The experiment included three parts: 1) recording the eye movements of the participants looking at the paintings; 2) asking participants to draw the composition of the paintings; and 3) asking them to rate the amount of depth in the paintings. We developed a novel coefficient of similarity in order to quantify 1) the similarity between the saccades of different observers; 2) the similarity between the compositional drawings of different observers; and 3) the similarity between saccades and compositional drawings. For all of the tested paintings, we found a high, above-chance similarity between the saccades and between the compositional drawings. Additionally, for most of the paintings, we also found a high, above-chance similarity between compositional lines and saccades, both on a collective and on an individual level. Ultimately, our findings suggest that composition does influence visual perception.",
keywords = "Art perception, Composition, Eye movement, Eye tracking, Saccades, Digital media, Media and communication studies",
author = "Rosa Sancarlo and Jozsef Arato and Zoya Dare and Raphael Rosenberg",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020, International Group for Eye Movement Research.",
year = "2020",
month = aug,
day = "21",
doi = "10.16910/jemr.13.2.7",
language = "English",
volume = "13",
journal = "Journal of Eye Movement Research",
issn = "1995-8692",
publisher = "Universit{\"a}t Bern",
number = "2",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Does pictorial composition guide the eye? Investigating four centuries of last supper pictures

AU - Sancarlo, Rosa

AU - Arato, Jozsef

AU - Dare, Zoya

AU - Rosenberg, Raphael

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2020, International Group for Eye Movement Research.

PY - 2020/8/21

Y1 - 2020/8/21

N2 - Within art literature, there is a centuries-old assumption that the eye follows the lines set out by the composition of a painting. However, recent empirical findings suggest that this may not be true. This study investigates beholders' saccadic eye movements while looking at fourteen paintings representing the scene of the Last Supper, and their perception of the compositions of those paintings. The experiment included three parts: 1) recording the eye movements of the participants looking at the paintings; 2) asking participants to draw the composition of the paintings; and 3) asking them to rate the amount of depth in the paintings. We developed a novel coefficient of similarity in order to quantify 1) the similarity between the saccades of different observers; 2) the similarity between the compositional drawings of different observers; and 3) the similarity between saccades and compositional drawings. For all of the tested paintings, we found a high, above-chance similarity between the saccades and between the compositional drawings. Additionally, for most of the paintings, we also found a high, above-chance similarity between compositional lines and saccades, both on a collective and on an individual level. Ultimately, our findings suggest that composition does influence visual perception.

AB - Within art literature, there is a centuries-old assumption that the eye follows the lines set out by the composition of a painting. However, recent empirical findings suggest that this may not be true. This study investigates beholders' saccadic eye movements while looking at fourteen paintings representing the scene of the Last Supper, and their perception of the compositions of those paintings. The experiment included three parts: 1) recording the eye movements of the participants looking at the paintings; 2) asking participants to draw the composition of the paintings; and 3) asking them to rate the amount of depth in the paintings. We developed a novel coefficient of similarity in order to quantify 1) the similarity between the saccades of different observers; 2) the similarity between the compositional drawings of different observers; and 3) the similarity between saccades and compositional drawings. For all of the tested paintings, we found a high, above-chance similarity between the saccades and between the compositional drawings. Additionally, for most of the paintings, we also found a high, above-chance similarity between compositional lines and saccades, both on a collective and on an individual level. Ultimately, our findings suggest that composition does influence visual perception.

KW - Art perception

KW - Composition

KW - Eye movement

KW - Eye tracking

KW - Saccades

KW - Digital media

KW - Media and communication studies

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85090991263&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.16910/jemr.13.2.7

DO - 10.16910/jemr.13.2.7

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 33828729

AN - SCOPUS:85090991263

VL - 13

JO - Journal of Eye Movement Research

JF - Journal of Eye Movement Research

SN - 1995-8692

IS - 2

M1 - 7

ER -

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