Wall-Eye May Have Helped Rembrandt's Vision

BOSTON (Reuters) - Rembrandt, the 17th-century Dutch master known for
his skill in using light to carry perspective, may have been
wall-eyed, a U.S. researcher proposed on Wednesday.

An analysis of 36 self-portraits of the great painter suggest he had a
strabismus -- a misalignment of one eye that caused it to point
slightly outward.

This condition, popularly known as wall-eye, may have given Rembrandt
van Rijn an advantage in translating three-dimensional scenes into
two-dimensional paintings, said Margaret Livingstone, a Harvard
Medical School (news - web sites) neurobiologist.

"It illustrates that disabilities are not always disabilities. They
may be assets in another realm," Livingstone said in an interview.

"I like the idea that there may be a biological basis for different
talents, even if it's something as dumb as a lack of depth
perception."

An inability to see with world with normal depth perception can be an
advantage to an artist, who must flatten a view to render it
accurately, Livingstone said.

Art teachers often advise students to close one eye when they compose
a painting. Livingstone and Harvard co-author Bevil Conway looked at
36 self-portraits painted by the prolific artist. In 23 out of 24 oil
paintings, Rembrandt's right eye gazes to the right while the left eye
looks straight ahead, they write in a letter in this week's issue of
the New England Journal of Medicine (news - web sites).

Livingstone said because the paintings were done looking in a mirror,
the left eye is probably the one that was off center.

A dozen etchings he did of himself show the other eye off center. But
left and right are reversed in an etching, which is made by scratching
lines on a metal plate and using the plate to make a print.

Livingstone said the works show Rembrandt's errant eye to be gazing
off center by an average of 10 degrees.

As a result, Rembrandt probably could not see in stereo, which
requires the proper alignment of the two eyes. About 4 percent of the
population suffers a similar problem.

Only one oil painting shows the correct orientation of the eyes. "We
wonder whether Rembrandt painted it from an etching, or whether it was
painted by a student looking directly at Rembrandt, and not at a
mirror image," the researchers wrote.

--
Regards,
Sanjeev Narang

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