Anamorphic Drawing of a Stag 1500 - 1600

This anonymous 16th-century drawing from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York depicts a stag through the use of anamorphosis. The drawing is a study of perspective and foreshortening as the stag is distorted in its entirety, but when viewed from a specific angle, the figure of the stag appears in its normal proportions. Anamorphosis, the art of representing a distorted figure, has been popular for centuries. The style is most well-known for its use in the work of Leonardo da Vinci, but this anonymous drawing serves as a demonstration of the technical skill of a Renaissance draftsman.