Rabatment of the rectangle

Last updated
The dotted line represents one of two possible rabatments of the rectangle Rabatment rectangle.png
The dotted line represents one of two possible rabatments of the rectangle

Rabatment of the rectangle is a compositional technique used as an aid for the placement of objects or the division of space within a rectangular frame, or as an aid for the study of art.

Contents

Every rectangle contains two implied squares, each consisting of a short side of the rectangle, an equal length along each longer side, and an imaginary fourth line parallel to the short side. The process of mentally rotating the short sides onto the long ones is called "rabatment", and often the imaginary fourth line is called "the rabatment".

Theory

There is no absolute explanation of the mechanism of this method, but there are various theories. [1] One argument is that squares are such a simple, primal geometric shape that the brain automatically looks for them, mentally completing this rabatment whether it is made explicit or not. When a composition uses elements of the scene to match, the square feels complete in itself, producing a feeling of harmony. [1]

Practice

Animation of a rabatment line within a rectangle Rabatment animation.gif
Animation of a rabatment line within a rectangle

Renaissance artists used rabatment as a foundation to art and architectural works, [2] [3] but the rabatment can be observed in art taken from almost any period. [4]

As one of many composition techniques, rabatment of the rectangle can be used to inform the positioning of elements within the rectangle. There is no hard and fast rule regarding such positioning; a composition can have a sense of dynamic unrest or a sense of equilibrium relative to important lines such as ones taken from rabatment or from the rule of thirds, or from nodal points such as the "eyes of a rectangle"—the four intersections derived from the rule of thirds. [5] Primary image elements can be positioned within one of the two rabatment squares to define the center of interest, and secondary image elements can be placed outside of a rabatment square. [6]

The concept of rabatment can be applied to rectangles of any proportion. [7] For rectangles with a 3:2 ratio (as in 35mm film in still photography), it happens that the rabatment lines are exactly matched to the rule of thirds lines. [8]

In a horizontally-aligned rectangle, there is one implied square for the left side and one for the right; for a vertically-aligned rectangle, there are upper and lower squares. [1] If the long sides of the rectangle are exactly twice the length of the short, this line is right in the middle. With longer-proportioned rectangles, the squares don't overlap, but with shorter-proportioned ones, they do. In Western cultures that read left to right, attention is often focused inside the left-hand rabatment, or on the line it forms at the right-hand side of the image. [9]

When rabatment is used with one side of a golden rectangle, and then iteratively applied to the left-over rectangle, the resulting "whirling rectangles" describe the golden spiral. [10]

Examples

Gimpressionist 22 fishing0070a 3 nevit rabatment study.jpg
This computer art image has the fisherman positioned facing into the left-hand rabatment square.
Monet - Mohnblumenfeld rabatment study.jpg
Claude Monet's painting of a poppyfield includes one tall tree at the rightmost border of the left-hand rabatment square.
Rembrandt The Artist in his studio rabatment study.jpg
Rembrandt's self-portrait places the lit part of his studio within the left-hand rabatment square. The artist himself stands at the border of the other square facing inward.
Gustave Caillebotte Boater Pulling on His Perissoire rabatment study.jpg
Gustave Caillebotte's painting shows the boat outside the right-hand rabatment square and the man at the rightmost border of the left-hand square, leaning and reaching across the empty central expanse. Both the upper and the lower river banks intersect the rabatment lines at the painting's border.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euclidean geometry</span> Mathematical model of the physical space

Euclidean geometry is a mathematical system attributed to ancient Greek mathematician Euclid, which he described in his textbook on geometry, Elements. Euclid's approach consists in assuming a small set of intuitively appealing axioms (postulates) and deducing many other propositions (theorems) from these. Although many of Euclid's results had been stated earlier, Euclid was the first to organize these propositions into a logical system in which each result is proved from axioms and previously proved theorems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden ratio</span> Number, approximately 1.618

In mathematics, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two quantities. Expressed algebraically, for quantities and with , is in a golden ratio to if

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triangle</span> Shape with three sides

A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called vertices, are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called edges, are one-dimensional line segments. A triangle has three internal angles, each one bounded by a pair of adjacent edges; the sum of angles of a triangle always equals a straight angle. The triangle is a plane figure and its interior is a planar region. Sometimes an arbitrary edge is chosen to be the base, in which case the opposite vertex is called the apex; the shortest segment between the base and apex is the height. The area of a triangle equals one-half the product of height and base length.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Similarity (geometry)</span> Property of objects which are scaled or mirrored versions of each other

In Euclidean geometry, two objects are similar if they have the same shape, or if one has the same shape as the mirror image of the other. More precisely, one can be obtained from the other by uniformly scaling, possibly with additional translation, rotation and reflection. This means that either object can be rescaled, repositioned, and reflected, so as to coincide precisely with the other object. If two objects are similar, each is congruent to the result of a particular uniform scaling of the other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rectangle</span> Quadrilateral with four right angles

In Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is a rectilinear convex polygon or a quadrilateral with four right angles. It can also be defined as: an equiangular quadrilateral, since equiangular means that all of its angles are equal ; or a parallelogram containing a right angle. A rectangle with four sides of equal length is a square. The term "oblong" is used to refer to a non-square rectangle. A rectangle with vertices ABCD would be denoted as  ABCD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Right angle</span> 90° angle (π/2 radians)

In geometry and trigonometry, a right angle is an angle of exactly 90 degrees or /2 radians corresponding to a quarter turn. If a ray is placed so that its endpoint is on a line and the adjacent angles are equal, then they are right angles. The term is a calque of Latin angulus rectus; here rectus means "upright", referring to the vertical perpendicular to a horizontal base line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trapezoid</span> Convex quadrilateral with at least one pair of parallel sides

In geometry, a trapezoid in North American English, or trapezium in British English, is a quadrilateral that has one pair of parallel sides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden rectangle</span> Rectangle with side lengths in the golden ratio

In geometry, a golden rectangle is a rectangle with side lengths in golden ratio or with approximately equal to 1.618 or 89/55.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graph paper</span> Writing paper with a grid

Graph paper, coordinate paper, grid paper, or squared paper is writing paper that is printed with fine lines making up a regular grid. It is available either as loose leaf paper or bound in notebooks or Graph Books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Descriptive geometry</span> Branch of geometry which allows the representation of three-dimensional objects in two dimensions

Descriptive geometry is the branch of geometry which allows the representation of three-dimensional objects in two dimensions by using a specific set of procedures. The resulting techniques are important for engineering, architecture, design and in art. The theoretical basis for descriptive geometry is provided by planar geometric projections. The earliest known publication on the technique was "Underweysung der Messung mit dem Zirckel und Richtscheyt", published in Linien, Nuremberg: 1525, by Albrecht Dürer. Italian architect Guarino Guarini was also a pioneer of projective and descriptive geometry, as is clear from his Placita Philosophica (1665), Euclides Adauctus (1671) and Architettura Civile, anticipating the work of Gaspard Monge (1746–1818), who is usually credited with the invention of descriptive geometry. Gaspard Monge is usually considered the "father of descriptive geometry" due to his developments in geometric problem solving. His first discoveries were in 1765 while he was working as a draftsman for military fortifications, although his findings were published later on.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cylinder</span> Three-dimensional solid

A cylinder has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rule of thirds</span> Composition technique

The rule of thirds is a rule of thumb for composing visual art such as designs, films, paintings, and photographs. The guideline proposes that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. Aligning a subject with these points creates more tension, energy and interest in the composition than simply centering the subject.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Composition (visual arts)</span> Placement or arrangement of visual elements or ingredients in a work of art

The term composition means "putting together". It can be thought of as the organization of the elements of art according to the principles of art. Composition can apply to any work of art, from music through writing and into photography, that is arranged using conscious thought.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay Hambidge</span> American painter

Jay Hambidge (1867–1924) was an American artist who formulated the theory of "dynamic symmetry", a system defining compositional rules, which was adopted by several notable American and Canadian artists in the early 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British flag theorem</span> On distances from opposite corners to a point inside a rectangle

In Euclidean geometry, the British flag theorem says that if a point P is chosen inside a rectangle ABCD then the sum of the squares of the Euclidean distances from P to two opposite corners of the rectangle equals the sum to the other two opposite corners. As an equation:

A dynamic rectangle is a right-angled, four-sided figure with dynamic symmetry which, in this case, means that aspect ratio is a distinguished value in dynamic symmetry, a proportioning system and natural design methodology described in Jay Hambidge's books. These dynamic rectangles begin with a square, which is extended to form the desired figure, which can be the golden rectangle, the 2:3 rectangle, the double square (1:2), or a root rectangle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mathematics and art</span> Relationship between mathematics and art

Mathematics and art are related in a variety of ways. Mathematics has itself been described as an art motivated by beauty. Mathematics can be discerned in arts such as music, dance, painting, architecture, sculpture, and textiles. This article focuses, however, on mathematics in the visual arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pythagorean theorem</span> Relation between sides of a right triangle

In mathematics, the Pythagorean theorem or Pythagoras' theorem is a fundamental relation in Euclidean geometry between the three sides of a right triangle. It states that the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares on the other two sides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parallel postulate</span> Geometric axiom

In geometry, the parallel postulate, also called Euclid's fifth postulate because it is the fifth postulate in Euclid's Elements, is a distinctive axiom in Euclidean geometry. It states that, in two-dimensional geometry:

If a line segment intersects two straight lines forming two interior angles on the same side that are less than two right angles, then the two lines, if extended indefinitely, meet on that side on which the angles sum to less than two right angles.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mize, Dianne (27 January 2009). "How to Use Rabatment in Your Compositions". Empty Easel. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
  2. Sriraman, Bharath; Freiman, Viktor; Lirette-Pitre, Nicole (2009). Interdisciplinarity, creativity, and learning: mathematics with literature, paradoxes, history, technology, and modeling. IAP. p. 122. ISBN   978-1-60752-101-3.
  3. Fett, Birch (2006). "An In-depth Investigation of the Divine Ratio" (PDF). The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast. 3 (2). The Montana Council of Teachers of Mathematics: 157–175. ISSN   1551-3440.
  4. Bouleau, Charles (1963). The painter's secret geometry: a study of composition in art. New York: Harcourt, Brace. pp. 43–46.
  5. Feltus, Alan. "Painting and Composition". Umbria, Italy: International School of Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
  6. Mize, Dianne (16 July 2008). "Placing Our Images: Rabatment". Compose. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  7. Dunstan, Bernard (1979). Composing your paintings. Start To Paint. Taplinger Publishing. pp. 22, 26. ISBN   0-8008-1803-2.
  8. Brown, Scott (2009). "Glossary". Watercolorists of Whatcom. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  9. Nelson, Connie (2010). "Composition in art: Rabatment". Explore-Drawing-and-Painting.com. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  10. Fairbanks, Avard T.; Fairbanks, Eugene F. (2005). Human Proportions for Artists. Fairbanks Art and Books. p.  210. ISBN   0-9725841-1-0.