Photophys.com: The Science of Photography

Suppose a 17^th century artist sets out to create a highly realistic, or shall we say high resolution, painting of a scene. He would want to achieve correct perspective along with perfect hue, saturation, and luminance at every point. That is a tall order, but apparently the Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer (1632-75), did just that. His small oeuvre languished after his death, but when his work was rediscovered in the 19^th century, artists and art historians marveled at the “photographic” realism of his paintings. The wide angle field of views with perfect perspective were striking enough, but the tonal values made the paintings almost supernaturally realistic.  You can find the complete text here:

Photoart_Vermeer2.pdf  (594 KB)