Integrated combination of multiple colors as it is, color gestalt invariably troubles researchers as they seek to understand and analyze the complex constructions of affective factors. The author proposes a set of quantification methods for measuring color-affective factors of harmony, preference and structural composition. He also describes quantified models and interactive toolkits he built for both experimental purposes and user study. The author proposes a holistic method for understanding color combination that stands in contrast to conventional methods. Through this method, perception of color gestalt becomes computable and analyzable, inviting further research on interactive color computing and parametric design.

Who is the most probable mentor to Johannes Vermeer? To provide complementary evidence for this question, the authors quantitatively analyzed and compared the visual features of the works of Vermeer with those of artists proposed as his possible mentors. The results showed that Vermeer and Gerard ter Borch have similar artistic styles in many respects.

ABSTRACT Although Renaissance artworks provide valuable information about the development of artistic depth cues, eye-movement studies of these works are rather scarce. This study examines how naÏve viewers explore and perceive space and perspective in the Perugia Annunciation by Piero della Francesca (1467–1469). Seven participants viewed a high-quality image of the painting on a computer screen, while their eye movements were recorded with a video-oculographic device. Following recording, five subjects verbally described the painting, and all seven drew the painting from memory. Based on the sequence of ocular fixations, the authors conclude that the painting stimulates inquisitive spatial eye exploration, resulting in assimilation of complex spatial architectural details, even by naÏve observers.

ABSTRACT The authors hypothesize that Rembrandt developed new painterly techniques in order to engage and direct the gaze of the observer. Although these methods were not based on scientific evidence at the time, they are nonetheless consistent with a contemporary understanding of human vision. The authors propose that artists in the late early-modern period developed the technique of textural agency—selective variation in image detail—to guide the observer's eye and thereby influence the viewing experience. They conclude with the presentation of laboratory evidence that Rembrandt's techniques indeed guide the modern viewer's eye as proposed.

The discovery of a technique for the particle separation and preparation of the blue mineral pigment azurite for use in an oil painting medium aids the compari-son of colors used in the Renais-sance with modern synthetic pig-ments. Chroma or chromatic intensity is presented as the key to understanding the language of color theory. This is supported by the first images ever of azurite cut by a focused ion beam (FIB) in or-der to compare unprepared and prepared particles of the mineral and thus demonstrate the impor-tance of the preparation process. The implications of a natural pig-ment renaissance for artists and restorers are assessed.