Andrea Mantegna’s Camera degli Sposi is an excellent example of a work of art that attempts to break down spatial limitations through an illusion. The work is trompe’l’oeil art, which uses realistic images to create optical effects of a continuous space on architectural surfaces. Camera degli Spio translates as the wedding room. This was the room in which newlyweds were married within the Ducal Palace of Mantua. It’s likely that this was the couple’s first experience with such privacy. Schmarsow is a proponent of Schmarsow’s idea that spatial limitations are necessary to protect privacy. It is easy to describe the room as a “sculptural picture” because of the heavy emphasis on pictorial elements in the three-dimensional architecture.
This is a beautiful example of how architecture and painting can be combined to create a surface that is reminiscent of their relationship. The rib-like curvatures and sculptural buses that protrude from the flat, marble texture created by the paint are a great way to emphasise this connection. The wall painting uses less trompe l’oeil techniques than the ceiling. They reflect the couples desire for privacy, division and enclosure. The room’s dimensions are only 8.1m2, yet the wall-painting gives us the illusion that the space is larger. Doctor Who is a BBC show that uses these concepts in a modern way. In the science fantasy programme, TARDIS’s (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space), the Doctors TARDIS looks like a small phone box. But it’s much bigger inside.
Mantegna’s painting would have helped the couple imagine “infinity and immeasurability”. The TARDIS’s large interior, which is three-dimensional and allows for travel through infinite spaces, explores the same ideas. The sky imagery used in the Camera degli Sposi, however, blurs the lines between interior space and exterior space. This illusion of depth is what removes the claustrophobia or spatial limitations without compromising privacy. The spherical ceiling structure makes the “picture of infinite” (Boulle, Neumeyer 1999, p.245) even more powerful. The wall and ceiling are not divided, giving the illusion that space is perceived to be extended further. Schmarsow’s theories have been implemented here.
