Journal article
The illusion of illusions: there are no optical corrections in the Parthenon
- Abstract:
- One of the oldest and most enduring myths in human history is the belief that the Parthenon was cleverly designed with various curved structures and sizes in order to correct visual illusions, and therefore appear straight and regular. The myth of optical corrections has its origin in the writings of Vitruvius more than 2,000 years ago and was renewed in the nineteenth century when curved profiles were carefully measured. At least twelve different optical corrections have been proposed, all following the same basic principle. The myth remains widely accepted despite an absence of direct historical or experimental evidence This paper analyzes these corrections scientifically and argues that the proposed illusions are either unsupported by evidence or too small to have a perceptible effect under typical viewing conditions.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 23.8MB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1098/rsos.260999
Authors
- Publisher:
- Royal Society
- Journal:
- Royal Society Open Science More from this journal
- Volume:
- 13
- Issue:
- 9
- Article number:
- rsos260999
- Publication date:
- 2026-09-16
- Acceptance date:
- 2026-07-06
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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2054-5703
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
-
2442424
- Local pid:
-
pubs:2442424
- Deposit date:
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2026-07-07
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Alain Goriely
- Copyright date:
- 2026
- Rights statement:
- © 2026 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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