Forced Perspective

Francesco Borromini's Perspective Colonnade was built in 1660 as an amusement for the courtyard of the Palazzo Spada. Assisted by a mathematician, this is a fascinating example of an optical illusion in which diminishing rows of columns and a rising floor create the visual impression of a gallery 37 meters long (in reality, it barely measures 8 meters) with a life-size sculpture at the end of the vista. Believe it or not, the sculpture is only 60cm high. In fact, it is so low-ceilinged at the far end, that only a child could stand upright...

Photographer Danilo Scarpati

Photographer Rita Gram

Palazzo Spada

Photographs from here, here and here