The Retreat Day 

reverberations 

were felt in the 

arts as well. 

Conference attendee 

Henry R. LaForgue 

(1840-1897)

extended the techniques 

of realistic perspective 

drawing in creating 

his exciting precursor 

to what is now called

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Of course the path

narrowed almost to a 

point, creating an 

illusion of depth. 

A board was attached

below the spectator's

chin, a simple square

of thin pine that

extended like a table

to a distance of two

feet from his or her

face.
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As the spectator 
 
walked up the ramp
 
he or she had the
 
illusion of trudging
 
along the depicted path.          
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       In his "Ramp Painting"

               he depicted a 

   simple New England scene:
    
   a dirt path that led from
    
       a grassy field at the
    
 bottom of the painting to a 
    
 grove of birches at the top.
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               It was braced

          with a light metal

           strut hooked to a 

        fitting in a leather

                  chest belt.  
  
               The spectator

       was asked to face the

    painting and walk toward

        it along an upwardly

                sloping ramp.
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        This illusion was

    enhanced by the great

   detail of the painting, 

            which allowed 

            new sights to

          come into focus

          when approached,

       and the chin board,

     which made the lower

 portions of the painting

 "disappear" with forward
 
motion, much as a section

       of road leaves our

       visual field as we

              approach it.