Super Einstein

The display is a picture drawn on the ceiling of the Museum Entrance.

When viewed from a particular point, the image of Albert Einstein appears to be coming down from the ceiling, although it's just a two-dimensional picture. To create the illusion of depth, the picture was drawn in a distorted manner.

Einstein's legs in the picture are further away from us than his head. In order to make them appear to be the appropriate size, their length must be exaggerated. Note: The illusion works only from a particular point of view. If you view the picture from the other side, you'll see how distorted it is.

The distortion in the picture is designed so that the two-dimensional image on the retina is similar to the image created when we look at a three-dimensional object. For the illusion to work, the mathematical configurations must be precise.

The technique used to create the picture is known as anamorphosis, which was familiar even in the days of Leonardo da Vinci. Today, many sidewalk artists use the technique, and their paintings seem to be actually coming out of the pavement. One of these artists is Julian Beever, and here is his home page.

Links:
One of Beever's amazing paintings:
http://www.julianbeever.net/swim.htm

The same picture, from a different angle:
http://www.julianbeever.netwrongview.htm