# Vagueness and volume: Testing the perception of depth in images with linear, sharp, or blurred contours

## TL;DR

This study tests if blurred contours in paintings create a stronger sense of depth, finding that they often reduce perceived three-dimensionality.

## Contribution

The paper empirically tests an art historical conjecture about blurred contours and volume perception using controlled experiments.

## Key findings

- Blurred and line contours decreased perceived three-dimensionality compared to sharp contours in paintings and abstract shapes.
- Blur on the lit side of objects increased the impression of three-dimensionality compared to blur on the dark side.
- The art historical assumption that blurred contours enhance volume is not consistently supported by experimental results.

## Abstract

In European painting, a transition took place where artists started to consciously introduce blurred or soft contours in their works. There may have been several reasons for this. One suggestion in art historical literature is that this may have been done to create a stronger sense of volume in the depicted figures or objects. Here we describe four experiments in which we tried to test whether soft or blurred contours do indeed enhance a sense volume or depth. In the first three experiments, we found that, for both paintings and abstract shapes, three dimensionality was actually decreased instead of increased for blurred (and line) contours, in comparison with sharp contours. In the last experiment, we controlled for the position of the blur (on the lit or dark side) and found that blur on the lit side evoked a stronger impression of three dimensionality. Overall, the experiments robustly show that an art historical conjecture that a blurred contour increases three dimensionality is not granted. Because the blurred contours can be found in many established art works such as from Leonardo and Vermeer, there must be other rationales behind this use than the creation of a stronger sense of volume or depth.