Forshortening

Foreshortening is used to adjust an object so that it looks normal during the process of distorting an artwork into a close up view. For example, if the artist wanted to use this technique on a person, the whole body would be painting shorter. In the painting Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist and His Parents, the entire piece of work demonstrates foreshortening. Andrea Mantegna painted the people so that they could be viewed sitting down. If he didn't use this technique, the people would have looked distorted. Instead, he created them so that they are proportional but closer up.