• Background
  • Instructions
  • Settings/Illustration

Background

The Wundt Illusion is named for its discoverer, Wilhelm Wundt who is sometimes considered the first scientific psychologist.
In this illusion, the horizontal lines appear bowed away from the points at the top and the lines. The reasons for this illusion are not completely understood.
For our purpose, the interest, is how this illusion may play a role in how the triangular pediments at the end of roofs like on the Parthemon might be perceived. The shallow triangle of the pediments at the end of the roof of the Parthenon would tend to cause the bottom to appear bowed down like on the top horizontal line in the Wundt Illusion. Thus, the Parthenon is built with a shallow upward curve on the bottom of the pediment to compensate for this illusion.