Art History, 94123

I was taking a walk in a nearby neighborhood called Cow Hollow when I looked up and saw I was not the only one cruisin' the 'hood. "That sucker is BIG," I said to myself. After that moment of eloquence, I fished out my phone and got the snap.


When I checked my phone to make sure I had the pic, I had a revelation: art history just happened here. I thought back to all those late-medieval and early-renaissance landscapes which always made me think they didn't quite get the perspective correct (isn't liberal arts education wonderful?). It now occurs to me the world just looks odd when one is standing on the side of a steep hill looking at a scene where things far away are a lot bigger than things closer so they look closer than they are. Behind the cruise ship is Angel Island, which honestly is not that big.


So, is this like that problem where the moon coming over the horizon looks big and then seems to get smaller as it appears overhead. I've heard explanations of that, but have not been convinced so far.