vbl. sb. [f. prec. + -ING1.] The action of the vb. FORESHORTEN.
1606. Peacham, Art Drawing, 27. Of Foreshortning.
1686. Aglionby, Painting Illust., Expl. of Terms. Shortning. Is, when a Figure seems of greater quantity than really it is; as, if it seems to be three foot long, when it is but one: Some call it Fore-Shortning.
1784. Blagden, in Phil. Trans., LXXIV. 205. The fore-shortening, and even occultation, of the tall, when the object is seen nearly in front.
1859. Gullick & Timbs, Paint., 39, note. Correct foreshortening is one of the greatest difficulties in art, and peculiar to painting, for the sculptor does not require a knowledge of its principles, excepting in bas-relief.
1860. Pusey, The Minor Prophets, 494. Prophecy, in its long perspective, uses a continual foreshortening, speaking of things in relation to their eternal meaning and significance, as to that which shall survive, when heaven and earth and even time shall have passed away.
