Why do images tend to be presented in rectangular format?

1. Quickly reviewing the history of painting, drawing, photography, etc. We can easily realize that, by far, there is an inclination to offer what is represented in a rectangular format.

2. As in Known, when the visual shape of the portrait is a rectangle that is taller it wide, when the sides coincide we have the particular entity of the square (unstable balance) which is less frequent for images in Art. When the rectangle is wider than it is high, it the common way to present landscapes.

3. These different rectangles are not natural, as they are shapes that require more energy. Therefore, organic or naturalistic representation does not require them, leaning towards irregular, circular and other limits that are more economical.

4. Now, setting parallel limits to the images shows a mental need (typical of human beings) to impose an order -always artificial- on the surrounding chaos. The sight-brain eagerly searches for the horizon line, as it requires establishing where it is up and where it is down to survive. This line is even explicit in various works.

5. Then, once the horizontal is established , the mind projects several verticals, which is the key to being able to stand up, with walking and running, with each step we lose the vertical, that is, we became unbalanced and balance again. Finally, we imagine more horizontals parallel to the horizon line, since sensory perception is always partial, limiting (in this way) what is inside and outside.