Check out Albrecht Dürer
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/durer/
Hard to say who "discovered" it, but Durer is sure early, and he clearly understood mathematics, too.
Neat example of his perspective work here
http://mathforum.org/sum95/math_and/perspective/perspect.html Another answer: Brunelleschi discovered it abot 1415.
A Perspective Image is an image that looks realistic and tends to be almost 3D, there is at least one vanishing point. Think of an image of a road. Notice how the road is large where we stand but gradually gets smaller until we can't see it at all? That's where the vanishing point is. A Non-perspective image is an image that lacks in a vanishing point and is almost flat.
The left painting only
The perspective in art is the viewpoint of the artist. The formal perspective is the perspective that the artist wants the audience to have when looking at the piece.
Artists have employed the use of perspective for eons, however wobbly. Atmospheric perspective (where we see mountains receding into the mist and fog) has been used in Chinese and Japanese painting as well as in that of Northern Europe and Scandinavia. The person to really nail down linear perspective was engineer/architect Fillipo Brunelleschi. He is the one who came up with the iron-clad laws of vanishing points and perspective grids. This forever changed drawing and painting.
Multiple perspective
There are three main types of perspective in art: one-point perspective, two-point perspective, and three-point perspective. One-point perspective involves a single vanishing point on the horizon line, while two-point perspective has two vanishing points on the horizon line. Three-point perspective incorporates a third vanishing point above or below the horizon line for a more dynamic composition.
On the horizon line
A vanishing point is a point on the horizon line to which parallel lines converge in a perspective drawing or painting. It creates the illusion of depth and distance in two-dimensional art by mimicking how objects appear smaller as they recede into the distance.
There are three main types of perspective in art: one-point perspective, two-point perspective, and three-point perspective. One-point perspective is used for drawing objects directly facing the viewer, while two-point perspective adds depth by showing objects from an angle. Three-point perspective is similar to two-point perspective but includes a third vanishing point above or below the horizon line to show objects from extreme angles.
Fillipo Brunelleschi's linear perspective revolutionized drawing and painting. He was the first person to really nail down the rules of vanishing points and perspective grids. Linear perspective is the practice of using a horizon line, vanishing points and grids drawn in perspective to portray things (especially buildings and cityscapes) in realistic proportions and to calculate feats of engineering. This was a huge feature in Renaissance art.
It can be any line whatsoever: in much art it is the line of the horizon.
A perspective projection uses vanishing points to represent the way objects appear to converge at infinity when viewed in perspective. This type of projection is commonly used in art and architecture to create realistic representations of three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface.
Receding lines converge into vanishing points. If you stared at railroad tracks leading away from you, as they approached the horizon, they'd appear to meet. They disappear/converge into the vanishing point.
Picasso
My seventh grade art teacher, Fred Scott taught and engaged us in three types. 1,2 and 3 point perspectives. These all had vanishing points at the disappearance horizon at the top of the paper (or other medium). I am not an art teacher (Self taught) but to get into anymore than four points you would have to hyper-enlarge your work to include the perspectives. Art store consultants/CSR's can really help you on this one and sometimes community college courses for this type of art are very affordable.
A Perspective Image is an image that looks realistic and tends to be almost 3D, there is at least one vanishing point. Think of an image of a road. Notice how the road is large where we stand but gradually gets smaller until we can't see it at all? That's where the vanishing point is. A Non-perspective image is an image that lacks in a vanishing point and is almost flat.
Renaissance humanism emphasized the importance of individual creativity and intellectual pursuits, fostering a desire for realism and a more accurate representation of the world in art. This led artists to explore the concept of perspective, striving to create three-dimensional depth and realism in their works by employing techniques like linear perspective and vanishing points.