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New research by聽Robert G. Alexander, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology and counseling, finds that techniques used in a Baroque-era painting could help today鈥檚 marketers catch the attention of modern consumers.

Eye tracking, the practice of measuring and recording the movements and positions of a person鈥檚 eyes, offers valuable insight into how people perceive and interact with their environments. For example, understanding why consumers direct attention toward or away from an object allows marketers to create more engaging advertisements; it can also provide insight into how users engage with digital content and how platforms can be designed for a better user experience. Similarly, understanding eye movement patterns can help interior designers determine which environments are the most aesthetically pleasing.

Alexander鈥檚 latest study, published in the , suggests that a 400-year-old painting leveraged valuable 鈥渁ttention-grabbing鈥� techniques鈥攁nd today鈥檚 marketers may want to take notice.

In 1628, Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens recreated the well-known oil painting The Fall of Man, made famous 100 years earlier by the Italian painter Titian. However, Rubens took creative license in modifying several features of the painting, which depicts biblical characters Adam, Eve, and the serpent child in the Garden of Eden. Whereas Titian鈥檚 work depicted the serpent child and Adam looking at one another, Rubens shifted their gaze toward Eve. In addition, Rubens added a red parrot near the outside of Adam鈥檚 body and repositioned Adam’s posture, among other changes. But how these updates changed the way viewers perceived Rubens鈥� work vs. Titian鈥檚 has remained unclear.

Titian鈥檚 Painting (Left Column), Rubens鈥� Painting (Center Column), And Rubens鈥� Painting Without Parrot (Right Column) Were Viewed By The Experiment Participants. Middle Row: The Yellow Line Represents An Individual Participants Scan Paths For Each Of The Three Images. Bottom Row: Overall Gaze Dynamics Can Be Seen In The Average Heatmap For All Participants Across 45 Seconds Of Viewing Time. Both Scan Paths And Heatmaps Indicate An Increased Focus On Eve In The Rubens Painting, Particularly When The Parrot Was Present.

Alexander and his research team have tracked eye movement to quantify where viewers direct their attention. Thirty-three participants were shown digital copies of both artworks, as well as a version of Rubens鈥� painting with the parrot digitally removed. Eye movements were recorded as participants gazed at the computer screen using a video-based eye tracker; scan paths and heat maps were used to determine where users directed their attention.

In general, eye movement patterns showed that participants focused more on Eve鈥檚 face in the Rubens painting, whereas attention was more broadly distributed in Titian鈥檚 work.

Then, using a subset of the experiment鈥檚 participants, the researchers 鈥渮eroed in鈥� on the Rubens painting to determine whether the presence of the parrot played a role in shifting the focus toward Eve鈥檚 face. Participants were shown the Rubens painting and a version of the painting with the parrot digitally removed.

The data showed that less eye movement occurred when the parrot was present, but when the parrot was removed, eye movement increased and gaze was redirected to other areas of the artwork. This suggests that the addition of the parrot may have been a strategic decision on Rubens鈥� part, directing viewers to focus their gaze on Eve.

鈥淲hile we may never know why Rubens wanted to direct attention toward Eve, our findings show that his critical deviations from Titian鈥檚 painting have a powerful effect on oculomotor behavior鈥攖echniques that today鈥檚 marketers and designers may find useful,鈥� says Alexander. 鈥淔rom a psychological standpoint, it also goes to show you that how and where we focus our attention is not just determined by what we see, but also how others want us to see it.鈥�