Human vision is selective, and while we ignore some stimuli, we attend to others. Some researchers argue that bottom-up processing plays a crucial role in attention guidance (e.g. Itti, 2005; Peters, Iyer, Itti, & Koch, 2005), whereas others favor top-down theories (e.g. Masciocchio et al., 2009). Though it is clear that foveal viewing represents the focus of attention, it is much less clear to which extent the information from the low-resolution preview drives attention. The aim of this study

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... as therefore to investigate the principles underlying visual attention by examining viewing behavior while looking at paintings and real-world scenes. Doing so, we first had to identify meaningful areas, representing top-down factors, and control objects, which were neither salient nor meaningful, in all of the images (Prestudy 2). We then computed salient regions in all images using the algorithm for the saliency-based model by Itti and Koch (2000). Hence, we were able to compare the influence of knowledge-driven and stimulus-driven factors on visual attention during encoding and recognition. Furthermore, we aimed to reveal the effects of extrafoveal information on visual perception and potential differences between eye guidance in everyday and art perception, thus using a gaze-contingent display during the encoding phase. The findings suggest a reliable effect of knowledge-driven factors on visual attention, particularly so for paintings. Additionally, we found a reliable effect of extrafoveal information on eye guidance, resulting in fewer and shorter fixations in the filtered conditions. Taken together, the results revealed further differences between art and everyday perception.