Da Vinci Circle. "Vitruvian Man": engineering project or high art

Leonardo da Vinci

Vitruvian Man

Golden ratio in art

There is an opinion that a true creator does not create art himself, but allows God or energy (as he likes) to direct the brush, merging into a single whole and completely turning into the mystery of creativity.

Little is known about Leonardo da Vinci as a person. There is much more information about him as a mystic capable of unification with the whole. His creations in various fields of knowledge and art say more about him than he himself or anyone who knew him well could tell. The materials of his works that have reached us testify to his disclosure of the fundamental principles of beauty.

The Vitruvian Man is an illustration of the works of the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius, made by Leonardo da Vinci around 1490-92 in his journal, along with explanations. The drawing depicts the figure of a naked man in two superimposed poses with arms and legs spread to the sides, inscribed in a circle and a square.

Combinations of arms and legs make up four poses. A pose with arms spread to the sides in two positions and legs not spread fits into a square, the so-called “Square of the Ancients.” Two more poses with arms and legs spread out to the sides, fit into a circle. The center of the figure always remains motionless.

“Vetruvio architetto mette nelle sue opera d’architettura che le misure dell’omo...”“The architect Vetruvius laid down the dimensions of man in his architecture...”

Leonardo da Vinci's accompanying notes explain that he created the drawing to study the proportions of the human body, as described in the treatises of the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius, who wrote the following about the human body:

“Nature has ordained the following proportions in the structure of the human body:
the length of four fingers is equal to the length of the palm,
four palms are equal to a foot,
six palms make one cubit,
four cubits is the height of a person.
Four cubits are equal to a step, and twenty-four palms are equal to the height of a person.
If you spread your legs so that the distance between them is 1/14 of a person's height, and raise your arms so that your middle fingers are level with the top of your head, then the center point of your body, equidistant from all limbs, will be your navel.
The space between your spread legs and the floor forms an equilateral triangle.
The length of your outstretched arms will be equal to your height.
The distance from the roots of the hair to the tip of the chin is equal to one tenth of human height.
The distance from the top of the chest to the top of the head is 1/6 of the height.
The distance from the upper chest to the roots of the hair is 1/7.
The distance from the nipples to the top of the head is exactly a quarter of the height.
The greatest width of the shoulders is an eighth of height.
The distance from the elbow to the fingertips is 1/5 of the height, from the elbow to the armpit is 1/8.
The length of the entire arm is 1/10 of the height.
The beginning of the genitals is located right in the middle of the body.
The foot is 1/7 of the height.
The distance from the toe of the foot to the kneecap is equal to a quarter of the height, and the distance from the kneecap to the beginning of the genitals is also equal to a quarter of the height.
The distance from the tip of the chin to the nose and from the roots of the hair to the eyebrows will be the same and, like the length of the ear, equal to 1/3 of the face.”

Meaning of the Vitruvian Man

“Everything new is well-forgotten old,” says the famous saying. The "resurrection" from antiquity of the mathematical proportions of the human body, made by Leonardo da Vinci in the 15th century, became the foundation of the great achievements that preceded the Italian Renaissance. The Vitruvian Man itself is a symbol of the internal symmetry and natural harmony of the human body.

Any divine manifestation, including art, is inherent in the desire for harmony, proportionality, harmony - for such a harmonious state of being, which we are accustomed to calling beauty. Being ourselves a part of the universal energy of beauty, we unmistakably distinguish one from the other. The ugly immediately catches the eye.

We find beauty in the proportions of architecture and sculpture, in the arrangement of surrounding objects and forms, in the combination of colors in paintings, in the alternation of rhymes and rhythmic dimensions in poetry, in the combinations, sequences and gravity of musical sounds.

In nature and the human body there are many proportional harmonious relationships, close to the golden ratio of Leonardo da Vinci. However, the golden ratio is not the only ratio that is visually perceived as beautiful. These include ratios such as 1:2, 1:3. They are also close to the golden ratio.

In any work of art, several unequal parts, but close to the golden ratio, give the impression of the development of forms, their dynamics, and proportional complement to each other. This property is used everywhere and has long been called “canonical proportions.”

Every person is able to distinguish the beautiful from the ugly. For example, if he sees a house or some other structure that is not maintained in the proportions of the golden ratio, then it immediately becomes obvious that “something is wrong with it.” Something is confusing. This landmark of harmony and a sense of beauty is in everyone.

“All art strives to become music.” (Walter Pater)

“The greatness of art is most clearly manifested in music.” (Johann Wolfgang Goethe)

How to determine the presence of the golden ratio in something that does not have material forms, such as music? How to “measure” a piece of music by its beauty?

In music, the golden ratio reflects the peculiarities of human perception of temporal proportions. The golden ratio point serves as a reference point for the duration of the work and often marks the climax. Or it could be the brightest accent or the quietest “kachum”, the densest and instrumentally rich sounding place or the highest pitch, or the place where the crescendo ends, a change of rhythm.

It often happens that a new musical theme appears at the golden ratio point.

And as Frank Zappa said: “Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.”

Listen...

Listen to good beautiful music and realize your beauty. Let the music reflect the beauty of the golden ratio of your being. Let there be goosebumps!

Where music begins, thoughts disappear, an observer and awareness of beauty appears (unless, of course, you listen to music and do not use it as white noise in the background).

And the next time you listen to music, pay attention to what you are doing: listening or thinking. Just think about Leonardo.

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Vitruvian Man is the name given to the graphic image of a naked man in the famous sketch by Leonardo da Vinci. It has been studied for centuries. However, scientists are confident that not all the secrets of the drawing have been revealed.

Leonardo da Vinci: Vitruvian Man (Gallery Accademia, Venice, Italy)

Being one of the most mysterious and controversial figures of his era, Leonardo da Vinci left behind many secrets. Their meaning still worries scientific minds around the world. One of these mysteries is the Vitruvian Man, a pencil sketch of which has been carefully preserved for centuries. And although a lot is known about him, art experts are confident that great discoveries are yet to come.

Vitruvian Man is the official title of Leonardo's sketch. It was made by him in 1492 and was intended to illustrate a handwritten book. The drawing represents a naked man whose body is inscribed in a circle and a square. In addition, the image has duality - the human torso is depicted in two poses superimposed on each other.

As you can see by examining the drawing, the combination of hand and foot positions actually produces two different positions. The pose with arms spread to the sides and legs brought together turns out to be inscribed in a square. On the other hand, a pose with arms and legs spread out to the sides is inscribed in a circle. Upon more detailed examination, it turns out that the center of the circle is the navel of the figure, and the center of the square is the genitals.

Da Vinci's diary, for which the drawing was intended, is called the “Canon of Proportions.” The fact is that the artist believed in a certain number “phi”, calling it divine. He was confident in the presence of this number in everything created in living nature. However, da Vinci tried to achieve the “divine proportion” he derived in architecture. But this remained one of Leonardo’s unrealized ideas. But the Vitruvian Man is completely depicted in accordance with “phi”, that is, the picture shows a model of an ideal being.

According to Leonardo's accompanying notes, it was created to determine the proportions of the (male) human body, as described in the treatises of the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius; to which Leonardo wrote the following explanations:

the length from the tip of the longest to the lowest base of the four fingers is equal to the palm
the foot is four palms
a cubit is six palms
the height of a person is four cubits from the tips of the fingers (and accordingly 24 palms)
a step equals four palms
the span of human arms is equal to his height
the distance from the hairline to the chin is 1/10 of its height
the distance from the top of the head to the chin is 1/8 of its height
the distance from the top of the head to the nipples is 1/4 of its height
maximum shoulder width is 1/4 of its height
the distance from the elbow to the tip of the hand is 1/4 of its height
the distance from the elbow to the armpit is 1/8 of its height
arm length is 2/5 of its height
the distance from the chin to the nose is 1/3 of the length of his face
the distance from the hairline to the eyebrows is 1/3 of the length of his face
Ear length 1/3 face length
the navel is the center of the circle

The rediscovery of the mathematical proportions of the human body in the 15th century by da Vinci and other scientists was one of the great advances that preceded the Italian Renaissance.

Subsequently, using the same method, Corbusier created his own scale of proportionation - Modulor, which influenced the aesthetics of 20th-century architecture.

The drawing appeared as a result of the Italian master’s study of the works of Vitruvius, the outstanding architect of Ancient Rome. In his treatises, the human body was identified with architecture. However, denying this idea, da Vinci developed the idea of combining three elements in man - art, science and the divine, that is, a reflection of the Universe.

In addition to the deep philosophical message, the Vitruvian Man also has a certain symbolic meaning. The square is interpreted as the material sphere, the circle - the spiritual. The contact of the figures with the body of the depicted person is a kind of intersection in the center of the universe.

The sketch is currently kept in the Venice Museum. There is no free access to the relic - the exhibit is exhibited extremely rarely. Those who wish have the opportunity to look at it once every six months, since moving and being in direct light is destructive for the manuscript, which is almost 500 years old. Most of the structures made according to da Vinci's sketches have survived to this day. Anyone can see ancient projects and their modern implementation in Milan, at the Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Science, located near the Sant'Ambrogio metro station.

Interesting Facts:

The drawing itself is often used as an implicit symbol of the internal symmetry of the human body and, further, the Universe as a whole.
In 2011, Irish aerial artist John Quigley painted a giant copy of the famous “Vitruvian Man” drawing on the ice of the Arctic Ocean in order to draw humanity’s attention to the problems of environmental balance.
In 2012, reports were published that the first visual image of the “Vitruvian Man” was not drawn by Leonardo, but by his friend Giacomo Andrea da Ferrara, who studied the works of Vitruvius in detail - although his drawing is disproportionately inferior to Leonardo’s in terms of artistic merit.

Living Planet

Sketch Vitruvian Man was discovered by chance in Leonardo's manuscripts. It was created approximately in 1490-1492

When a sketch was discovered, next to it were the artist’s notes regarding the proportions of a person:

“The architect Vitruvius states in his work on architecture that the dimensions of the human body are distributed according to the following principle: the width of 4 fingers is equal to 1 palm, the foot is 4 palms, the elbow is 6 palms, the full height of a person is 4 elbows or 24 palms... These are the same Vitruvius used measurements in the construction of his buildings."

The basis for Da Vinci's drawing "The Vitruvian Man" was treatise “The Man of Equilibre” by the architect of Ancient Rome Vitruvius, after which the image of the figure is named. This ancient Roman used the proportions of the human body for his studies in architecture.

In their mathematical studies, Vitruvius and Leonardo described not only the proportions of a person, but also proportions of all creation. Leonardo's note was found in a notebook from 1492: "Ancient Human was a world in miniature. Since man is composed of earth, water, air and fire, his body resembles microcosm of the universe".

In our modern world, Da Vinci’s drawing is no longer perceived by humanity as a symbol of the ideal proportions of the human, in particular, the male body. This image rather symbolizes the location of man in the Universe.

Vitruvian Man by Leonardo Da Vinci it is an image of a consistent state of life, in the center of which is a person. The figure shows an ideal male figure in terms of proportions.

In the image of the “Vitruvian man” it is customary to see two bodies - two figures, one of which fits into a circle, and the other into a square.

The interpretation of such a composition has the following meaning:

Square - a symbol of the earthly, material. The center of the square is in the groin area.

Circle - symbol of the divine, including the divine origin of man. A figure located in a circle does not contain lines, that is, it is not measured. Because as a divine phenomenon, this figure cannot be measured. The center of the circle is the human navel.

Two positions - in a circle and a square in the figure - reflect dynamics and peace. Thus, the great artist conveys the inconsistency of spirit - the circle, and matter - the square. If you add sides to the drawing Heidegger's Quadruples, then you get a symbolic image of the true state of man, Half Divine, Half Mortal, who rests his feet on the Earth and his head is in Heaven.

This is seen as a symbol of the fact that man gravitates towards the earthly, despite his divine component.

The Vitruvian Man is not only a hidden symbol of the internal symmetry of the human body, but also symbol of the symmetry of the Universe as a whole.

In proportions, the volume of a circle and the volume of a square are absolutely equal. This shows that the manifested (material) and unmanifested (spiritual) are interchangeable states. The only difference is the frequency.

Why the spiritual materializes is another equally interesting question.

According to modern ideas, seeing only two figures in the “Vitruvian Man” is too simple and flat.

The great genius saw and tried to convey to other generations the deep meaning he saw in our nature. Thus, he wanted to show us the meaning of the “golden ratio”. The image of the Vitruvian man is the encrypted “golden ratio”.

This is how ancient scientists try to convey to us the meaning of Higher Harmony.

Another famous creation in which Leonardo da Vinci displayed the golden ratio is the Mona Lisa. Her mysterious smile incredibly captivates millions of spectators.

There is another interesting theory, according to which Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man is an image of Christ. The artist was engaged in the restoration of the Shroud at the request of its guardians. Seemingly inspired by the image of Christ on the shrine, he transfers the impeccable proportions of his body into his drawing. This means that it depicts the divine proportions of the human body. Da Vinci, placing a male figure at the center of the universe, depicted man in the image of God.

Leonardo da Vinci and his Vitruavian Man

Vitruvian Man is a drawing made by Leonardo Da Vinci around 1490-1492, as an illustration for a book dedicated to the works of Vitruvius. The drawing is accompanied by explanatory notes in one of his journals. It depicts the figure of a naked man in two superimposed positions: with his arms spread to the sides, describing a circle and a square. The drawing and text are sometimes called canonical proportions.

1. Leonardo never intended to show off his Vitruvian Man.

Self-portrait. After 1512
Paper, sanguine. 33.3 × 21.6 cm
Royal Library, Turin. Wikimedia Commons

The sketch was discovered in one of the personal notebooks of the Renaissance master. In fact, Leonardo drew the sketch for his own research and did not even suspect that he would one day be admired. However, today "Vitruvian Man" is one of the artist's most famous works, along with "The Last Supper" and "Mona Lisa".

The drawing and its explanations are sometimes called “canonical proportions.” The drawing was done in pen, ink and watercolor using a metal pencil; the dimensions of the drawing are 24.5 × 34.3 centimeters. Currently in the collection of the Accademia Gallery in Venice. The drawing is both a work of science and a work of art, and also exemplifies Leonardo's interest in proportion.

According to Leonardo's accompanying notes, it was created to determine the proportions of the (male) human body, as described in the treatise of the ancient architect Vitruvius On Architecture (Book III, Chapter I):

* the length from the tip of the longest to the lowest base of the four fingers is equal to the length of the palm;
* the foot is four palms;
* a cubit is six palms;
* the height of a person is four cubits from the tips of the fingers (and accordingly 24 palms);
* a step is equal to four palms;
* the span of human arms is equal to his height;
* the distance from the hairline to the chin is 1/10 of its height;
* the distance from the top of the head to the chin is 1/8 of its height;
* the distance from the top of the head to the nipples is 1/4 of its height;
* maximum shoulder width is 1/4 of its height;
* the distance from the elbow to the tip of the hand is 1/4 of its height;
* the distance from the elbow to the armpit is 1/8 of its height;
* arm length is 2/5 of its height;
* the distance from the chin to the nose is 1/3 of the length of his face;
* the distance from the hairline to the eyebrows is 1/3 of the length of his face;
* ear length 1/3 of face length;
* The navel is the center of the circle.

2. Combining art and science

Leonardo da Vinci. Vitruvian Man. 1490
Homo vitruviano
34.3 × 24.5 cm
Accademia Gallery, Venice. Wikimedia Commons

A true representative of the Renaissance, Leonardo was not only a painter, sculptor and writer, but also an inventor, architect, engineer, mathematician and anatomy expert. This ink drawing was the result of Leonardo's study of theories about human proportions described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius.

3. Leonardo wasn’t the first to try to illustrate Vitruvius’ theories.

Modern scholars believe that in the 15th century and subsequent decades there were many people who tried to express this idea in visual form.

4. Perhaps the drawing was not only made by Leonardo himself

In 2012, Italian architectural historian Claudio Sgarbi published findings that Leonardo's research into the proportions of the human body was prompted by similar research done by his friend and fellow architect Giacomo Andrea de Ferrara. It is still unclear whether they worked together. Even if this theory is incorrect, historians agree that Leonardo improved on the shortcomings of Giacomo's work.

5. Circle and square have their own hidden meaning

In their mathematical studies, Vitruvius and Leonardo described not only the proportions of man, but also the proportions of all creation. In a notebook from 1492, Leonardo's note was found: "Ancient man was the world in miniature. Since man consists of earth, water, air and fire, his body resembles a microcosm of the Universe."

6. "The Vitruvian Man" is just one of many sketches

In order to improve his art and better understand how the world around him worked, Leonardo painted many people to form an idea of ideal proportions.

7. The Vitruvian Man is the ideal man

Who served as the model will remain a mystery, but art historians believe that Leonardo took some liberties in his drawing. This work was not so much a portrait as a faithful depiction of the ideal male form from a mathematical point of view.

8. It could be a self-portrait

Since there are no descriptions of the model from which this sketch was drawn, some art historians believe that Leonardo drew the “Vitruvian Man” from himself.

9. The Vitruvian Man Had a Hernia

Imperial College London surgeon Hutan Ashrafyan, 521 years after the creation of the famous drawing, established that the man depicted in the sketch had an inguinal hernia, which could lead to his death.

10. To understand the full meaning of the drawing, you need to read the notes to it

When the sketch was originally discovered in Lernardo's notebook, next to it were the artist's notes on human proportions, which read: "The architect Vitruvius states in his work on architecture that the dimensions of the human body are distributed according to the following principle: the width of 4 fingers is equal to 1 palm, foot is 4 palms, a cubit is 6 palms, the full height of a person is 4 cubits or 24 palms... Vitruvius used the same measurements in the construction of his buildings."

11. The body is drawn with measuring lines

If you look closely at the chest, arms and face of the person in the drawing, you will notice straight lines marking the proportions that Leonardo wrote about in his notes. For example, the part of the face from the bottom of the nose to the eyebrows makes up a third of the face, as does the part of the face from the bottom of the nose to the chin and from the eyebrows to the line where the hair begins to grow.

12. The sketch has other, less esoteric names

The sketch is also called the "Canon of Proportions" or "Proportions of a Man".

13. Vitruvian Man poses 16 poses at once

At first glance, you can see only two poses: a standing person with his legs together and his arms outstretched, and a standing person with his legs apart and his arms raised. But part of the genius of Leonardo's depiction is that there are 16 poses depicted simultaneously in one drawing.

14. Leonardo da Vinci's creation was used to depict modern problems

Irish artist John Quigley used the iconic image to illustrate the issue of global warming. To do this, he depicted a many times enlarged copy of the Vitruvian Man on the ice in the Arctic Ocean.

15. The original sketch rarely appears in public

Copies can be found literally everywhere, but the original is too fragile to be displayed in public. The Vitruvian Man is usually kept under lock and key in the Galleria dell'Accademia in Venice.

Leonardo da Vinci and his Vitruavian Man.

The Vitruvian Man is a drawing made by Leonardo Da Vinci around 1490-1492, as an illustration for a book dedicated to the works of Vitruvius. The drawing is accompanied by explanatory notes in one of his journals. It depicts the figure of a naked man in two superimposed positions: with his arms spread to the sides, describing a circle and a square. The drawing and text are sometimes called canonical proportions.

1. Leonardo never intended to show off his Vitruvian Man.

Leonardo da Vinci.

The sketch was discovered in one of the personal notebooks of the Renaissance master. In fact, Leonardo drew the sketch for his own research and did not even suspect that he would one day be admired. However, today The Vitruvian Man is one of the artist's most famous works, along with The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa.

2. Combining art and science

3. Leonardo wasn’t the first to try to illustrate Vitruvius’ theories.

Modern scholars believe that in the 15th century and subsequent decades there were many people who tried to express this idea in visual form.

4. Perhaps the drawing was not only made by Leonardo himself

5. Circle and square have their own hidden meaning

In their mathematical studies, Vitruvius and Leonardo described not only the proportions of man, but also the proportions of all creation. Leonardo wrote in a notebook from 1492: “Ancient man was the world in miniature. Since man is composed of earth, water, air and fire, his body resembles a microcosm of the Universe.”

6. “The Vitruvian Man” is just one of many sketches

In order to improve his art and better understand how the world around him worked, Leonardo painted many people to form an idea of ideal proportions.

7. Vitruvian Man - the ideal man

8. It could be a self-portrait

Since there are no descriptions of the model from which this sketch was drawn, some art historians believe that Leonardo drew the “Vitruvian Man” from himself.

9. The Vitruvian Man Had a Hernia

10. To understand the full meaning of the drawing, you need to read the notes to it

When the sketch was originally discovered in Lernardo's notebook, next to it were the artist's notes regarding human proportions, which read: “The architect Vitruvius states in his work on architecture that the dimensions of the human body are distributed according to the following principle: the width of 4 fingers is equal to 1 palm, foot is 4 palms, a cubit is 6 palms, the full height of a person is 4 cubits or 24 palms... Vitruvius used the same measurements in the construction of his buildings.”

11. The body is drawn with measuring lines

12. The sketch has other, less esoteric names

The sketch is also called the “Canon of Proportions” or “Proportions of a Man.”

13. Vitruvian Man poses 16 poses at once

14. Leonardo da Vinci's creation was used to depict modern problems

Irish artist John Quigley used the iconic image to illustrate the issue of global warming. To do this, he depicted a many times enlarged copy of the Vitruvian Man on the ice in the Arctic Ocean.

15. The original sketch rarely appears in public

Copies can be found literally everywhere, but the original is too fragile to be displayed in public. The Vitruvian Man is kept under lock and key in the Galleria dell'Accademia in Venice.