Vitruvian man proportions. Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci is a symbol of the Renaissance. He left a rich collection of drawings, technical inventions, research. The drawings of Leonardo da Vinci are of particular scientific and historical value. One of them - “The Vitruvian Man” - still evokes mystical awe. Let's figure out what message of the great artist is encoded in it.

“Vitruvian Man” by Leonardo da Vinci: description

Leonardo da Vinci, whose works embodied the worldview of the Renaissance, was not only a great artist and architect, but also an engineer and designer. His research was several centuries ahead of the development of science and technology.

At times it seems that many of Leonardo da Vinci's drawings and drawings were a mystical insight or manifestation of influence higher powers. How could a 15th century man construct aircraft or parachute, scuba gear, car? Namely, these drawings were discovered in the diaries of Leonardo da Vinci.

No less mysterious are his paintings. For more than five hundred years, art critics have been struggling with the mystery of Gioconda’s smile, unraveling the message captured in the painting “ last supper" Many are convinced that all of Leonardo's creations contain cryptograms.

Da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man" is one such drawing. Conspiracy theorists believe that it contains a secret message about some esoteric knowledge. It was this guess that was used American writer Dan Brown in the bestseller The Da Vinci Code.

According to the plot of the book, Professor Langdon discovered in the Louvre Museum the body of curator Jacques Saunière, who last minutes life drew a circle around himself with a marker: “The clarity of Saunière’s intentions cannot be denied. In the last minutes of his life, the curator tore off his clothes and positioned himself in a circle, deliberately copying Leonardo da Vinci’s famous drawing ‘The Vitruvian Man’.”

This painting by the great artist, according to Dan Brown, is a message that communicates the unity of the masculine and feminine principles.

What does the little man, whose drawing has been surprising the world for several centuries, actually look like, and what does it mean?

The mysterious sketch is an illustration to the works of the Roman city planner and engineer Vitruvius, whose notes the Italian painter and scientist used in practical work.

The drawing consists of two images that are superimposed on one another: a square and a circle, in the centers of which are inscribed the silhouettes of a man with outstretched arms and legs. In one position, his arms form 90 degrees and his legs stand straight, and in the second, his arms and legs form 45 degrees.

The drawing was not originally intended for public viewing. This was a working sketch from which Leonardo da Vinci calculated the proportions of the human body in order to correctly depict people in his canvases. Therefore, the entire sketch is lined with barely noticeable straight lines.

It is very skillfully done in ink. All proportions maintained by the Renaissance painter correspond to the calculations of Vitruvius.

Leonardo da Vinci believed that there was an ideal number "phi" - the number of God. It is this that ensures harmony and clear proportions of everything created by nature. This number also became significant for da Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man”. In fact, this sketch represents an ideal creature, since the ratio of the parts of its body determines the number “phi”.

Thus, there is no particular mystery in Leonardo da Vinci’s drawing. This is a talented sketch by an artist who sought to find harmony in nature and man, wanted to understand its laws and principles.

Leonardo da Vinci's Man: Little-Known Facts

What is mysterious about da Vinci's Vitruvian Man? Here are a few interesting facts related to this sketch:

Leonardo was not the first to depict a person according to the proportions calculated by Vitruvius. Before him, this was also done by the talented, but less famous architect Giacomo Andrea de Ferrara;

the drawing, as conceived by Leonardo da Vinci, was a symbol of the unity of two principles - material (square) and spiritual (circle). At the center of the universe is man. It consists of water, fire, earth and air, therefore it embodies the harmony of the world order;
it is not known who the sitter was for this sketch. It is believed that it was either the author himself or a model ideal man, created according to mathematical proportions calculated by Leonardo da Vinci;

a double image of a man in a drawing by an Italian scientist and painter simultaneously demonstrates 16 poses;
The Vitruvian Man is a cultural symbol of the era of modernism and postmodernity. Based on the model created by Leonardo, the French architect Le Corbusier created his scale of proportions, which became the standard in the art of the 20th century;
Da Vinci's sketch recreated by an Irish artist on ice Arctic Ocean. It was a shout-reminder to humanity that it is responsible for the state of the planet.

This famous drawing famous painter and the inventor is in the treasuries of the Venice Museum. It is practically never shown to the public. And the author himself did not count on such a stir around his creation.

Despite the subtext in this sketch, da Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man” is the embodiment of the worldview of the Renaissance, the reverence of Renaissance culture for antiquity, the desire to know nature, its harmony, laws, to know the person who embodied the essence of the world order.

Leonard Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man is an amazing drawing known all over the world.

Painted by a famous thinker and activist of his time, it still raises many debates and questions.

Scientists have been looking at it from different angles for many years, trying to understand and delve into the sketch, but it is still believed that not all of its features have been found and, moreover, not all of its secrets have been solved.

History of origin

The famous sketch was born back in 1492. Few people know, but the Vitruvian Man is an illustration of a famous manuscript work no less famous architect Vitruvius, but was intended for Da Vinci’s diary, called “The Canon of Proportions”.

The pencil sketch is a successful attempt to convey the truths of the great architect. Vitruvius compared proportions human body with the architecture of buildings, he was sure that the proportions of the human body were constant and easy to calculate. It was thanks to his work and Da Vinci's illustration that the proportionality scale was invented.

Today the drawing is kept in the Venice Museum. Exhibited as a unique exhibit very rarely (once every six months). It has the greatest historical value, for this reason the rest of the time it can only be seen by narrow circle scientists.

Peculiarities

Why is the Vitruvian Man so interesting? There are many drawings drawn famous personalities, including many other works by Leonardo Da Vinci, so why is this one so popular? Everything is quite simple - his fame is directly related to his mystery. Leonardo believed in unique number“phi” thanks to which everything in nature is created.

Throughout his life he tried to apply or use this proportion in architecture. Vitruvian Man was created according to all the canons of the number “phi” - this is an ideal creature. The picture shows a naked man with perfect proportions bodies in two different positions superimposed on each other.

A person is inscribed simultaneously in a circle and a square. A figure with legs together and arms apart stands in a square, and with arms and legs spread apart - in a circle. The center of different geometric shapes are different points of the human body. In the case of a circle, this is the navel, and in the case of a square, the genitals.

To some extent, the problem with solving the sketch is that it can be viewed from different sides: spiritual, mathematical, philosophical, symbolic and so on. In every special case There are new features that excite the minds of modern scientists.

Often the drawing is used as a kind of canon of internal and external symmetry in different sciences: mathematics, symbolism, teachings about the Universe and creation;
Sketch, unlike many famous works the author was made personally for Leonardo, and not for show. It was kept in his diaries and used for his own research;
Today, the work causes a lot of controversy, primarily because of Giacomo Andrea de Ferrar. Many believe that Leonardo's drawing is only a copy of Giacomo, others are sure that the sketch was drawn by both of them;
Scientists see the hidden meaning of the sketch not only in a person, but also in a circle and a square, but they have not yet been able to unravel it;
There are not two human poses in the drawing, but 16, although at first glance you cannot tell;
Whether there was a model from which Leonardo or the Vitruvian Man drew is a fantasy still unknown. The only consensus remains that the image conveys the ideal of the human body and proportions from the author’s point of view.

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. Picture 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 at the same time scientific work and a work of art, it 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 notebook 1492 Leonardo's recording was found: " Ancient man was a 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. 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 conscientious depiction of ideal male forms 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 full meaning 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, full height a person - 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: standing man, who has his legs together and his arms outstretched, and a standing man with his legs spread 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 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.

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.

2. Combining art and science

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

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. "Vitruvian Man" - 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

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

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

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.

It is worth noting that the work of the great da Vinci is also addressed contemporary artists. Yes, it was recently created

Leonardo da Vinci and his Vitruavian Man.

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

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

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.