Friday 13/3/20 - Vitruvian Man

Created by Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci circa 1490, the Vitruvian Man (Le proporzioni del corpo umano secondo Vitruvio) is a drawing that represents the human body proportions considered ideal. One significant feature is due to the way it was rendered, there are 16 simultaneous poses in the drawing. As the name suggests, it is based on description by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius. More specifically Book III of De architectura. He had a belief that the human body could fit perfectly into a square and circle. This was used in combination with the measurements Leonardo took of male models, leading to some to question whether the title is appropriate.

Vitruvius noted that these (according to https://mymodernmet.com/leonardo-da-vinci-vitruvian-man/) were the perfect human body proportions:

• four fingers equal one palm

• four palms equal one foot

• six palms make one cubit

• four cubits equal a man’s height

• four cubits equal one pace

• 24 palms equal one man

This artwork is a combination of mathematics and art, a representation of his understanding of proportion. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica online 'Leonardo envisaged the great picture chart of the human body he had produced through his anatomical drawings and Vitruvian Man as a cosmografia del minor mondo (“cosmography of the microcosm”). He believed the workings of the human body to be an analogy, in microcosm, for the workings of the universe.'

Sourced from: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leonardo-da-Vinci/Anatomical-studies-and-drawings

This is considered to be one of the most important Italian Renaissance works, due to this and the fragile nature of the work it is rarely on display. It is currently kept in the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice, Italy where it has been housed since 1822. Much like a lot of da Vinci's work, it holds much significance and is a very iconic piece of art. There have also been various redesigns of it in a satirical nature.

Personally, since my project won't be using anatomy I don't have much I can actually take from this research. It interests me like a lot of artwork from the past however, since my focus is on the aspect of film and cinematography I don't have a place I can use it. Though that doesn't imply I won't explore this further in future.