Vitruvian man - wikipedia Vitruvian man Vitruvian Man Artist Leonardo da Vinci Year c. 1490 Type Pen and ink with wash over metalpoint on paper 34.6 cm × 25.5 cm ( 13.6 in × 10.0 in ) Location Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice The Vitruvian Man ( Italian : Le proporzioni del corpo umano secondo Vitruvio, which is translated to `` The proportions of the human body according to Vitruvius '' ), or simply L'Uomo Vitruviano ( Italian pronunciation : ( ˈlwɔːmo vitruˈvjaːno ) ), is a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci around 1490. It is accompanied by notes based on the work of the architect Vitruvius. The drawing, which is in pen and ink on paper, depicts a man in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart and inscribed in a circle and square. The drawing and text are sometimes called the Canon of Proportions or, less often, Proportions of Man. It is kept in the Gabinetto dei disegni e stampe of the Gallerie dell'Accademia, in Venice, Italy, under reference 228. Like most works on paper, it is displayed to the public only occasionally. The drawing is based on the correlations of ideal human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise De architectura. Vitruvius described the human figure as being the principal source of proportion among the classical orders of architecture. Vitruvius determined that the ideal body should be eight heads high. Leonardo 's drawing is traditionally named in honor of the architect. Contents 1 Subject and title 2 Evidence of collaboration 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References 6 Sources 7 External links Subject and title This image demonstrates the blend of mathematics and art during the Renaissance and demonstrates Leonardo 's deep understanding of proportion. In addition, this picture represents a cornerstone of Leonardo 's attempts to relate man to nature. Encyclopædia Britannica online states, `` 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 for the workings of the universe. '' According to Leonardo 's preview in the accompanying text, written in mirror writing, it was made as a study of the proportions of the ( male ) human body as described in Vitruvius. The text is in two parts, above and below the image. The first paragraph of the upper part reports Vitruvius : `` Vetruvio, architect, puts in his work on architecture that the measurements of man are in nature distributed in this manner, that is : a palm is four fingers a foot is four palms a cubit is six palms four cubits make a man a pace is four cubits a man is 24 palms and these measurements are in his buildings ``. The second paragraph reads : `` if you open your legs enough that your head is lowered by one - fourteenth of your height and raise your hands enough that your extended fingers touch the line of the top of your head, know that the centre of the extended limbs will be the navel, and the space between the legs will be an equilateral triangle ''. The lower section of text gives these proportions : the length of the outspread arms is equal to the height of a man from the hairline to the bottom of the chin is one - tenth of the height of a man from below the chin to the top of the head is one - eighth of the height of a man from above the chest to the top of the head is one - sixth of the height of a man from above the chest to the hairline is one - seventh of the height of a man. the maximum width of the shoulders is a quarter of the height of a man. from the breasts to the top of the head is a quarter of the height of a man. the distance from the elbow to the tip of the hand is a quarter of the height of a man. the distance from the elbow to the armpit is one - eighth of the height of a man. the length of the hand is one - tenth of the height of a man. the root of the penis is at half the height of a man. the foot is one - seventh of the height of a man. from below the foot to below the knee is a quarter of the height of a man. from below the knee to the root of the penis is a quarter of the height of a man. the distances from below the chin to the nose and the eyebrows and the hairline are equal to the ears and to one - third of the face. The points determining these proportions are marked with lines on the drawing. Below the drawing itself is a single line equal to a side of the square and divided into four cubits, of which the outer two are divided into six palms each, two of which have the mirror - text annotation `` palmi '' ; the outermost two palms are divided into four fingers each, and are each annotated `` diti ''. Leonardo is clearly illustrating Vitruvius ' De architectura 3.1. 2 - 3 which reads : For the human body is so designed by nature that the face, from the chin to the top of the forehead and the lowest roots of the hair, is a tenth part of the whole height ; the open hand from the wrist to the tip of the middle finger is just the same ; the head from the chin to the crown is an eighth, and with the neck and shoulder from the top of the breast to the lowest roots of the hair is a sixth ; from the middle of the breast to the summit of the crown is a fourth. If we take the height of the face itself, the distance from the bottom of the chin to the under side of the nostrils is one third of it ; the nose from the under side of the nostrils to a line between the eyebrows is the same ; from there to the lowest roots of the hair is also a third, comprising the forehead. The length of the foot is one sixth of the height of the body ; of the forearm, one fourth ; and the breadth of the breast is also one fourth. The other members, too, have their own symmetrical proportions, and it was by employing them that the famous painters and sculptors of antiquity attained to great and endless renown. Similarly, in the members of a temple there ought to be the greatest harmony in the symmetrical relations of the different parts to the general magnitude of the whole. Then again, in the human body the central point is naturally the navel. For if a man be placed flat on his back, with his hands and feet extended, and a pair of compasses centred at his navel, the fingers and toes of his two hands and feet will touch the circumference of a circle described therefrom. And just as the human body yields a circular outline, so too a square figure may be found from it. For if we measure the distance from the soles of the feet to the top of the head, and then apply that measure to the outstretched arms, the breadth will be found to be the same as the height, as in the case of plane surfaces which are perfectly square. Leonardo 's drawing combines a careful reading of the ancient text with his own observation of actual human bodies. In drawing the circle and square he correctly observes that the square can not have the same centre as the circle, the navel, but is somewhat lower in the anatomy. This adjustment is the innovative part of Leonardo 's drawing and what distinguishes it from earlier illustrations. He also departs from Vitruvius by drawing the arms raised to a position in which the fingertips are level with the top of the head, rather than Vitruvius 's much lower angle, in which the arms form lines passing through the navel. The drawing itself is often used as an implied symbol of the essential symmetry of the human body, and by extension, the symmetry of the universe as a whole. It may be noticed by examining the drawing that the combination of arm and leg positions actually creates sixteen different poses. The pose with the arms straight out and the feet together is seen to be inscribed in the superimposed square. On the other hand, the `` spread - eagle '' pose is seen to be inscribed in the superimposed circle. The drawing was purchased from Gaudenzio de ' Pagave by Giuseppe Bossi, who described, discussed and illustrated it in his monograph on Leonardo 's The Last Supper, Del Cenacolo di Leonardo da Vinci libri quattro ( 1810 ). The following year he excerpted the section of his monograph concerned with the Vitruvian Man and published it as Delle opinioni di Leonardo da Vinci intorno alla simmetria de'Corpi Umani ( 1811 ), with a dedication to his friend Antonio Canova. After Bossi 's death in 1815 the Vitruvian Man was acquired in 1822, along with a number of his drawings, by the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, Italy, and has remained there since. Evidence of collaboration Evidence has been found that Leonardo might have been influenced by the work of Giacomo Andrea de Ferrara, a Renaissance architect, an expert on Vitruvius and a close friend. Giacomo Andrea 's original drawing has only one set of arms and legs, but Leonardo 's has the position of his man 's arms and legs change. Another possible influence for Leonardo 's depiction may have been the codex depictions of human proportions in architecture by Francesco di Giorgio, a Sienese architect who compiled, in 1470, an unpublished treatise on civil and military architecture ( Trattato di Architettura Civile e Militare ). Figures from Francesco di Giorgio 's treatise Vitruvian man. Church Design Castle Design See also Anthropometry Body proportions Leonardo 's robot Modulor Notes Jump up ^ Above the image : Vetruvio, architecto, mecte nella sua op ( er ) a d'architectura, chelle misure dell'omo sono dalla natura disstribuite inquessto modo cioè che 4 diti fa 1 palmo, et 4 palmi fa 1 pie, 6 palmi fa un chubito, 4 cubiti fa 1 homo, he 4 chubiti fa 1 passo, he 24 palmi fa 1 homo ecqueste misure son ne ' sua edifiti. Settu ap ( r ) i ta ( n ) to le ga ( m ) be chettu chali da chapo 1 / 14 di tua altez ( z ) ae ap ( r ) ie alza tanto le b ( r ) acia che cholle lunge dita tu tochi la linia della somita del chapo, sappi che ' l cie ( n ) tro delle stremita delle ap ( er ) te me ( m ) bra fia il bellicho. Ello spatio chessi truova infralle ga ( m ) be fia tria ( n ) golo equilatero Jump up ^ Below the image : Tanto ap ( r ) e l'omo nele b ( r ) accia, qua ( n ) to ella sua alteza. Dal nasscimento de chapegli al fine di sotto del mento è il decimo dell'altez ( z ) a del ( l ) ' uomo. Dal di socto del mento alla som ( m ) i - tà del chapo he l'octavo dell'altez ( z ) a dell'omo. Dal di sop ( r ) a del pecto alla som ( m ) ità del chapo fia il sexto dell'omo. Dal di so - p ( r ) a del pecto al nasscime ( n ) to de chapegli fia la sectima parte di tucto l'omo. Dalle tette al di sop ( r ) a del chapo fia la quarta parte dell'omo. La mag ( g ) iore larg ( h ) ez ( z ) a delle spalli chontiene insè ( la oct ) la quarta parte dell'omo. Dal go - mito alla punta della mano fia la quarta parte dell'omo, da esso gomito al termine della isspalla fia la octava parte d'esso omo ; tucta la mano fia la decima parte dell'omo. Il menb ( r ) o birile nasscie nel mez ( z ) o dell'omo. Il piè fia la sectima parte dell'omo. Dal di socto del piè al di socto del ginochio fia la quarta parte dell'omo. Dal di socto del ginochio al nasscime ( n ) to del memb ( r ) o fia la quarta parte dell'omo. Le parti chessi truovano infra il me ( n ) to e ' l naso e ' l nasscime ( n ) to de chapegli e quel de cigli ciasscuno spatio p ( er ) se essimile alloreche è ' l terzo del volto References Jump up ^ The Secret Language of the Renaissance - Richard Stemp Jump up ^ `` The Vitruvian man ''. Leonardodavinci.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2010 - 08 - 20. Jump up ^ `` Da Vinci 's Code ''. Witcombe.sbc.edu. Retrieved 2010 - 08 - 20. Jump up ^ Heydenreich, Ludwig Heinrich ( 2017 - 04 - 30 ). `` Leonardo da Vinci ''. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Retrieved 2017 - 06 - 24. Jump up ^ `` Ten Books on Architecture. Book III, Chapter I, `` On Symmetry : In Temples And In The Human Body '' ``. Gutenberg.org. 2006 - 12 - 31. Retrieved 2010 - 08 - 20. Jump up ^ `` The Vitruvian Man and the squaring of the circle detailed ''. Arthistory.about.com. 2010 - 06 - 15. Retrieved 2010 - 08 - 20. Jump up ^ `` Bibliographic reference ''. The Whole Universe Book. Retrieved 2011 - 11 - 30. Jump up ^ Bossi, Giuseppe ( 1810 ) Del Cenacolo di Leonardo da Vinci libri quattro ( in Italian ) Milano : Stamperia Reale p. 208ff Jump up ^ `` Bibliographic reference ''. Ursusbooks.com. Retrieved 2010 - 08 - 20. Jump up ^ `` Bibliographical notice, no. 319 ''. Lib.rochester.edu. Retrieved 2010 - 08 - 20. Jump up ^ `` LEONARDO DA VINCI. THE UNIVERSAL MAN ''. venezia.net. Retrieved 2014 - 02 - 13. Jump up ^ `` The Other Vitruvian Man ''. Smithsonian Magazine. 2012 - 02 - 01. Jump up ^ `` Did Leonardo da Vinci copy his famous ' Vitruvian Man ' ? ''. 2012 - 01 - 31. Sources Lester, Toby ( 2012 ). Da Vinci 's Ghost : Genius, Obsession, and How Leonardo Created the World in His Own Image. New York : Free Press. ISBN 9781439189238. External links Look up Vitruvian Man in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vitruvian Man. Willamette University site on Vitruvian Man Stanford University site on Vitruvian Man Leonardo 's Vitruvian Man Vitruvian Man Video Contemporary interpretation of Vitruvian Man Leonardo da Vinci : anatomical drawings from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, exhibition catalog fully online as PDF from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on Vitruvian Man ( see index ) Leonardo da Vinci List of works Science and inventions Personal life Paintings Medusa The Annunciation The Baptism of Christ The Madonna of the Carnation Ginevra de ' Benci Benois Madonna The Adoration of the Magi St. Jerome in the Wilderness Madonna Litta Virgin of the Rocks Portrait of a Musician Lady with an Ermine La Belle Ferronnière Salvator Mundi Madonna of the Yarnwinder The Virgin and Child with St. Anne Mona Lisa Head of a Woman ( La Scapigliata ) Leda and the Swan St. John the Baptist Works on walls The Last Supper Sala delle Asse The Battle of Anghiari Sculptures Sforza monument ( unexecuted ) Horse and Rider Rearing Horse and Mounted Warrior Works on paper Vitruvian Man Portrait of a Young Fiancée The Virgin and Child with St Anne and St John the Baptist Self - portrait Studies of the Fetus in the Womb Manuscripts Codex Arundel Codex Atlanticus Codex on the Flight of Birds Codex Leicester Codex Madrid Codex Trivulzianus A Treatise on Painting Other projects De divina proportione Architonnerre Leonardo 's crossbow Leonardo 's fighting vehicle Leonardo 's robot Leonardo 's self - propelled cart Viola organista Leonardeschi Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio Cesare da Sesto Giampietrino Giovanni Agostino da Lodi Bernardino Luini Cesare Magni Marco d'Oggiono Francesco Melzi Giovanni Ambrogio de Predis Salaì Andrea Solari Posthumous fame Cultural references Mona Lisa replicas and reinterpretations Things named after da Vinci Category Mathematics and art Forms Algorithmic art Anamorphic art Computer art 4D art Fractal art Islamic geometric patterns Girih Jali Muqarnas Zellige Knotting Architecture Geodesic dome Islamic Mughal Pyramid Vastu shastra Music Origami Textiles String art Sculpture Tiling Artworks List of works designed with the golden ratio Continuum Octacube Pi Pi in the Sky Buildings Hagia Sophia Pantheon Parthenon Pyramid of Khufu Sagrada Família St Mary 's Cathedral Sydney Opera House Taj Mahal Artists Renaissance Paolo Uccello Piero della Francesca Albrecht Dürer Leonardo da Vinci Vitruvian Man Parmigianino Self - portrait in a Convex Mirror 19th -- 20th Century William Blake The Ancient of Days Newton ) Jean Metzinger Danseuse au café L'Oiseau bleu Man Ray René Magritte La condition humaine Salvador Dalí Crucifixion The Swallow 's Tail Giorgio de Chirico M.C. 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Question: who drew the human body during the renaissance
Answer: Leonardo da Vinci