Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1898-11-18
Mathematics Of the Human Figure


iat!"n~ oi the Rcna;>>ancc,' brought
out some remarkable facts concern
inE til" human form not generally I'M
dcr>tood anon. casual readers and Oh
servers
Among other things it wa shown
that the rule, Observed hv ancient
seal ptor> and painter. were not arll-
tlary, nor wcrc they OF Il tentative
character. bat founded upon princi-
PIE, dc,!Hrcd directly from strictly
mathematical re- arch.
Greek and Roman artist, did not de-
pend upon tine Imaginative faculty
when chi>ciing ont their beautiful ere
atoms from marble or d"lincatIng the
human outline and features upon can
va>. On the contrary, every stroke of
tn" mallct and sweep OF the brush were
>ubordinatcd hy rigid formulas derived
from actual measurements ri living
models.
! Thus it was that some Eurlidian
>carchcr after truth discovered that in
the figure Of a perfectly formed man,
/ the tips Of the shoulders and the um
| bilious constituted the vcrticcS Of an
cquilatcral triangle. In the case oi Il
/ beautiful woman, likewise, the dis
lance between the papllac was the
same as the distance from either papilla
to the umbilicus, or from the umbili-
Gus to the pubes. 1t was declared to be
a rigid principle that from the top OF a
mans head to the sole of his foot,
when standing erect, should be the
same as the distance between the tips
OF his middle fingers when his arms
were extended horizontally; and with
his arms hanging down, the palms OF
the hands should reach point mid
way between the hip and knee. The
mans shoulders should be little less
sloping than those of the woman; the
angle OF depression being about twenty
degrees.
Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci and
Albrecht Durer, after thorough cent
parative study of the human being
and of antique statues, formulated the
following rules as to the relative pro-
portions of the perfect female form:
The height should be five feet five
inches. With the arms extended as
in the male figure, the measurement
from finger tip to finger tip should be
equal to her height. From the pubes
to the ground she should measure just
what she measures from the pubes to
the top of her head. a woman OF this
height should measure twenty-four
inches around the waist and thirty
four inches around the chest if meas.
ured under the arms. The knee
should be midway between the pubes
and the floor. The circumference of
the upper arm should be thirteen
inches, and that Of the wrist six inches.
The thigh should measure twenty-five
inches, the calf fourteen and one-half
inches, and the ankle eight inches.
The mammae should be nearly or
quite hemispherical, the chest promi-
nent and the waist gracefully curving
upon the hips.
The Apollo Belvedere and Venus de
Medici, are now by common consent of
the worlds critics, the finest repre-
sentatives of the human figure, male
and female, that have ever been pro-
duced in ancient or modern times.
This statue of Apollo is now standing
in the apartment Belvedere OF the
Pope's palace, at Rome, and hence
comes its name. 1t is supposed to be
a work of Roman art OF about the first
century of the Christian era. The
name of the artist who executed it is
unknown. The statue of Venus de
Medici is so called from its having
been in the possession OF the princes
of that name in Rome, when it first at
tracted public attention, about two
hundred years ago. An inscription on
the pedestal states that it was the
work of Cleomenes, an Athenian
sculptor who fourished about 200 B.
C.. Some critics, however, regard the
authenticity of this inscription as
, doubtful.
Tradition has it that the artist wa.
employed by public authority to make
a statue exhibiting the perfection oil
; womanly beauty, and to aid him in
| his arduous task the finest models OF
young womanhood the city could turn
out stood before him as the work pro.
! crossed. Altogether, this marvellous
statue appeals to the beholder as a
beautiful dream, a song of delight, OF
idylic poem of the golden age.
To crafty the curiosity of our lady
friends We here append the principal
measurements of this celebrated statue