Leonardo da Vinci and his famous Vitruvian Man in a Circle. Leonardo Da Vinci

"Vitruvian Man" refers to the well-known illustration by Leonardo da Vinci to the book about the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius. The picture was posted in the author's diary and contained a double image of a naked man. The figures are superimposed on each other, but differ in the position of the arms and legs. Leonardo accompanied the image of the Vitruvian Man detailed description. Now the picture is stored in a gallery in Florence and is considered a model of "canonical proportions".

Question of authorship

One of the main mysteries of the legendary Vitruvian Man is the question of who actually created him. In 2012, there were claims that the illustration was not drawn by Leonardo at all. Estimated Author famous image maybe his friend, the talented architect Giacomo Andrea de Ferrara. Just in the 90s of the XV century - the time of the creation of the Vitruvian Man - he worked on the theme of proportions.
Claudio Sgarbi, an architectural historian from Italy, is sure that it was Giacomo who drew the illustration. Leonardo could be interested in his work, and then make his own edits to it, or simply redraw a person, improving his contours. What actually happened in the distant XV century has not yet been precisely established.

Who was the model

No descriptions of the model with which the Vitruvian Man could have been drawn have survived. There is no evidence that during the indicated period of time Leonardo painted an image from someone naked man. Perhaps the model was the author himself.
Leonardo could draw himself in rare moments of leisure. The process of displaying his own naked body on paper was not exhibited by the master for show, therefore there were no witnesses of his work on the Vitruvian Man. Art historians believe that Leonardo embellished reality a little for the glory of pure science. After all, his task was to create an Ideal, not a reflection of reality.

What do circle and square mean

The greatest controversy is the question of why the author inscribed the Vitruvian Man in these geometric figures. In Leonardo's diary there is an entry that a man ancient world was a microcosm, "the world in miniature".
The circle and square, as the basic figures of geometry, reflect the patterns existing in the Universe. It was quite natural that the artist wanted to calculate the proportions of the ideal human body using the mathematical laws of the ratio of the sides of these figures.

Unsolved cipher

Leonardo is well known for his love of riddles and ciphers. Modern scientists and art historians believe that the creation of the Vitruvian Man was also not without secret signs. The most obvious is the five-pointed star, which is the figure of a man. "Rays" are the character's head, arms, and legs.
The 5-pointed star, or pentacle, was considered in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance protective amulet. The same figure with a person inscribed in it still in Ancient Rome symbolized the god Mars. A similar image can be found in the German scientist Agrippa Nettesheim ("Agrippa's Pentagrammaton").
Some ordinary people mistakenly believe that the star hidden in the figure of the Vitruvian Man testifies to the artist’s interest in occult sciences. In fact, Satanists use an inverted star, the seal of the goat-like idol of Baphomet, in their rituals. But this symbol is hardly relevant to Leonardo's work on the structure of the human body.

Vitruvian Man is still the subject of close scrutiny. The image, created by the genius of Leonardo da Vinci, contains many mysteries and raises many questions.

One of the factors affecting the visual perception of a person is certain relationships between the components of the whole. But the Vitruvian Man is not only an image of the ideal proportions of the human body. Work the legendary Leonardo da Vinci is filled with deep philosophical, symbolic, spiritual meaning.

History of appearance

The pencil drawing was made Italian master when studying the works of a citizen of Rome, the architect Mark Vitruvius. exact date no one knows the writing of these works, but they are usually dated to the first century BC. In one of the books of Vitruvius, in detail describes the ideal proportions of the human body. However, the work does not contain any illustrations.

Before Leonardo da Vinci, many illustrators tried to translate the content of the notes into images, including the friend of the great master Giacomo Andrea da Ferrara. Documentary evidence is known that friends discussed among themselves the works of the Roman architect.

Known to everyone in modern times, the Vitruvian Man is very similar to Giacomo's drawing. However, the essence of the work of Leonardo da Vinci is completely different. This is not just an illustration of the text. It's at the same time treatise and a work of art.

The union of the spiritual and the material

One of the obvious differences between Leonardo da Vinci's drawing and others is the position of a person, his place in a circle and a square. The image contains not one, but several figures at once. Moreover, when the pose changes, the center of the picture also shifts: it is either the center of the square (for a figure with legs brought together), or the center of a circle (for a person with outstretched legs and arms).

The reduced legs of the figure are on the side of the square, which is tangent to the circle. Researchers see in this the duality of the Vitruvian man as a divine, but still earthly being, close to material reality.

Another detail of the drawing shows how the artist distinguishes between the spiritual and material principles in a person: the measuring lines refer only to the figure inscribed in a square. A person inscribed in a circle, as a divine and spiritual being, is not related to various measures of measurement, and perhaps, according to Leonardo's plan, cannot be.

Mysteries of the Vitruvian Man

There is a version that the creation of a picture is related to work Italian artist over the Shroud of Jesus Christ. It was at this time that she was master of genius. He was engaged in the study and restoration of historical relics.

Researchers believe that the perfect proportions of the body of Christ inspired the master to embody them in the drawing. The Vitruvian Man is a depiction of the divine proportions of the human body.

The position of the male figure, its presence at the same time in the middle of the circle and in the middle of the square suggests that for the great Leonardo, man is the center of the Universe, the image of God, embodied in reality.

Vitruvian man in modern times is perceived as a symbol of the natural symmetry of the human body and the entire universe, material and spiritual, ideal and rational. The location of a human being simultaneously inside a circle and a square leads the viewer to an understanding of the inseparable connection between a person and the Universe, between his inner (spiritual) and surrounding (material) world.

Creating works of art is impossible without observing strict ratios and proportions. They do not appear from nowhere, they are created by nature itself. The Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci is one of the brightest illustrations of the laws of harmony to which the entire Universe is subject.

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

Drawn by a famous thinker and figure of his time, he still causes a lot of controversy and questions.

Scientists have been considering 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, far from all the secrets have been solved.

History of occurrence

The famous sketch was born back in 1492. Few people know, but the Vitruvian Man is an illustration of a famous handwritten work of 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 the proportions of the human body with the architecture of buildings, he was sure that the proportions of the human body are constant and easy to calculate. It was thanks to his work and Da Vinci's illustration that the proportionality scale was invented.

To date, the drawing is stored 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 only a narrow circle of scientists can see it.

Peculiarities

Why is Vitruvian Man so interesting? There are many drawings 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 the mystery. Leonardo believed in the unique number "phi" due 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 perfect proportions bodies in two different provisions 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 apart, in a circle. center of various 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 of unraveling the sketch is that it can be viewed from different sides: spiritual, mathematical, philosophical, symbolic and so on. In each individual case, there are all new features that excite the minds of modern scientists.

• Often a drawing is used as a kind of canon of internal and external symmetry in various sciences: mathematics, symbolism, teachings about the universe and the universe;
• 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;
• To date, 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;
• Hidden meaning scientists see a sketch not only in a person, but also in a circle and a square, but they have not yet been able to unravel it;
• In the figure, there are not two poses of a person, but 16, although at first glance this cannot be said;
• Whether there was a model with which Leonardo or Vitruvian man painted - fantasy is still unknown. The only opinion that remains is that the image conveys the ideal of the human body and proportions from the point of view of the author.

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

1. Leonardo never intended to flaunt his "Vitruvian Man"

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

2. Combination of art and science

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

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

As modern scholars believe, there were many people in the 15th century and subsequent decades who tried to capture this idea in visual form.

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

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

5. The circle and the 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 the entire creation. Leonardo's entry was found in a notebook from 1492: " ancient man was the world in miniature. Since man is made up of earth, water, air and fire, his body resembles a microcosm of the universe."

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

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

7. Vitruvian man - the ideal of a man

Who served as a 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 the point of view of mathematics.

8. It could be a self-portrait

Since there is no description of the model from which this sketch was drawn, some art historians believe that Leonardo painted the "Vitruvian Man" from himself.

9 Vitruvian Man Had A Hernia

Khutan Ashrafyan, a surgeon at Imperial College London, 521 years after the creation of the famous drawing, found that the person depicted in the sketch had an inguinal hernia, which could lead to his death.

10. To understand the full meaning of the picture, 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 measurements 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 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 lined with measured lines

If you look closely at the chest, arms and face of the person in the drawing, you can see straight lines that mark 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 is a third of the face, as is 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 "The Proportions of a Man".

13. The Vitruvian Man does 16 poses at the same time.

At first glance, only two poses can be seen: standing man, who moved his legs and spread his arms, and a standing man with legs apart and arms raised. But part of the genius of Leonardo's depiction is that 16 poses are depicted simultaneously in one drawing.

14. Leonardo da Vinci's creation was used to represent the problems of our time.

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

15. The original sketch is rarely seen 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 Accademia Gallery in Venice.

Leonardo da Vinci
Vitruvian Man, Study of proportions, from Vitruvius's De Architectura
approximately 1490-1492
Brown ink, metallic pencil, pen
34.3 x 24.5 cm (13.50 x 9.65)
Academic Gallery, Venice, Italy
Venice Gallerie dell'Accademie

Vitruvian Man- drawing made Leonardo Da Vinci around 1490-92, as an illustration for a book on labors Mark Vitruvius. The drawing is accompanied by explanatory inscriptions in one of his journals.. It depicts the figure of a naked man in two superimposed positions: with arms spread apart, describing a circle and a square.

Drawing and text are sometimes referred to as canonical proportions.

When examining the drawing, it can be seen that the combination of arms and legs is actually four various poses. A pose with arms spread apart and legs not spread apart fits into a square ("Square of the Ancients").

On the other hand, a pose with arms and legs spread out to the sides fits into a circle. And, although, when changing positions, it seems that the center of the figure is moving, in fact, the navel of the figure, which is its real center, remains motionless.

Subsequently, according to the same methodology, Corbusier compiled his own scale of proportioning, which influenced the aesthetics of the architecture of the 20th century.

Text in the picture:

"Vetruvio architetto mette nelle sue opera d'architettura che le misure dell'omo…" "The architect Vitruvius laid the dimensions of man in his architecture..."

In the accompanying notes, Leonardo da Vinci indicated that the drawing was created to study the proportions of the (male) human body, as described in the treatises of the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius, who wrote the following about the human body:

Nature ordered the following proportions in the structure of the human body:

Four finger length equal to the length of the palm,
four palms equal to the foot
six palms make up one cubit,
four cubits- man's height.
four cubits equal to a step, and twenty four palms equal to the height of a person.
If you spread your legs so that the distance between them is 1/14 of a human height, and raise your hands so that the middle fingers are at the level of the crown, then the central point of the body, equidistant from all limbs, will be your navel.

The space between the legs apart and the floor forms an equilateral triangle.

Length arms outstretched will be equal to growth.
Distance from the roots of the hair to the tip of the chin equal to one tenth of human height.
Distance from top of chest to top of head is 1/6 of the height.
The distance from the top of the chest to the roots of the hair - 1/7.
Distance from nipples to crown is exactly a quarter of the growth.
Shoulder Width- an eighth of growth.
Distance from elbow to fingertips- 1/5 height, from the elbow to the armpit - 1/8.
Whole arm length is 1/10 of the height.
Beginning of the genitals is right in the middle of the body.
Foot- 1/7 of the growth.
Distance from toe to kneecap equal to a quarter of the height, and distance from the patella to the beginning of the genitals also equal to a quarter of the growth.
Distance from tip of chin to nose And from hair roots to eyebrows will be the same and, like the length of the ear, equal to 1/3 of the face. Reopening mathematical proportions of the human body in the 15th century, made by Leonardo Da Vinci and others, was one of the great achievements that preceded Italian Renaissance. The drawing itself is often used as an implicit symbol of the internal symmetry of the human body, and further, of the universe as a whole.