leonardo da vincis vitruvian man. the 'vitruvian man' is a famous drawing with...
TRANSCRIPT
LeonardoDa Vinci’s
Vitruvian Man
The 'Vitruvian Man' is a famous
drawing with accompanying
notes by Leonardo da Vinci
made around the year 1492 in
one of his journals. It depicts a
naked male figure in two
superimposed positions with his
arms and legs apart and
simultaneously 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 on display in the Gallerie dell'
Accademia in Venice, Italy.
According to Leonardo's notes in
the accompanying text (written
in mirror writing) it was made as
a study of the proportions of the
(male) human body as
described by the Ancient Roman
architect Vitruvius, who wrote
that in the human body:
Arm Span
Height
“…the length of a man's outspread arms is equal to his height …”
The Vitruvian theory contains a
total of 10 ratios between
different parts of the body.
Can you verify four of these
ratios using data collected from
your class?
Here is a reminder of the first:
Height is equal to arm
span
Arm Span
Height
2.
Length from
the elbow to
the end of the
hand is equal
to one quarter
of height
Height
Elbow to end of hand
3.
Length of the
hand is one
tenth of
height
Height
Hand
Foot
4.
Length of the
foot is one
seventh of
height
Is the Vitruvian theory that
height is equal to arm span
true for British students
today?
Complete the following
tables by making the
appropriate measurements
of yourself and your
classmates.
Pupil Gender HeightArm Span
Ratio
Height / Arm Span M or F centimetres Fraction * Decimal
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10* Leave fraction un-simplified
Height is equal to arm span
Click in a cell to enter data
Pupil Gender HeightElbow to
HandRatio
Height / Elbow to Hand
M or F centimetres Fraction * Decimal
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10* Leave fraction un-simplified
Elbow to hand is equals one quarter of height
Click in a cell to enter data
Pupil Gender HeightHand
LengthRatio
Height / HandM or F centimetres Fraction * Decimal
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10* Leave fraction un-simplified
Length of the hand is one tenth of height
Click in a cell to enter data
Pupil Gender HeightFoot
LengthRatio
Height / FootM or F centimetres Fraction * Decimal
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10* Leave fraction un-simplified
Length of the foot is one seventh of height
Click in a cell to enter data
Some questions to think about…
What do you notice from the table of data?
Which pupils most closely fit Leonardo’s theory?
Not everybody has an arm span / height ratio equal to 1.Why do you think this is? Do you think the results would be the same for babies or seniors?
Who might be interested in your conclusions?