Vitruvian Man
Place where the object is located
Cabinet of Drawings of the Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice
Story of the object
The artistic anatomy represented the attempt to implement the Anatomical Science through the ideal of beauty inherited from classical antiquity.
The artists witnessed the dissections live. This allowed them to learn about internal anatomy.
Michelangelo's works are an important testimony of this.
Unlike a scientist who in a body revives anatomical perfection, the artist sees lines and volumes, combination of proportions, harmony of elements.
A classic example is represented by the Vitruvian Man, a real study of the proportions of the human organism of which the work is a famous representation.
The name of the drawing, Vitruvius, comes from a Roman architect who lived in the 1st century BC.
Leonardo da Vinci's objective was to establish a relationship between human proportions and the principles of harmony enunciated by Vitruvius.
Leonardo wrote in a beautiful Renaissance vulgate with reference to the work: "This my representation of the human body will be demonstrated to you not otherwise than if you had the natural man in front. From the elbow to the tip of the hand is the fourth part of the man, from the elbow to the end of the shoulder is the eighth part of the man; the whole hand is the tenth part. The virile member is born in the middle of the man; the foot is the eighth part".
In the Renaissance there is a cooperation between artistic depictions and anatomy to represent the human body. Leonardo came into contact with two schools of anatomical sciences: 1) the artists' school of anatomy in Florence; 2) the doctors' school of anatomy in Milan and Pavia.
For Leonardo, bodily movements are due to the coordinated action of muscles, tendons, nerves and bones.
He conceived scientific investigation as an essential complementary activity to artistic activity and invited artists to expand their knowledge in the field of anatomy.
Of anatomical studies have come down to us about two hundred drawings.
Vitruvius, in his treatise De Architectura, had written that the perfect man can be
represented standing and with his arms open at the same time inside the two perfect figures of the circle that represents Heaven and the square that symbolizes the Earth.
Leonardo's man is placed in the center of a square, his legs in a vertical position, the
top of the head and arms open at 90° to the bust, touching the sides of the geometric figure.
The body, if extrapolated from the context of the other drawn limbs and the circle, appears in stable equilibrium. The quadrature implies a principle of order innate in man.
The circle, on the contrary, made up of infinite points, suggests the idea of movement. Therefore the second pair of limbs of Leonardo's man, resting on the circle, proposes a kinetic trend for the human figure that loses the characteristics of staticity to assume the idea of dynamism and movement.
The precisely outlined face, with its astonished look, suggests the idea of amazement and anguish that accompanies humanity at the moment in which it reflects on the Absolute and comes to terms with the ultimate meaning of their existence.
The artists witnessed the dissections live. This allowed them to learn about internal anatomy.
Michelangelo's works are an important testimony of this.
Unlike a scientist who in a body revives anatomical perfection, the artist sees lines and volumes, combination of proportions, harmony of elements.
A classic example is represented by the Vitruvian Man, a real study of the proportions of the human organism of which the work is a famous representation.
The name of the drawing, Vitruvius, comes from a Roman architect who lived in the 1st century BC.
Leonardo da Vinci's objective was to establish a relationship between human proportions and the principles of harmony enunciated by Vitruvius.
Leonardo wrote in a beautiful Renaissance vulgate with reference to the work: "This my representation of the human body will be demonstrated to you not otherwise than if you had the natural man in front. From the elbow to the tip of the hand is the fourth part of the man, from the elbow to the end of the shoulder is the eighth part of the man; the whole hand is the tenth part. The virile member is born in the middle of the man; the foot is the eighth part".
In the Renaissance there is a cooperation between artistic depictions and anatomy to represent the human body. Leonardo came into contact with two schools of anatomical sciences: 1) the artists' school of anatomy in Florence; 2) the doctors' school of anatomy in Milan and Pavia.
For Leonardo, bodily movements are due to the coordinated action of muscles, tendons, nerves and bones.
He conceived scientific investigation as an essential complementary activity to artistic activity and invited artists to expand their knowledge in the field of anatomy.
Of anatomical studies have come down to us about two hundred drawings.
Vitruvius, in his treatise De Architectura, had written that the perfect man can be
represented standing and with his arms open at the same time inside the two perfect figures of the circle that represents Heaven and the square that symbolizes the Earth.
Leonardo's man is placed in the center of a square, his legs in a vertical position, the
top of the head and arms open at 90° to the bust, touching the sides of the geometric figure.
The body, if extrapolated from the context of the other drawn limbs and the circle, appears in stable equilibrium. The quadrature implies a principle of order innate in man.
The circle, on the contrary, made up of infinite points, suggests the idea of movement. Therefore the second pair of limbs of Leonardo's man, resting on the circle, proposes a kinetic trend for the human figure that loses the characteristics of staticity to assume the idea of dynamism and movement.
The precisely outlined face, with its astonished look, suggests the idea of amazement and anguish that accompanies humanity at the moment in which it reflects on the Absolute and comes to terms with the ultimate meaning of their existence.
Unit of the Educational Material connected (4 - 1)
Label
Leonardo da Vinci
Technique: metal point, pen and ink on paper
344 x 245 m
The sheet dates back to the years of his stay in Milan.
Technique: metal point, pen and ink on paper
344 x 245 m
The sheet dates back to the years of his stay in Milan.
