A Study in Human Proportion with Leonardo
Meg ☺Leonardo approached the human body as a system.
Measured in palms, cubits, and fractions,
it reveals repeating ratios—
arms equal height,
the face divided into thirds,
the navel marking a quiet center.
But the drawing carries more than data.
A square anchors the body to the measurable world.
A circle invites it into the infinite.
This is not anatomy alone.
It is a study of harmony—
a gentle proof that the human form
moves in rhythm with nature itself.
Nothing here is accidental.
Nothing stands apart.
We are held, not by chance, but by design.
TOP TEXT — literal translation
“Vitruvius the architect says in his work on architecture that the measures of the human body are distributed by Nature as follows:
That four fingers make one palm,
four palms make one foot,
six palms make one cubit;
four cubits make a man’s height.
And four cubits make one pace,
and twenty-four palms make a man;
and these measures are used in his buildings.
If you open your legs so much as to lower your head by one fourteenth of your height,
and raise your arms so that your middle fingers touch the level of the top of your head,
you will find that the center of the extended limbs is the navel,
and the space between the legs will form an equilateral triangle.”
BOTTOM TEXT — literal translation
“The length of a man’s outspread arms is equal to his height.
From the hairline to the bottom of the chin is one tenth of a man’s height;
from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head is one eighth of his height;
from the top of the chest to the top of the head is one sixth of the height;
from the top of the chest to the hairline is one seventh of the total height.
From the nipples to the top of the head is one quarter of the height;
the maximum width of the shoulders is one quarter of the height;
from the elbow to the tip of the hand is one quarter of the height;
from the elbow to the armpit is one eighth of the height.
The length of the hand is one tenth of the height;
the length of the foot is one seventh of the height;
from the sole of the foot to below the knee is one quarter of the height;
from below the knee to the root of the genitals is one quarter of the height.
The distances from below the chin to the nose,
from the nose to the eyebrows,
and from the eyebrows to the hairline,
are all equal to the height of the ear,
and each is one third of the face.”
© c. 1490 Leonardo da Vinci. Public domain.
Image used for educational and commentary purposes.
Artist: Leonardo da Vinci
Title: Vitruvian Man
Year: c. 1490
Medium: Pen and ink with wash on paper
Dimensions: 34.4 × 25.5 cm (approx.)
Current collection: Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice