Vitruvian
Leonardo's anatomical study
Vitruvian refers to the Roman architect and engineer Vitruvius, who wrote extensively on ideal proportions in architecture and the human body.
The term appears most often in Vitruvian Man, Leonardo da Vinci's famous drawing of a male figure with arms and legs extended into a circle and square—illustrating Vitruvius's theory that the ideal human body fits perfectly within these geometric forms.
Vitruvian proportions guide classical architecture and figure drawing.
Corporeal self
- physiologyScience of bodily functions
- musculatureArrangement of muscles
- skeletonInternal supportive framework
- navelCord attachment remnant
limbs · arms · legs · torso · head · outstretched · wingspan · height
Italian locative surname element
- drawingMarks forming a picture
- sketchHasty informal drawing
- anatomyStudy of organism structure
- notebooksBound blank pages
polymath · genius · Renaissance · proportion · ideal · canon · study · masterwork
Phi, roughly 1.618
- symmetryInvariance under transformation
- harmonyAgreement or musical blend
- balanceSteadiness or amount owed
- ratioComparative numerical relation
scale · canon · measure · ideal · modularity · unity · coherence · equilibrium
European cultural reawakening
- classicalOf ancient Greece/Rome
- antiquityGreat age, ancient era
- RomanOf ancient Italy's capital
- GreekOf Athenian origin
microcosm · macrocosm · philosophy · universal · perfection · human potential · dignity · reason
human body
Corporeal self
- physiologyScience of bodily functions
- musculatureArrangement of muscles
- skeletonInternal supportive framework
navel · limbs · arms · legs · torso · head · outstretched · wingspan · height · ideal form
da Vinci
Italian locative surname element
notebooks · polymath · genius · Renaissance · proportion · ideal · canon · study · masterwork · iconic
golden ratio
Phi, roughly 1.618
- symmetryInvariance under transformation
- harmonyAgreement or musical blend
- balanceSteadiness or amount owed
ratio · scale · canon · measure · ideal · modularity · unity · coherence · equilibrium · classical
Renaissance
European cultural reawakening
Greek · microcosm · macrocosm · philosophy · universal · perfection · human potential · dignity · reason · individualism
circle
Curved closed shape
- squareRhombus with right angles
- inscribedCarved writing into
- circumscribedConfined within bounds
superimposed · centered · radius · diameter · span · plane · figure · diagram · overlap · dual
- NeoclassicalCorinthian columns, Palladian, pediment, portico, colonnade
- classical architectureIonic order, Corinthian order, Doric column, Corinthian column, Ionic
Vitruviandistorted
Misshapen from original form
abstract · asymmetrical · disproportionate · grotesque · fragmented
VitruvianExpressionist
Distortion-focused early modernist
Dadaist · primitivist · Baroque · modernist · postmodern
- Vitruvian ManCanonical proportions illustration
- Vitruvian principlesRoman architectural design tenets