Method for Learning

Curious to know what the principal authors have thought about proportions, without having to look for it in the original books, which we have had to consult to provide this extract.

Proportions of Man According to Jean-Paul Lomazzo.

Here are the main rules of this famous Italian author, who wrote a large and sought-after treatise on painting. He follows, with small differences, the proportions of Albert Durer, and divides the height of the figure into ten parts, as follows.

From the top of the head to the tip of the nose, one part: from the tip of the nose to the hollow of the throat, which is at the top of the chest, another part: from the top of the chest to the bottom of the sternum, one part: from there to the navel, one part: from the navel to the mid-pelvis, above the genitals, one part, which precisely makes up half of the figure. From the mid-pelvis to the middle of the knee, we count two parts, which makes the thigh a bit too short and takes away much grace from the figure: from the middle of the knee to the sole of the feet, there are three parts, which makes the leg appear too long. It would be better to take two parts from the thigh above the knee, and the other three from the knee to the sole of the feet.

When the figure has extended arms, we also count ten parts: the first is from the tip of the middle finger to the wrist; from the wrist, where the hand joint is, to the elbow, one and a half parts; from the elbow to where the arm bone joins with the clavicle, another one and a half parts, and from there to the hollow where the clavicles join, one part, making five parts, and the same on the other side.

Translation Notes

Lomazzo: Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo, an Italian painter and writer known for his works on art theory. Durer: Refers to Albrecht Dürer, a renowned German painter, and printmaker.