The text discusses the proportions and depiction of different human body types, focusing on the arrangement of muscles and physical features in art. It references the variability of body parts as they move away from the trunk, comparing them to pyramidal forms, and highlights the influence of culture on bodily representation. The text also touches on artistic representations of robust figures seen in historical statues like those of Hercules, similar in form to depictions in the Vatican gardens, emphasizing artistic elegance and precision in capturing human vigor.
Theory
The body's extremities become smaller as they move away from the trunk, forming a pyramid shape which is the fundamental element of the human body's extremities.
In this same depiction, the muscles are treated with great artistry and elegance; similar to small hills rising from the middle of a valley, in their size and frailty, they show the strength of the most vigorous body combined with the beauty of forms and the precise observation of the rules prescribed by the most experienced masters of the art.
The Ethiopians, Africans, and Turks hold somewhat similar proportions to this statue: not because they have the same strength, but because their limbs are somewhat like those of Hercules. For example, they have a round head, curly hair like the bull's hair, a short and muscular neck, and broad shoulders, etc. See the plates V & VI.
In the second type of robust body, the muscles are not as apparent, but the figure is more fleshy; so the limbs appear almost as large, with the nerves everywhere covered with flesh. Antiquity offers a perfect example of this in the figure of the Nile, and in that of Emperor Commodus represented in the image of Hercules; but above all in the Nile. These two magnificent statues can be seen in Rome, in the Vatican gardens.
The third type of vigorous body is dryer, with larger bones, a longer head; the arms, thighs, and legs are more extended; the abdomen is flatter and more compact, and the flesh is so tightly