VITRUVIAN GUYS AND DOLLS

For the month of November my little art students and I are learning about

Leonardo da Vinci

First we "painted" the Mona Lisa

then we studied facial space/symmetry...drawing 1/2 of a face to match the other face provided

and then on to

the Vitruvian Man

from time to time I do worry about about

body parts

if you know what I mean

I cannot tell you enough how much I enjoy the art of children

It gives me such a fresh perspective

so....they made their own

V-Men...however they wanted

in the colors they wanted and the medium they wanted

(no oil...yet)

and then we put together what they called 

"a compass"

and on the back...the measurements of each

fingertip to fingertip...head to toe

my personal favorite

this little guy is 5 and he is very entertaining

in case you didn't know......

The Vitruvian Man is a drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci circa 1490.  It is accompanied by notes based on the work of the architect Vitruvius. The drawing, which is in pen and ink on paper, depicts a male figure in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart and simultaneously inscribed in a circle and square. The drawing and text are sometimes called the Canon of Proportions or, less often, Proportions of Man. It is stored in the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, Italy, and, like most works on paper, is displayed only occasionally.

The drawing is based on the correlations of ideal human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise De Architectura. Vitruvius described the human figure as being the principal source of proportion among the Classical orders of architecture. Vitruvius determined that the ideal body should be eight heads high. Leonardo's drawing is traditionally named in honor of the architect.

The lower section of text gives these proportions:

• the length of the outspread arms is equal to the height of a man
• from the hairline to the bottom of the chin is one-tenth of the height of a man
• from below the chin to the top of the head is one-eighth of the height of a man
• from above the chest to the top of the head is one-sixth of the height of a man
• from above the chest to the hairline is one-seventh of the height of a man.
• the maximum width of the shoulders is a quarter of the height of a man.
• from the breasts to the top of the head is a quarter of the height of a man.
• the distance from the elbow to the tip of the hand is a quarter of the height of a man.
• the distance from the elbow to the armpit is one-eighth of the height of a man.
• the length of the hand is one-tenth of the height of a man.
• the root of the penis is at half the height of a man.
• the foot is one-seventh of the height of a man.
• from below the foot to below the knee is a quarter of the height of a man.
• from below the knee to the root of the penis is a quarter of the height of a man.
• the distances from below the chin to the nose and the eyebrows and the hairline are equal to the ears and to one-third of the face.