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Leonardo diVinci’s drawing of man in ideal form, the Vitruvian man, was first sketched in 1492 or so in one of his numerous journals. The image, a sketch of a nude male stretched into two separate poses within the space of a square and a circle, is one of his most famous works. Occasionally called the Canon of Proportions or Proportions of Man, the image has long been held as an important symbol for the proportions of man.

With the Vitruvian Man’s proportions, Leonardo da Vinci was able to blend both art and science, by very definition the goal of the Renaissance masters. Leonardo himself had a great deal of interest in human anatomy and the concept of proportion. One of Leonardo’s lasting mindsets and overall legacies for the age was the idea that the human body was a symbolic representation of the greater universe itself.

Furthermore, the circle and square surrounding the male body in the drawing have been described as symbols themselves. Many believe that the square surrounding the body is a symbol of the material existence of man while the circle represents the spiritual existence. His goal through this drawing then was to create a direct correlation between the material and spiritual aspects of humanity.

His own writing in the notebook, written in his famous mirrored writing, described his sketch as a study of the proportions of the human body, in this case male. He utilized the words of the Roman architect Vitruvius to create his proportions for the ideal male body, which included:

• The Palm is the width of four fingers
• The Foot is the width of four palms
• The Cubit is the width of six palms
• A Man is four cubits tall
• Four cubits equals one pace
• The measurement of a man’s outspread arms is the same as his height.
• The hairline to the chin is equal to one-tenth of a man’s height
• The top of the head to the chin is one-eighth of a man’s height.
• Shoulder width shall be no more than one quarter of a man’s height

Leonardo’s own drawing combines both the descriptions of Vitruvius and his own observations to create a set careful crafted proportions with what many people have interpreted as symbols. The overall effect is to create a direct correlation between human symmetry and the universe. The positioning of the limbs in the drawing makes it possible to create upward of 16 different poses and the proportions remain the same.

The outer circle has been described as a full range of motion, though it does depart slightly from Vitruvius’ original writings by lowering the arms slightly. The secondary drawing shows a much less extended body but keeps the very same proportions in line with the rest of the drawing.

Over the course of the centuries, Da Vincci’s Vitruvian man has come to symbolize everything about Leonardo DaVinci’s calculated approach to both art and science and the beauty of the human form. Artists and scientists alike study high resolution Vitruvian Man copies as a means to recreate their own images and better understand those relationships.