Anatomy & art : a lecture delivered before the Society of Arts and Crafts of Carlisle, September 27th, 1907 / by Henry A. Lediard.

  • Lediard, H. A. (Henry Ambrose), 1847-1932.
Date:
[1907]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Anatomy & art : a lecture delivered before the Society of Arts and Crafts of Carlisle, September 27th, 1907 / by Henry A. Lediard. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Proportion. PoLYCLEITOS LEONARDO DA VlNCI ALBRECHT Durer. There is no figure without some blemish, and the artist has to pick out from many the pleasing traits he desires to paint. It is necessary to have a unit of proportion for reference, and the first to establish the principle in art was Polycleitos, who some 400 years before Christ made two typical figures and in them he laid down the law of human proportions. His figures were both athletes, the Diadumenos, or victorious athlete, binding his hair with a fillet and the Doryphoros, or the spear bearer. These were bronze statues, and the muscles are rendered with a vigour and accuracy to which no other sculptor attained. In the present day the head is taken as the unit of comparison, and the height of the figure is equal to 7£ heads. This is the proportion of the head to height in the “Antinous.” The “ Gladiator ” and the “ Farnese Hercules ” measure 8 heads, as also the “Venus of Milo.” You will find a chapter devoted to proportions in Thomson’s Hand book of Anatomy for Art Students. [For example, the thigh bone is equal to 2 heads length, the shin bone equals a little more than 1|- heads.] There are other proportions to remember which concern age, sex, and childhood, which cannot be touched on, but they are essentially anatomical details with which all artists must be familiar. Another 1 5th century artist, Albrecht Durer, celebrated in many respects, was the author of a wTork on the proportions of the human figure,