ABOUT

Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, known simply as Vitruvius, was a Roman architect who lived in the first century B.C. He wrote a ten volume treatise, De Architectura (On Architecture) known by a surviving eighth century copy, from which the original illustrations were by then missing.

Vitruvius stated that architecture should relate to the proportions of a man and gave numerous descriptions of what these proportions are. As an example, he wrote "... the face, from the chin to the top of the forehead, is a tenth part of the height of the whole body." 

Leonardo da Vinci studied Vitruvius's texts and created a drawing from his imagination based on Vitruvius's descriptions. This drawing, known as The Vitruvian Man, is one of the most famous drawings in the world.

Leonardo also made his own observations on human proportions and extensively expanded this aspect of Vitruvius's writings. Some of these statements can seem quite quirky. As an example, Leonardo affirmed that, seen in profile, the space from the back edge of the ear to the back of the head equals the space from the parting of the lips to the underside of the chin. Other ideas are well known, such as that a man is eight heads high. 

Along with a predominant number of art historians who have considered him to be among the greatest of artists and thinkers of all time, I have long been in awe of the work of Leonardo. But I have wondered: how often are Leonardo's assertions about human proportions actually true? 

Working with photographers, most notably Rocco Lofaro Buonpane, I have been documenting men, taking their measurements, and afterwards using Photoshop to superimpose grids, circles, etc., to discover how their proportions compare with Leonardo's concepts of the universal man. 

About me
With a background in fine arts and architecture I recently held a position at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in New York City as the Director of Exhibitions. I am now semi-retired and working part-time as a curator while also focusing on my personal projects.

Thank you for visiting my website. 

Rob Hugh Rosen