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tects, he believed that a very great and valuable lesson was to be learnt from any traces of their mode of practice and study which could be rescued from the past. On these grounds he certainly believed that Mr. Garling's paper had been judiciously brought before the members.

Mr. PENROSE, Fellow, said that the Institute had often received papers that were too strictly archæological, but the present, though treating of what was old, was architectural. It touched moreover closely upon realities, and was essentially valuable as giving an insight into an ancient studio. It was in fact a paper of practical importance; and thanks were fairly due to Mr. Garling for the pains he had taken in bringing it forward.

The vote of thanks having been carried, the meeting adjourned.

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ON THE GREEK CANON OF THE PROPORTIONS OF THE HUMAN FIGURE, QUOTED BY VITRUVIUS.

By JOSEPH BONOMI, Esq. Read at the Royal Institute of British Architects, Nov. 29th, 1858.

It has been remarked, that although all nature bears the impress of law, to men in general, she presents only a number of detached phenomena; to the diligent enquirer alone, or to those whose mental vision is acute enough to discover some link in the secret chain of her laws, does she gradually unfold all the relation which these phenomena bear to each other. Thus the laws that govern the analogy, or proportion, which the several parts of the human structure bear to each other, although very anciently sought, were probably not entirely discovered, or entirely recorded, till sixty years or more after the birth of Phidias, at which time, Polycletus, a famous sculptor of antiquity, made a statue so exact in all its proportions that it was considered the most perfect model of a full-grown man. This statue furnished the canon or law of the proportions of the human figure, which from that period is said to have been observed by all the sculptors of antiquity.

Part of a canon or record of the proportions of the human figure, is preserved in the Second Chapter of the Third Book of the Treatise on Architecture by Vitruvius, in which book that learned architect treats of the proportion, or analogy, which the several parts of an architectural structure should bear to each other, and enforces his argument by a reference to the human frame, in which he tells us certain affinities exist, which were always observed by the most celebrated of the ancient painters and sculptors. This part of the Treatise is obviously a quotation, probably from the writings of the ancient sculptors or painters then in existence, and most probably from the canon of Polycletus. I will now proceed to read this part of the Third Book in the translation by Professor Wilkins, notifying certain variations in an Italian version of the same text by Leonardo da Vinci, -" Nature, in the composition of the human frame, has so ordained that the face, from the chin to the highest point of the forehead, whence the hair begins, is a tenth of the whole statue; the same proportion obtains in the hand, measured from the wrist to the extremity of the middle finger. The head, from the chin to the top of the scalp is an eighth, and as much from the bottom of the neck.* From the top of the chest to the highest point of the forehead is a sixth; to the top of the skull a fourth. If the length of the face, from the chin to the roots of the hair, be divided into three equal parts, the first division determines the place of the nostrils; the second, the point where the eyebrows meet. The foot is a sixth part of the height of the entire frame; the cubit and the chest are each a fourth." ‡

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"The other members have certain affinities which were always observed by the most celebrated of the ancient painters and sculptors, and we must look for them in those productions which have excited universal admiration."

"The navel is naturally the central point of the human body; for if a man should lie on his back with his arms and legs extended, the periphery of the circle which may be described about him, with the navel for its centre, would touch the extremities of his hands and feet." With respect to the extremities touching the periphery of the circle it is clear from the diagram that if the arms be raised above the horizontal, touching the top of the head, or not quite so high as the horizontal, the extremities of the hand will not touch the periphery. So likewise if the legs be expanded beyond the equilateral triangle, or more or less than 60 degrees, the feet will not touch the periphery.

* This last sentence is irreconcilable, and does not occur in Leonardo's version.

† A sixth part is given to the distance from above the chest to the highest point of the forehead; and from the same point to the top of the skull is a fourth of the whole stature. In this sentence there is obviously a mistake in the numbers, which is corrected in part in Leonardo da Vinci's translation. It should be a seventh part is given to the distance from above the chest to the highest point of the forehead; and from the same point to the top of the skull is a sixth. The fourth is from the line, which crosses the breast at the nipples, to the top of the skull.

† Leonardo makes it a seventh. In the best antique statues it is something more than a seventh, but not quite so long as a sixth.

"The same affinities obtain if we apply a square to the human figure; for, like the contiguous sides, the height from the feet to the top of the head is found to be the same as the distance from the extremity of one hand to the other, when the arms are extended."

"The standards according to which all admeasurements are wont to be made, are likewise deduced from the members of the body; such as the digit, the palm, the foot, and the cubit, all of which are subdivided by the perfect number which the Greeks call Teleios." *

It will be observed that there is no such division in this ancient canon as that adopted by Audran, the Count de Clarac, and all modern artists, the division of the head into four equal parts. It will also be observed that all the propositions here laid down relate to the longitudinal divisions of the human frame except only one, which bears reference to the width of the shoulders; for the transverse dimensions differ very considerably in every individual, and it is in these measurements alone that the difference between a Hercules and an Apollo, a Mercury and a Jupiter, are to be sought, but for which no law or canon is given.

With regard to the longitudinal proportions in this canon, however, I shall be able to show that they are the normal proportions of a full and well-grown man equally removed from two opposite qualities of growth; namely, that quality of growth in which the characteristics of the infant are retained in a greater or less degree, -as for example, a large head, long body, and short extremities; and equally removed from that opposite quality of growth in which the characteristics of the adult are exaggerated, -as for example, a small head, a short body, and long extremities.

To illustrate the first mentioned quality of growth, I have brought a small ancient statue of the Egyptian god Pthah, and for an illustration of the second quality of growth, I must refer you to the engraving and description of a statue in the beautiful work of the Count de Clarac, Vol. v. plate 840. The statue alluded to is in the marble of mount Hymettus, and therefore, probably, a Greek work, nevertheless it is remarkable for the disproportionate smallness of the head, and the length of the extremities.†

Now, according to this canon, you will observe, that the measure from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot is exactly equal to the measure from the extremity of one hand to the extremity of the other, when the arms are extended. This exact equality of measure, we shall find, is the normal affinity or proportion which should exist between these two dimensions of the human frame; for if any given number of persons whose occupations and habits of life are conducive to the full development of the structure be measured, it will result that in nearly half the number, the measure of the entire height will exceed, in various degrees, the measure of the extended arms; that in the other half, the measure of the extended arms will exceed, in various degrees, the measure of the entire height; and that only a few in each section will correspond exactly to the proportion given in this canon. Thus, then, the normal proportion or affinity which should exist between these two dimensions of

* That is to say, those numbers (6 and 28) which are equal to the sum of their factors or divisors, were called τέλειοι, -e.д. 3+2+1=6, and 1+2+4+7+14=28; and 6 is the number into which the cubit is divided.

† This statue was found in making an excavation in the Trastevere in 1849. It is larger than life, and represents an Athlete using the strigillum, and is now deposited in the Museo Chiaramonti.

the human frame is established to be exactly equal, the mean measurement between the two great sections confirming the canon. In the same way, or by an analogous process, have all the other affinities recorded in the canon and set forth in the diagrams, been ascertained.

I need not dwell, in this room, on the necessity of producing strictly (what may be called) geometrical elevations of the human figure in the elucidation of this subject, and also for explaining a most ingenious discovery appertaining thereto, by our celebrated countryman Mr. John Gibson, and by which, in practice, precisely the same proportions of the figure may be attained that have already been quoted from Vitruvius. The invention I am about to explain Mr. Gibson has allowed me to place in the hands of his brother artists in a small pamphlet on the subject of the proportions of the human figure.*

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Mr. Gibson directs that the sculptor should draw a right angle triangle having the two sides a c and A B, that subtend the right angle, equal to each other. From the centre of the hypothenuse, d, describe a semicircle which shall touch the lines A c and A B. Draw a line from D to the apex A. Divide this line from D to the periphery E into four equal parts. Make E F equal to one of those parts. The diagram thus constructed contains all the dimensions of the principal divisions of the human figure. For instance, the hypothenuse B C represents a measure that is repeated three times. First, from the heel to the middle of the patella; secondly, from the middle of the patella to the superior spinous process of the ilium; thirdly, from the bottom of the abdomen to the pit of the neck. Thus, the hypothenuse of the triangle furnishes the measure of the distances from each other of three very important points or divisions of the human figure, both in the perfectly erect position, and in that of standing at ease.

The sides of the triangle, A C or A B, represent a measure that is repeated five times in the same figure. Namely, first, from the top of the instep to the bottom of the patella; secondly, from the top of the patella to the pubis; thirdly, from a little above the navel to the pit of the neck; fourthly, from the top of the shoulder to the point of the elbow (of the straight arm); and fifthly, from the elbow to the knuckle of the middle finger. Thus, the measure of five very important divisions of the human structure are ascertained by the sides subtending the right angle.

The remaining dimensions for completing the structure are contained in the line A D, for from D to I is the length of the neck; from D to E is the length of the face, measured from the chin at its juncture with the neck to the highest point of the forehead. From D to F is the measure of the head from the chin to the top of the scalp, taken in the direction of the red line in the drawing; and lastly, from D to A is the measure of the foot from the heel to the end of the great toe.

All these measures obtain exactly when measured with the callipers on the finest Greek statues, and on the best living models; but, you will observe, as indicated by the red lines on the drawings, these measures are taken obliquely, and in some instances inclining in two directions, as, for example, that from the heel to the middle of the patella inclines outwards in the front view, and

* 64

'Proportions of the Human Figure, by Joseph Bonomi, second edition, Chapman & Hall, London, 1857.

forwards in the side view, which two obliquities reduce the vertical measure of the distance of the middle of the patella from the ground to the level, corresponding exactly with the middle of the patella, as obtained by the Vitruvian canon; so, likewise, do all the measures obtained by the triangle of Gibson coincide exactly with those designated or obtained by the four horizontal divisions or lines of the Vitruvian diagram. This accordance of the Vitruvian canon, with the practical method invented by Mr. Gibson, is further demonstrated by the perfect similarity of both halves of the figure in the drawing, half of which is constructed according to the Vitruvian canon, and the other half according to the simple and practical invention of Gibson, a remark that applies equally to the two profiles of the same figure.

As before stated, all the proportions given by the triangle of Gibson obtain exactly when measured by the callipers on the finest antique statues, and on the best living models of both sexes; only those however which have but one inclination can be measured with the compasses on these geometrical elevations; this circumstance alone determines the inadmissibility of perspective delineations by way of elucidating the subject, for in drawings in which that essential element of the painter's art is admitted, no measure at all can be taken. The two profiles and front view of the same figure standing at ease are exhibited in the diagrams in strong black lines, while the faint red lines show the same figure in the perfectly erect position; by the change from the perfectly erect position to that of standing at ease, one-fourth of a head, or in other words, a thirty-second part of the entire height is lost.

The centre of gravity is removed one inch and a quarter from where it fell in the erect figure, of six feet high, namely, from between the ankles to nearly the middle of the ankle of the leg, which sustains the whole weight of the body, while in the profile it remains where it was in the erect position. Also, it is to be remarked that by this change of posture, where the black contour departs from the red contour on one side, there is an exactly corresponding departure on the opposite side, or, in other words, the excess on one side is balanced by an exactly corresponding loss on the other.

The remarks I have had the honour to address to you would be lengthened to an undue extent by referring to a work of Albert Dürer, on the "Symmetry of the Human Body," * illustrated by about two hundred woodcuts. However useful and curious this extensive treatment of the subject may be, it does not appear to me to supersede in any degree the valuable text of Vitruvius, as elucidated by Leonardo da Vinci, and considered in connection with the practical discovery of our celebrated countryman, Mr. John Gibson.

Mr. M. DIGBY WYATT, H.S., enquired how far the Greek canon corresponded with the proportions found in Egyptian figures. He believed the Egyptian sculptors had adopted several scales, and that their works approximated nearer to the Greek system when the country was under the dominion of the Ptolemies than it had under that of the Pharaohs.

Mr. BONOMI said there were two or three different scales for Egyptian figures. The Egyptian sculptors divided the erect figure into nineteen parts, and by the use of the scale so obtained they arrived at a certain degree, but not at entire perfection in their works. He agreed with Mr. Wyatt's last remark, and produced two small specimens as illustrating two different types of ancient figures. One of these, which was Egyptian, and probably 2000 years old, represented the god Pthah, and gave all the proportions of the infant; in the other on the contrary all the parts were elongated. The first was characteristic of the growth of dwarfs, the latter of giants.

Mr. JOHN BELL, Visitor, said it was stated that, after the execution of the perfect model of the statue called "the Rule" by Polycletus, most of the Greek sculptors followed the proportions of that figure. The proportions were, however, often varied by the Greeks for the purpose of architectural effect. *" De Symmetria partium humanorum corporum."

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