Vitruvian Man

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Vitruvian Man
Da Vinci Vitruve Luc Viatour.jpg
Artist Leonardo da Vinci
Year c. 1490
Type Pen and ink with wash over metalpoint
on paper
Dimensions 34.6 cm × 25.5 cm (13.6 in × 10.0 in)
Location Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice

The Vitruvian Man (Italian: Le proporzioni del corpo umano secondo Vitruvio, which is translated to "The proportions of the human body according to Vitruvius"), or simply L'Uomo Vitruviano ([ˈlwɔːmo vitruˈvjaːno]), is a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci around 1490.[1] 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 man in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart and 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 kept in the Gabinetto dei disegni e stampe of the Gallerie dell'Accademia, in Venice, Italy, under reference 228. Like most works on paper, it is displayed to the public only occasionally.[2][3]


Subject and title[edit]


According to Leonardo's preview in the accompanying text, written in mirror writing, it was made as a study of the proportions of the (male) human body as described in Vitruvius. The text is in two parts, above[a] and below[b] the image.


  • a palm is four fingers
  • a foot is four palms
  • a cubit is six palms
  • four cubits make a man
  • a pace is four cubits
  • a man is 24 palms


The lower section of text gives these proportions:

  • 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.








The drawing was purchased from Gaudenzio de' Pagave by Giuseppe Bossi,[7] who described, discussed and illustrated it in his monograph on Leonardo's The Last Supper, Del Cenacolo di Leonardo da Vinci libri quattro (1810).[8] The following year he excerpted the section of his monograph concerned with the Vitruvian Man and published it as Delle opinioni di Leonardo da Vinci intorno alla simmetria de'Corpi Umani (1811), with a dedication to his friend Antonio Canova.[9]

After Bossi's death in 1815 the Vitruvian Man was acquired in 1822, along with a number of his drawings, by the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, Italy, and has remained there since.[10]

Evidence of collaboration[edit]

Evidence has been found that Leonardo might have been influenced by the work of Giacomo Andrea de Ferrara, a Renaissance architect, expert on Vitruvius, and close friend of his.[11] Giacomo Andrea's original drawing has only one set of arms and legs while Leonardo's has the position of his man's arms and legs change.[12]

Another possible influence for Leonardo's depiction could have been the codex depictions of human proportions in architecture by Francesco di Giorgio, a Sienese architect who compiled in 1470 an unpublished treatise on civil and military architecture (Trattato di Architettura Civile e Militare).

Figures from Francesco di Giorgio's treatise
FGMartini1.jpg FGMartini2.jpg Giorgio Martini, Francesco di - Illustration from the Trattato di architettura - c. 1470.jpg
Vitruvian man.
Church Design
Castle Design

Derivative works[edit]

The Vitruvian Man has inspired a number of derivative works:

See also[edit]


  1. ^ Above the image:

    Vetruvio, architecto, mecte nella sua op(er)a d'architectura, chelle misure dell'omo sono dalla natura
    disstribuite inquessto modo cioè che 4 diti fa 1 palmo, et 4 palmi fa 1 pie, 6 palmi fa un chubito, 4
    cubiti fa 1 homo, he 4 chubiti fa 1 passo, he 24 palmi fa 1 homo ecqueste misure son ne' sua edifiti.
    Settu ap(r)i ta(n)to le ga(m)be chettu chali da chapo 1/14 di tua altez(z)a e ap(r)i e alza tanto le b(r)acia che cholle lunge dita tu tochi la linia della
    somita del chapo, sappi che 'l cie(n)tro delle stremita delle
    ap(er)te me(m)bra fia il bellicho. Ello spatio chessi truova infralle ga(m)be fia tria(n)golo equilatero

  2. ^ Below the image:

    Tanto ap(r)e l'omo nele b(r)accia, qua(n)to ella sua alteza.
    Dal nasscimento de chapegli al fine di sotto del mento è il decimo dell'altez(z)a del(l)'uomo. Dal di socto del mento alla som(m)i-
    tà del chapo he l'octavo dell'altez(z)a dell'omo. Dal di sop(r)a del pecto alla som(m)ità del chapo fia il sexto dell'omo. Dal di so-
    p(r)a del pecto al nasscime(n)to de chapegli fia la sectima parte di tucto l'omo. Dalle tette al di sop(r)a del chapo fia
    la quarta parte dell'omo. La mag(g)iore larg(h)ez(z)a delle spalli chontiene insè [la oct] la quarta parte dell'omo. Dal go-
    mito alla punta della mano fia la quarta parte dell'omo, da esso gomito al termine della isspalla fia la octava
    parte d'esso omo; tucta la mano fia la decima parte dell'omo. Il menb(r)o birile nasscie nel mez(z)o dell'omo. Il
    piè fia la sectima parte dell'omo. Dal di socto del piè al di socto del ginochio fia la quarta parte dell'omo.
    Dal di socto del ginochio al nasscime(n)to del memb(r)o fia la quarta parte dell'omo. Le parti chessi truovano infra
    il me(n)to e 'l naso e 'l nasscime(n)to de chapegli e quel de cigli ciasscuno spatio p(er)se essimile alloreche è 'l terzo del volto


  1. ^ The Secret Language of the Renaissance - Richard Stemp
  2. ^ "The Vitruvian man". Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
  3. ^ "Da Vinci's Code". Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
  4. ^ "Ten Books on Architecture. Book III, Chapter I, "On Symmetry: In Temples And In The Human Body"". 2006-12-31. Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
  5. ^ "The Vitruvian Man and the squaring of the circle detailed". 2010-06-15. Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
  6. ^ "Bibliographic reference". The Whole Universe Book. Retrieved 2011-11-30. 
  7. ^ Bossi, Giuseppe (1810)Del Cenacolo di Leonardo da Vinci libri quattro (in Italian) Milano: Stamperia Reale p.208ff
  8. ^ "Bibliographic reference". Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
  9. ^ "Bibliographical notice, no. 319". Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
  10. ^ "LEONARDO DA VINCI. THE UNIVERSAL MAN". Retrieved 2014-02-13. 
  11. ^ "The Other Vitruvian Man". Smithsonian Magazine. 2012-02-01. 
  12. ^ "Did Leonardo da Vinci copy his famous 'Vitruvian Man'?". 2012-01-31. 


  • Lester, Toby (2012). Da Vinci's Ghost: Genius, Obsession, and How Leonardo Created the World in His Own Image. New York: Free Press. ISBN 9781439189238. 

External links[edit]