This image of the Vitruvian Man, taken from Leonardo's drawings, has become one of the most recognizable symbols of the Renaissance. But why? It's a simple pencil and ink drawing, right? Wrong!
Let's start answering this question with a math problem. I know how to calculate the area of ??a circle. I take the value of pi and multiply it by the radius squared. I also know how to calculate the area of ??a square. I multiply the base by itself. But how do I take the area of ??a circle and create a square with an equal area? This is a problem often called "squaring a circle" that was first proposed in the ancient world. And like many ideas from the ancient world, it was given a new lease of life during the Renaissance. As it turns out, this problem is impossible to solve because of the nature of pi, but that's another story.
Leonardo's drawing, which was inspired by the writings of the Roman architect Vitruvius, places a man standing still in front of a circle and a square. Vitruvius claimed that the navel is the center of the human body, and if you take a compass and place it at a fixed point at the navel, you can draw a perfect circle around the body. Furthermore, Vitruvius realized that the length of the arms and the length of the height have an almost perfect correspondence in the human body, thus placing the body perfectly within a square as well. Leonardo used Vitruvius' ideas to solve the problem of squaring a circle metaphorically, using the man as the field/space for both forms.
However, Leonardo wasn’t just thinking about Vitruvius. In Italy at the time, there was an intellectual movement called Neoplatonism. This movement took an old concept from the 4th century developed by Plato and Aristotle, called the “Great Chain of Being.” This belief held that the Universe has a hierarchical resemblance to a chain, and that chain starts with God at the top, then descends down through angels, planets, stars, and all forms of life before ending with demons and devils. Earlier in this philosophical movement, it was thought that man’s place in this chain was right at the center. Because humans have a mortal body, but accompanied by an immortal soul, we neatly divided the Universe into two.
However, at the time Leonardo drew the Vitruvian Man, a Neoplatonist named Pico Della Miradola had a different idea. He took man off the chain and declared that humans have a unique ability to assume any position they want. Pico claimed that God wanted a being capable of understanding the beautiful and complex Universe he had created. This led to the creation of humanity, where he placed it at the center of the Universe with the ability to assume any form he desired. Humanity, according to Pico, could crawl down the chain and behave like an animal, or climb up and behave like a God, the choice is ours.
If we step back and look at the drawing, we can see that by changing the position of the man, he can fill the incompatible spaces of a circle and a square. If geometry is the language in which the Universe is written, then it seems that this drawing is saying that we can exist within all the elements.
Mankind can fill any shape it wants geometrically, as well as philosophically. In this drawing, Leonardo was able to combine mathematics, religion, philosophy, architecture, and the artistic skills of his era. It is no wonder that it became an icon for the entire period.
Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMsaFP3kgqQ&list=PLJicmE8fK0Ej26EQOOyY5o0PYLZdnuaMK&index=4
