Figure 5.
Firstly. From the crown of the head to a line drawn across the nipples, as at 3. Secondly. From the nipples to the pubis as from 3 to 4. Thirdly. From the pubis to the bottom of the patella, as from 4 to 5. Lastly. From the bottom of the patella to the sole of the foot as from 5 to 6. Again, four measures equal in themselves, and likewise equal to those just described, and as well marked in the structure of the human body, are seen when the arms are extended horizontally, as in
Figure 6.
From the tip of the middle or longest finger to the bend of the arm is one-fourth of the height of the person, and from the bend of the arm to the pit of the neck is another fourth. Again, with regard to the face and hands. From the tip of the forehead to the chin is a tenth, and from the tip of the middle finger to the wrist is also a tenth. The face is also divided into three parts as shown, but this is not of so much importance to us as the relation the head bears to the body. It has so often been asserted that the head bears the relation of one-eighth of the total height of the body, that it will be as well if we examine this assertion thoroughly. For, although it undoubtedly is somewhat near the mark, yet at the same time, its reliability is open to question in many cases, so we will take the relation this part bears to the body in some of the most noted statues, and in doing so, we divide the figure in the same manner as is done by artists, &c., and which is illustrated on
Figure 7,
Viz., heads, parts and minutes: the head is the distance from the crown of the head to the chin, as at I, diagram 8. The parts are obtained by dividing the head into four equal divisions, and the minutes are obtained by dividing one of those divisions into twelve equal parts, and in this manner the true relation that each portion bears to the other is obtained. For example, let us suppose the head measures 9 inches, each part would be 2¼, and each minute three-sixteenths of an inch. It will be as well for the student to note this as we shall have occasion to refer to this later on, but for the present will dealt with
The Eight Heads Theory.
The Apollo Sauroktonos, it is said, would be seven heads and nine minutes if he stood upright; thus it will be seen in this case the height of the figure is three parts three minutes short of this standard; or taking our division of inches as just worked out, would be over 7 inches short of eight heads. The Apollino of Florence, is said to be seven heads, three parts and five minutes high, thus, he only wants six minutes to complete the eight heads, or as we have been calculating 1⅛ inches short. The Achilles of the Louvre is said to be seven heads, one part and eleven minutes; thus, he wants nearly 4¾ inches to reach this standard. The Venus de Medicis is said to be seven heads, three parts and ten minutes; thus, she only requires 2 minutes or ⅜ of an inch to complete eight heads. The Venus of the Capitol is said to measure seven heads, one part and four minutes; thus she wants two parts and eight minutes, or six inches according to our calculation, to complete the eight heads, so by this test the eight heads theory fails, for these are the statues which have charmed the world for ages, and have been looked upon as masterpieces of art, or in other words
The Highest Ideals of Proportion'
That sculptors have ever produced, and as every one of these fall short of the standard thus fixed, and in some cases by as much as G or 7 inches, it will be seen that from 7½ to 8 heads would be nearer the mark, certainly well insides the 8, as in no case do they reach eight heads. Again, the " length of arms equal the height " is equally erroneous, for out of 84 persons measured by Bononi, 54 were found to be long armed, 24 short armed, and 6 only whose arms were exactly equal to the height when extended. The greatest excess was in the case of a carpenter, whose arms exceeded height by 5 inches. The greatest excess of height was in the case of an architect whose height exceeded the distance of his extended arms by 4 inches. Diagram 6 shows the proportions of the male figure according to Bononi, whilst diagrams 7 and 8 shows
The Relation of the Male & Female Forms
The male figure is represented by the thick lines, and the measurements referring to it are placed on your right hand, whilst the female is represented by the fine lines, and the measurements on the left. The measurements are all calculated by heads, parts and minutes, and as marked represent the width in profile. The measurements of length, according to Virtrivius and Leonardo da Vinci, are relatively the same in both sexes, and are expressed in long horizontal lines running through both the front and profile figures; the letters by the side of the figures refer to the proportions of the relative parts, and which will be of value to the tailor in helping him to obtain measures, which for some reason or the other he is unable to take direct on the figure.
