On a Human Scale. Drawing and Proportion of the Vitruvian Figure Veronica Riavis
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Symmetry As an Aesthetic Factor
Comp. & Maths. with Appls, Vol. 12B, Nos. I/2, pp. 77-82. 1986 0886-9561/86 $3,1)0+ .00 Printed in Great Britain. © 1986 Pergamon Press Ltd. SYMMETRY AS AN AESTHETIC FACTOR HAROLD OSBORNEt Kreutzstrasse 12, 8640 Rappersvill SG, Switzerland Abstract--In classical antiquity symmetry meant commensurability and was believed to constitute a canon of beauty in nature as in art. This intellectualist conception of beauty persisted through the Middle Ages with the addition doctrine that the phenomenal world manifests an imperfect replica of the ideal symmetry of divine Creation. The concept of the Golden Section came to the fore at the Renaissance and has continued as a minority interest both for organic nature and for fine art. The modern idea of symmetry is based more loosely upon the balance of shapes or magnitudes and corresponds to a change from an intellectual to a perceptual attitude towards aesthetic experience. None of these theories of symmetry has turned out to be a principle by following which aesthetically satisfying works of art can be mechanically constructed. In contemporary theory the vaguer notion of organic unity has usurped the prominence formerly enjoyed by that of balanced symmetry. From classical antiquity the idea of symmetry in close conjunction with that of proportion dominated the studio practice of artists and the thinking of theorists. Symmetry was asserted to be the key to perfection in nature as in art. But the traditional concept was radically different from what we understand by symmetry today--so different that "symmetry" can no longer be regarded as a correct translation of the Greek word symmetria from which it derives--and some acquaintance with the historical background of these ideas is essential in order to escape from the imbroglio of confusion which has resulted from the widespread conflation of the two. -
De Divino Errore ‘De Divina Proportione’ Was Written by Luca Pacioli and Illustrated by Leonardo Da Vinci
De Divino Errore ‘De Divina Proportione’ was written by Luca Pacioli and illustrated by Leonardo da Vinci. It was one of the most widely read mathematical books. Unfortunately, a strongly emphasized statement in the book claims six summits of pyramids of the stellated icosidodecahedron lay in one plane. This is not so, and yet even extensively annotated editions of this book never noticed this error. Dutchmen Jos Janssens and Rinus Roelofs did so, 500 years later. Fig. 1: About this illustration of Leonardo da Vinci for the Milanese version of the ‘De Divina Proportione’, Pacioli erroneously wrote that the red and green dots lay in a plane. The book ‘De Divina Proportione’, or ‘On the Divine Ratio’, was written by the Franciscan Fra Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli (1445-1517). His name is sometimes written Paciolo or Paccioli because Italian was not a uniform language in his days, when, moreover, Italy was not a country yet. Labeling Pacioli as a Tuscan, because of his birthplace of Borgo San Sepolcro, may be more correct, but he also studied in Venice and Rome, and spent much of his life in Perugia and Milan. In service of Duke and patron Ludovico Sforza, he would write his masterpiece, in 1497 (although it is more correct to say the work was written between 1496 and 1498, because it contains several parts). It was not his first opus, because in 1494 his ‘Summa de arithmetic, geometrica, proportioni et proportionalita’ had appeared; the ‘Summa’ and ‘Divina’ were not his only books, but surely the most famous ones. For hundreds of years the books were among the most widely read mathematical bestsellers, their fame being only surpassed by the ‘Elements’ of Euclid. -
Ancient Battles Guido Beltramini
Ancient Battles Guido Beltramini In 1575 Palladio published an illustrated Italian edition of Julius Caesar’s Commentaries. Five years later, his death halted the publication of Polybius’ Histories, which included forty-three engravings showing armies deployed at various battles: from Cannae to Zamas, Mantinea and Cynoscephalae. At the height of his career, Palladio invested time, energy and money into two publishing ventures far removed from architecture. In fact the two publications were part of a world of military matters which had attracted Palladio’s interest since his youth, when it formed an integral part of his education undertaken by Giangiorgio Trissino. As John Hale has shown, sixteenth-century Venice was one of the most active centres in Europe for military publications dealing with matters such as fortifications, tactics, artillery, fencing and even medicine. The distinguishing element in the Venetian production of such books was the widespread belief in the importance of the example of the Classical Greek and Roman writers, shared by men of letters and professional soldiers. This was combined with particular care shown towards the reader. The books were supplemented with tables of contents, indices, marginal notes and even accompanied by the publication of compendia illustrating the texts, such as the series entitled Gioie (‘Gems’) which Gabriele Giolito published from 1557 to 1570 (Hale 1980, pp. 257-268). Fig 1: Valerio Chiericati, manuscript of Della Many of the leading players in this milieu were linked to Trissino, albeit Milizia. Venice, Museo Correr, MS 883 in different ways: cultivated soldiers like Giovan Jacopo Leonardi, the Vicentine Valerio Chiericati (fig. -
Engineers of the Renaissance
Bertrand Gille Engineers of the Renaissance . II IIIII The M.I.T.Press Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts ' ... � {' ( l..-'1 b 1:-' TA18 .G!41J 1966 METtTLIBRARY En&Jneersor theRenaissance. 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 0020119043 Copyright @ 1966 by Hermann, Paris Translated from Les ingenieurs de la Renaissance published by Hermann, Paris, in 1964 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 66-27213 Printed in Great Britain Contents List of illustrations page 6 Preface 9 Chapter I The Weight of Tradition 15 2 The Weight of Civilization 3 5 3 The German School 55 4 The First Italian Generation 79 5 Francesco di Giorgio Martini 101 Cj 6 An Engineer's Career -Leonardo da Vinci 121 "'"" f:) 7 Leonardo da Vinci- Technician 143 ��"'t�; 8 Essay on Leonardo da Vinci's Method 171 �� w·· Research and Reality ' ·· 9 191 �' ll:"'t"- 10 The New Science 217 '"i ...........,_ .;::,. Conclusion 240 -... " Q: \.., Bibliography 242 �'� :::.(' Catalogue of Manuscripts 247 0 " .:; Index 254 � \j B- 13 da Page Leonardo Vinci: study of workers' positions. List of illustrations 18 Apollodorus ofDamascus: scaling machine. Apollodorus of Damascus: apparatus for pouring boiling liquid over ramparts. 19 Apollodorus ofDamascus: observation platform with protective shield. Apollodorus of Damascus: cover of a tortoise. Apollodorus ofDamascus: fire lit in a wall andfanned from a distance by bellows with a long nozzle. 20 Hero of Byzantium: assault tower. 21 Hero of :Byzantium: cover of a tortoise. 24 Villard de Honnecourt: hydraulic saw; 25 Villard de Honnecourt: pile saw. Villard de Honnecourt: screw-jack. , 26 Villard de Honnecourt: trebuchet. Villard de Honnecourt: mechanism of mobile angel. -
Gian Cristoforo Romano in Rome: with Some Thoughts on the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus and the Tomb of Julius II
Gian Cristoforo Romano in Rome: With some thoughts on the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus and the Tomb of Julius II Sally Hickson University of Guelph En 1505, Michel-Ange est appelé à Rome pour travailler sur le tombeau monumental du pape Jules II. Six mois plus tard, alors que Michel-Ange se trouvait à Carrare, le sculpteur et antiquaire Gian Cristoforo Romano était également appelé à Rome par Jules II. En juin 1506, un agent de la cour de Mantoue rapportait que les « premiers sculpteurs de Rome », Michel-Ange et Gian Cristoforo Romano, avaient été appelés ensemble à Rome afin d’inspecter et d’authentifier le Laocoön, récemment découvert. Que faisait Gian Cristoforo à Rome, et que faisait-il avec Michel-Ange? Pourquoi a-t-il été appelé spécifi- quement pour authentifier une statue de Rhodes. Cet essai propose l’hypothèse que Gian Cristoforo a été appelé à Rome par le pape probablement pour contribuer aux plans de son tombeau, étant donné qu’il avait travaillé sur des tombeaux monumentaux à Pavie et Crémone, avait voyagé dans le Levant et vu les ruines du Mausolée d’Halicarnasse, et qu’il était un sculpteur et un expert en antiquités reconnu. De plus, cette hypothèse renforce l’appartenance du développement du tombeau de Jules II dans le contexte anti- quaire de la Rome papale de ce temps, et montre, comme Cammy Brothers l’a avancé dans son étude des dessins architecturaux de Michel-Ange (2008), que les idées de ce dernier étaient influencées par la tradition et par ses contacts avec ses collègues artistes. -
Transfer of Islamic Science to the West
Transfer of Islamic Science to the West IMPORTANT NOTICE: Author: Prof. Dr. Ahmed Y. Al-Hassan Chief Editor: Prof. Dr. Mohamed El-Gomati All rights, including copyright, in the content of this document are owned or controlled for these purposes by FSTC Limited. In Production: Savas Konur accessing these web pages, you agree that you may only download the content for your own personal non-commercial use. You are not permitted to copy, broadcast, download, store (in any medium), transmit, show or play in public, adapt or Release Date: December 2006 change in any way the content of this document for any other purpose whatsoever without the prior written permission of FSTC Publication ID: 625 Limited. Material may not be copied, reproduced, republished, Copyright: © FSTC Limited, 2006 downloaded, posted, broadcast or transmitted in any way except for your own personal non-commercial home use. Any other use requires the prior written permission of FSTC Limited. You agree not to adapt, alter or create a derivative work from any of the material contained in this document or use it for any other purpose other than for your personal non-commercial use. FSTC Limited has taken all reasonable care to ensure that pages published in this document and on the MuslimHeritage.com Web Site were accurate at the time of publication or last modification. Web sites are by nature experimental or constantly changing. Hence information published may be for test purposes only, may be out of date, or may be the personal opinion of the author. Readers should always verify information with the appropriate references before relying on it. -
Simple Rules for Incorporating Design Art Into Penrose and Fractal Tiles
Bridges 2012: Mathematics, Music, Art, Architecture, Culture Simple Rules for Incorporating Design Art into Penrose and Fractal Tiles San Le SLFFEA.com [email protected] Abstract Incorporating designs into the tiles that form tessellations presents an interesting challenge for artists. Creating a viable M.C. Escher-like image that works esthetically as well as functionally requires resolving incongruencies at a tile’s edge while constrained by its shape. Escher was the most well known practitioner in this style of mathematical visualization, but there are significant mathematical objects to which he never applied his artistry including Penrose Tilings and fractals. In this paper, we show that the rules of creating a traditional tile extend to these objects as well. To illustrate the versatility of tiling art, images were created with multiple figures and negative space leading to patterns distinct from the work of others. 1 1 Introduction M.C. Escher was the most prominent artist working with tessellations and space filling. Forty years after his death, his creations are still foremost in people’s minds in the field of tiling art. One of the reasons Escher continues to hold such a monopoly in this specialty are the unique challenges that come with creating Escher type designs inside a tessellation[15]. When an image is drawn into a tile and extends to the tile’s edge, it introduces incongruencies which are resolved by continuously aligning and refining the image. This is particularly true when the image consists of the lizards, fish, angels, etc. which populated Escher’s tilings because they do not have the 4-fold rotational symmetry that would make it possible to arbitrarily rotate the image ± 90, 180 degrees and have all the pieces fit[9]. -
Syddansk Universitet Review of "Henning, Herbert: La Divina
Syddansk Universitet Review of "Henning, Herbert: La divina proportione und die Faszination des Schönen oder das Schöne in der Mathematik" Robering, Klaus Published in: Mathematical Reviews Publication date: 2014 Document version Accepted author manuscript Citation for pulished version (APA): Robering, K. (2014). Review of "Henning, Herbert: La divina proportione und die Faszination des Schönen oder das Schöne in der Mathematik". Mathematical Reviews. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 14. Feb. 2017 MR3059375 Henning, Herbert La divina proportione und die Faszination des Sch¨onenoder das Sch¨onein der Mathematik. (German) [The divine proportion and the fascination of beauty or beauty in mathematics] Mitt. Math. Ges. Hamburg 32 (2012), 49{62 00A66 (11B39 51M04) The author points out that there is a special relationship between mathematics and the arts in that both aim at the discovery and presentation of truth and beauty. -
C HAPTER THREE Dissertation I on the Waters and Aqueducts Of
Aqueduct Hunting in the Seventeenth Century: Raffaele Fabretti's De aquis et aquaeductibus veteris Romae Harry B. Evans http://www.press.umich.edu/titleDetailDesc.do?id=17141, The University of Michigan Press C HAPTER THREE Dissertation I on the Waters and Aqueducts of Ancient Rome o the distinguished Giovanni Lucio of Trau, Raffaello Fabretti, son of T Gaspare, of Urbino, sends greetings. 1. introduction Thanks to your interest in my behalf, the things I wrote to you earlier about the aqueducts I observed around the Anio River do not at all dis- please me. You have in›uenced my diligence by your expressions of praise, both in your own name and in the names of your most learned friends (whom you also have in very large number). As a result, I feel that I am much more eager to pursue the investigation set forth on this subject; I would already have completed it had the abundance of waters from heaven not shown itself opposed to my own watery task. But you should not think that I have been completely idle: indeed, although I was not able to approach for a second time the sources of the Marcia and Claudia, at some distance from me, and not able therefore to follow up my ideas by surer rea- soning, not uselessly, perhaps, will I show you that I have been engaged in the more immediate neighborhood of that aqueduct introduced by Pope Sixtus and called the Acqua Felice from his own name before his ponti‹- 19 Aqueduct Hunting in the Seventeenth Century: Raffaele Fabretti's De aquis et aquaeductibus veteris Romae Harry B. -
Architectural Encounters Between Idea and Material the 1547 Frontispiece of Walther Hermann Ryff
ARCHITECTURAL ENCOUNTERS 179 Architectural Encounters between Idea and Material The 1547 Frontispiece of Walther Hermann Ryff PAUL EMMONS Virginia Tech The renaissance frontispiece is simultaneously an that presented through a combination of word and encounter between reader and author and inhabit- image the idea of its content^.^ Frontispieces thus ant and building. The idea of the book is personified are excellent visual sources to study the significance into an architectural image. Reader and author are of a text. Architects often drew frontispieces, not face-to-face even though the later is absent and the only for their own books, but also for many other book stands as a physical incarnation of the ideas subjects. The visual threshold of frontispiece for of the author. This paper will examine one notable renaissance architectural treatises was variously renaissance architectural frontispiece in Walther shown as an altar (Palladio), triumphal arch (Bar- Hermann Ryff's Architectur (1547) to reconsider the baro), curtain or veil (Bartoli), window (Vignola), relation between idea and material in architectural or pedimented entry (Scamozzi). theory and practice today. Frontispieces employed allegorical illustrations like The illustrated architectural frontispiece developed emblems. Emblems originated with the renaissance with the early printed book.' At this time, printers humanist attempt to create a modern equivalent only produced the pages and sold them tied in a to Egyptian hieroglyphs. With the rediscovery of bundle which was then taken to a separate leather Horapollo's Hieyroglyphica in the fifteenth century, worker for the book's cover. The cover represented it was thought that the esoteric picture language of the owner while the first page, the frontispiece, the Egyptians could be deciphered and numerous represented the interior of the book. -
Copying, Commonplaces, and Technical Knowledge: the Architect-Engineer As Reader
COPYING, COMMONPLACES, AND TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE: THE ARCHITECT-ENGINEER AS READER Alexander Marr I Recent work on the history of technology has drawn attention to the importance of manuscripts and, in particular, drawings for the design, construction, comprehension, and use of machines in the Renaissance and Early Modern period.1 Documents such as the workshop drawings of Antonio da Sangallo or the extensive extant papers of Heinrich Schick- hardt are now finding a place alongside better-known printed works, such as the ‘theatres of machines’ by Ramelli, Besson, and Bachot.2 Yet com- paratively little is known about the book ownership and reading habits of those artisans involved in the processes of machine design, construc- tion, and implementation. The present essay seeks to shed new light on these subjects, through an examination of an important – but somewhat neglected – manuscript compilation of text and images on technical top- ics (ranging from practical mathematics to building), made in the early seventeenth century by the French architect-engineer Jacques Gentillâtre (1578–c. 1623).3 To date, this manuscript has been discussed exclusively within the context of the theory and practice of architecture, yet the diversity of subjects with which it is concerned (notably the numerous uses to which machines may be put) demands that the document be 1 See e.g. Lefèvre W. (ed.), Picturing Machines, 1400–1700 (Cambridge, MA-London: 2004). 2 See the useful table of ‘Prominent Sources of Early Modern Machine Design’ in Lefèvre, “Introduction to Part I”, in idem, Picturing Machines 13–15. An important addition to this table is Ambroise Bachot’s theatre of machines: Gouuernail (Melun: 1598). -
Leonardo Universal
Leonardo Universal DE DIVINA PROPORTIONE Pacioli, legendary mathematician, introduced the linear perspective and the mixture of colors, representing the human body and its proportions and extrapolating this knowledge to architecture. Luca Pacioli demonstrating one of Euclid’s theorems (Jacobo de’Barbari, 1495) D e Divina Proportione is a holy expression commonly outstanding work and icon of the Italian Renaissance. used in the past to refer to what we nowadays call Leonardo, who was deeply interested in nature and art the golden section, which is the mathematic module mathematics, worked with Pacioli, the author of the through which any amount can be divided in two text, and was a determined spreader of perspectives uneven parts, so that the ratio between the smallest and proportions, including Phi in many of his works, part and the largest one is the same as that between such as The Last Supper, created at the same time as the largest and the full amount. It is divine for its the illustrations of the present manuscript, the Mona being unique, and triune, as it links three elements. Lisa, whose face hides a perfect golden rectangle and The fusion of art and science, and the completion of the Uomo Vitruviano, a deep study on the human 60 full-page illustrations by the preeminent genius figure where da Vinci proves that all the main body of the time, Leonardo da Vinci, make it the most parts were related to the golden ratio. Luca Pacioli credits that Leonardo da Vinci made the illustrations of the geometric bodies with quill, ink and watercolor.