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The works of Leonardo Da
Vinci display the artist's keen interest in proportions in
the human body. The facial features of the Mona
Lisa show numerous applications of the golden section
(golden ratio) which Leonardo referred to as the "Divine
Proportion" for its esthetically pleasing nature. |
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As a student of anatomy,
Leonardo was fascinated with the mathematical relationships
found in the human structure. His drawing,
Vitruvian Man, was a study of the proportions of the
human body. It is said that Leonardo believed the
workings of the human body to be an analogy for the workings
of the universe.
Leonardo made a series of
observations concerning the human body. Among them are
statements such as:
• the length of a man's outstretched arms is equal to
his height.
• the length of the ear is one-third the length of the face. |
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•
the distance from the bottom of the chin to the nose is
one-third of the length of the head.
• the length of the hand is one-tenth of a man's
height. |
QUESTION 1:
Leonardo observed that the length of the human face
varies directly as the length of
the human chin. If a person whose face length is 9 inches has
a chin length of 1.2 inches, what is the length of a person's face
whose chin length is 1.5 inches?
QUESTION 2:
Leonardo also observed that the human height
varies directly as the width of the
human shoulders. If a person 70 inches tall has a shoulder
width of 18 inches, what is the height of a person whose shoulder
width is 16.5 inches?
