Fractions of an amount- the Vitruvian Man test
Posted on 07/08/2012 by William Emeny
Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci, Galleria dell’ Accademia, Venice (1485-90) (Photo credit:
Wikipedia)
Leonardo Da Vinci‘s famous Vitruvian Man is a drawing of what he believed the perfect human form
to be. Along with the famous drawing, Da Vinci gave the following proportions as notes below:
 the length of the outspread arms is equal to the height of a man
this is the value
this is the comparison
 from the hairline to the bottom of the chin is one-tenth of the height of a man
 from below the chin to the top of the head is one-eighth of the height of a man
 from above the chest to the top of the head is one-sixth of the height of a man
 from above the chest to the hairline is one-seventh of the height of a man
 the maximum width of the shoulders is a quarter of the height of a man
 the distance from the elbow to the tip of the hand is a quarter of the height of a man
 the distance from the elbow to the armpit is one-eighth of the height of a man
 the length of the hand is one-tenth of the height of a man
 the foot is one-seventh of the height of a man
 from below the foot to below the knee is a quarter of the height of a man
 the distances from the below the chin to the nose and the eyebrows and the hairline are equal to
the ears and to one-third of the face
See if you agree with Leonardo’s claims. Get the meter sticks out and get investigating!
For each measurement, find the value and the comparison.
 value - comparison 
To compare your values, use 
 100%
comparison


Use centimeters, and write the
cm value from the ground to
each level on the paper.
Use the subtraction
(end value – start value)
to find each distance and then
each proportion. Decide how
close you are to “ideal.”
Arm span ( fingertip to
fingertip)
Width of shoulders
Ear length
Chin to nose
Eyebrows to hairline