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Proportion,
Scale &
The Golden
Mean
Scale vs. Proportion
 Scale
= Size
 Proportion
= relative size,
the size of an object as
measured in comparison to
another object or against
some mental norm or
standard.
Richard Roth
Untitled.
1983.
Installation: sphere with red stool.
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PROPORTIO
N

The comparative
relationship of
one part to
another.
Gustave
Caillebotte
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
Scale
Refers to size as
measured against a
standard reference.
Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen
Spoonbridge and Cherry
1985-88
Hierarchical Proportion:
Using Scale and Proportion for Emphasis

Hierarchical Proportion: when figures
are arranged in a work of art so that
scale indicates importance. For
Example: A King, Jesus, Saint or the
Pope would be bigger than surrounding
people.

Large scale can make for a very obvious
focal point, or create visual emphasis.

Saint Lawrence, a deacon of the Church
under Pope Sixtus II (257–58), is shown
enthroned, his feet resting on the grill on
which he was martyred. He is flanked
by Saints Cosmas and Damian, whose
cult was closely associated with the
ruling Medici family. The Florentine
patrician Alessandro Alessandri (1391–
1460) kneels in devotion, facing his
sons Jacopo (1422–1494) and Antonio
(1423–after 1480).
Fra Filippo Lippi (Italian, Florence ca. 1406–1469
Spoleto)
Saint Lawrence Enthroned with Saints and
Donors
Tempera on wood, gold ground
Using Scale to Effect Mood
An artist can use scale and proportion to create an emotional effect in the viewer.
Compare and Contrast these two images.
Domenico Ghirlandaio. Last Supper. c. 1480. Fresco, 25ﾕ 7” (8 m)
wide. San Marco, Florence.
Emil Nolde. The Last Supper. 1909. Oil on canvas, 2ﾕ 10 5/8” 3ﾕ 6
1/2” (88 108 cm). Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen.
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Sometimes
artists chose
to distort or
exaggerate
the
proportions
of the
subjects
involved.
Fernando Botero, A Family
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Exaggeration
& Distortion

Deviations from expected,
normal proportions.

For instance, parts of the
human body can be
lengthened, enlarged,
bent, warped, twisted, or
deformed to express
certain moods or feelings.
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Erna with Cigarette
1930
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•
•
•
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What Is The
Golden Mean?
The Golden Ratio
The Divine Proportion
The Golden Rectangle
The Golden Section
What Is It?

A Golden Rectangle is based
on the concept that a rectangle
that is 1.6 times as long as it is
tall can be divided into perfect
sections that can be broken
into that ratio 1:1.6 again and
again.
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The Golden Mean

The golden ratio is 1·618034. It is often
represented by a Greek letter Phi Φ.

The Fibonacci numbers are 0, 1, 1, 2, 3,
5, 8, 13, ... (add the last two to get the
next)

The golden ratio and Fibonacci
numbers relate in such that sea shell
shapes, branching plants, flower petals
and seeds, leaves and petal
arrangements, all involve the Fibonacci
numbers.
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The Golden Mean
and the Human Body
The Ancients Knew!

The Origins of the
Golden Mean are lost to
us, but we know that the
Egyptians used the idea
to build the pyramids.

The Pyramids at Giza
were built more than
4,500 years ago using the
ratio of 1.6 to 1. Meaning
that they are 1.6 times a
high as they are wide.
The Greeks
 In
477, the Greek city
state of Athens built
the famous temple to
Athena, known as the
Parthenon. It’s
dimensions are a
perfect Golden
Rectangle.
Devine Proportion

Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519)
studied both art and science.
He saw that nature used
the“divine proportion”

Leonardo saw that humans
were proportioned using the
same ratio. So he copied it in
his artwork.

Leonardo did an entire
exploration of the human body
and the ratios of the lengths of
various body parts.
“Vitruvian Man” illustrates
that the human body is
proportioned according to the
Golden Ratio.
Art of Leonardo Da Vinci
 Da Vinci
incorporated the golden mean in The
Mona Lisa and The Last Supper
The Rule of Thirds
 The
modern rule of
thirds comes from the
principle of the golden
mean as a useful
method to determine
where to place or
organize objects in a
composition.
 The
French
impressionist painter
Georges Pierre Seurat
attempted to
incorporate the rule of
thirds in all his works.
Foreshortening

Foreshortening is to shorten
and object in a twodimensional composition to
make it appear as if it
extends backward into
space.

It gives the illusion of depth
and perspective and is often
used when depicting the
human form in art.
ANDREA MANTEGNA
Dead Christ ("the foreshortened Christ"),
mourned by the Virgin, a pious woman
and Saint John Apostle, ca. 1480
Tempera on canvas
26 4/5 × 31 9/10 in
68.1 × 81 cm
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Variety,
Emphasis,
Harmony,
& Unity
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VAR
IE
Marc Chagall
Y
T

The use of differences and
contrast to increase the visual
interest of the work.

Variety is achieved when the
art elements are combined in
various ways to increase visual
interest.

For instance, an assortment of
shapes that are different sizes
attracts more attention than an
assortment of shapes that are
all the same size.
Variety
Variety is a way of combining elements to create interesting
relationships. Artists use this principle when they want to increase the
visual interests of their works. Variety is the principle of art concerned
with difference or contrast. Note the different contrast of patterns, and
textures in the painting by Max Weber.
Max Weber Chinese
Restaurant 1915 oil
+ Let’s look at Kandinsky’s painting. How is the
artist showing variety in this work?
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Variety-a principle of art that is concerned
with contrast or difference.
Robert Rauschenberg, Trophy II,
1960
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Emphasis & Focal Point

The principle of design that
makes one part of a work
dominant over the other parts.

The element that is noticed first
is called the dominant or focal
point, the elements noticed
later are called subordinate.

Emphasis is meant to catch the
viewer’s attention. Usually the
artist will make one area stand
out by contrasting it with other
areas. The area can be different
in size, color, texture, shape, etc.
Roy Lichtenstein
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Ways to Create a Focal Point

Contrast: incorporating an element that contrasts with the
rest of the composition.

Isolation: putting one object alone, apart from all the other
objects.

Location: placing an object near the middle of the
composition.

Convergence: when many elements in a work seem to point
to one item.

The Unusual: an object that is out of the ordinary.
ASIS
+ EMPH
Jim Dine
Gustav Klimt
+Where is the focal point in Wassily
Kandinsky’s, Composition VII ?
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Emphasis
Or FOCUS in an artwork
Edward Hopper
American, 1882-1967
Nighthawks, 1942
Oil on canvas
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Where are
your eyes
drawn to
first? Next?
Then?
Where is the
focal point of
this image?
The Conversion of St. Paul, Caravaggio
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Does this painting have a focal point?
Lavender Mist, Jackson Pollock
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
Contrast
A design principle that emphasizes differences between the art
elements.
Salvador Dali
Ansel Adams
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
Unity
The quality of
wholeness or oneness
that achieved through
the effective use of the
elements and principles
of art.
Degas
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Unity

Unity is created by
simplicity, repetition,
and proximity.
Marcel Duchamp
Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2
1912. Oil on canvas.
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What do you think Cezanne used to keep this painting,
Mt. Victoria, unified or working together?
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UNITY &
Harmony
When all the
elements and
principles work
together to
create a pleasing
image.
Johannes Vermeer
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Harmony

The principle of art that
creates unity by stressing
the similarities of separate
but related parts.

Jasper John’s map of the
United States could be
pulled apart, but it is
unified by the harmonious
limited color palette, or
color choice.
Jasper Johns, Map, 1961