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Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man: The Ideal Human Proportions and Man as a Measure of All Things

2016; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 137; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/prs.0000000000002002

1529-4242

Carlo M. Oranges, René D. Largo, Dirk J. Schaefer,

History of Medicine Studies

Sir: We read with great interest the correspondence between Khouri1,2 and Perdanasari et al.3 about how to reach greatness in plastic surgery. We would like to acknowledge Perdanasari et al.3 for citing Protagoras' motto "Man is the measure of all things" (Plato's Theaetetus, 152a). However, we believe they misunderstood the message behind this idea. This anthropocentric idea of man at the center of everything, expressed by the neo-Platonic school, became the dominant philosophical interpretation of nature during the Italian Renaissance period, and was a profound inspiration and motivation for the work of Michelangelo Buonarroti and Leonardo da Vinci. How closely plastic surgery and art are related and how meaningful the authority is of these two High Renaissance masters, in guiding our work as plastic surgeons, were already insightfully discussed in previous articles published in the Journal.4,5 The anthropocentrism was expressed in art through research of symmetry, interpreted as right proportion and balance, a subject very important also for us as plastic surgeons, and was eminently expressed by Leonardo da Vinci's drawing Vitruvian Man,6 universally considered as one of the most significant symbols of Western civilization and the heritage of all of humanity (one of the purposes of the Renaissance was to collect all human beings, regardless of their religious beliefs, ethics, or other discriminating elements, by finding the common element, the divine spark lying behind everything and everyone). By referring to the investigations of the Roman architect Vitruvius (Vitruvius' De Architectura, 3.1.2-3), who used the human figure as an expression of harmony in the Creation and as a landmark reference for projecting architectural structures, Leonardo expressed a geometrical, mathematical, and anatomically extremely precise representation of the human figure. Moreover, Leonardo depicted the man in the center of geometrical figures (i.e., square and circle), with a symbolic and philosophic meaning, that can help us in proper understanding of Protagoras' motto and of today's message of service of Khouri.2,3 Indeed, the circle reflects divine perfection or uncreated thought, and the square represents earthly creation or reality. Under this symbolic point of view, the human being stands in the center, representing the junction point, where the ultimate one, the uncreated, becomes created reality. As was meaningfully observed by Rohrich and Sullivan,4 this interpretation of nature overcomes the dualism between thought and reality, and represents also the basis of the monistic interpretation of the universe of Descartes and Hegel. Michelangelo Buonarroti and Leonardo da Vinci certainly represent the apical expression of this view in art, as well documented by Leonardo's Vitruvian Man. However, this view stands in deep contrast with the statement by Perdanasari et al. that "sometimes the progress and excellence require individualisms."3 Conversely, it perfectly fits with the message of service of Khouri.1,2 Indeed, if the philosophical idea that everything has to be related to an ultimate unique one and that all of us and everything are the expression of this ultimate unique one is accepted, no contrasts, competition, or actions for an individualistic glorification, all of which are manifestations of separation, are acceptable. DISCLOSURE The authors have no financial interest to declare in the content of this communication. No external funding was received. Carlo M. Oranges, M.D.René D. Largo, M.D.Dirk J. Schaefer, M.D.Department of Plastic, Reconstructive, Aesthetic, andHand SurgeryBasel University HospitalBasel, Switzerland