INTERSECTION OF DESIGN & MEDICINE
THE VITRUVIA
N M
AUTHOR John D
avid K
olte
r, M A N
D
P
erhaps the best-known intersection
of design and medicine, and an ob-
vious starting point for a discussion
of this intersection, is Leonardo da
Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man.” Complet-
ed around 1490, the ink on paper
drawing represents a human male
in two superimposed positions, one in-
scribed in a circle and one inscribed in a square. The drawing is a
study in proportion and form. The original drawing is accompa-
nied with notes from Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, the well-known Ro-
man architect and author of De Architectura. Indeed, the instruc-
tions for the “Vitruvian Man” were provided, without drawings, in
Book III of De Architectura.
‘Then again, in the human body the central point is naturally the
navel. For if a man can be placed flat on his back, with his hands
and feet extended, and a pair of compasses centered at his navel,
the fingers and toes of his two hands and feet will touch the circum-
ference of a circle described therefrom. And just as the human body
yields a circular outline, so too a square figure may be found from it.
For if we measure the distance from the soles of the feet to the top of
the head, and then apply that measure to the outstretched arms, the
breadth will be found to be the same as the height, as in the case of
plane surfaces which are completely square.’ (Marcus Vitruvius, De
Architectura, Book III, Chapter 1, p 3)
14
LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
Given the instructions provided almost 1,500 years prior to his
birth, it is not surprising that da Vinci was not the first artist to
attempt a drawing of the Vitruvian man. However, da Vinci made
keen observations in creating his famous version noting:
‘If you open the legs so as to reduce the stature by one-fourteenth
and open and raise your arms so that your middle fingers touch the
line through the top of the head, know that the centre of the extrem-
ities of the outspread limbs will be the umbilicus, and the space be-
tween the legs will make an equilateral triangle.’ (Accademia, Ven-
ice).
The Vitruvian Man, a study in order and ‘divine design’, be-
came a cornerstone of Italian Renaissance design and architecture.
Structures of the time were often designed based on proportions
and profiles of the human form. Over time, the Vitruvian Man has
taken on many symbolic embodiments, and the associated geo-
metric forms have been given various interpretations across dis-
ciplines. In the realm of medicine, we can see the Vitruvian Man
symbolically and tangibly as art, science and humanitarianism
in harmony: the three endeavors that we physicians practice and
seek to master.
References:
Source: Stanford University: Leonardodavinci.stanford.edu Encyclopedia Bri-
tannica Online
Dr. Kolter is a practicing internist with Baptist Health.