DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19575#0213
t92 PRO
It is for want of the invention of Prints, that the machines of
Archimedes and the elder Hiero are loft; and the knowledge of
Diofcorides in plants, and alfo of feveral animals, and a great
many of the curious productions of nature, which the ftudies of
the ancients difcovered.
PRODIGi\LITY, is reprefented, in painting, Sec. by a
woman hoodwinked, of a fmiling countenance, holding a cor-
nucopia with both her hands, out of which {he fcatters gold and
other precious things.— Blind, to fhew they are fo who fpend
and fquander away their fubftance, without reafon, to thole who
are unworthy of it, for the moft part obferving neither rule nor
meafure.
PROPORTIONS of a human body. r. The length of an up-
right body is equal to eight times the length of the face or head :
The arm, hanging ftraight down, reacheth within a fpan of the
^knee : The length of the hand muft be the length of the face :
The arms extended muft be the juft length of the body.
2. Thofe parts which are near the eye muft be made larger
and longer than thofe that are farther off, becaufe the eye judgeth
fo of them ; and, according to the diftance from the eye, fo muft
you vary from that which is otherwife the real true Proportion of
thofe.
It is fcarce poffible to do any thing in the art of Proportion
commendably, without the knowledge of arithmetic and geome-
try ; wherefore, the knowledge of thefe fciences is required, as
what is abfolutely neceffary : For how otherwife fhould any one
underftand the exacl meafure and Proportion of a body ?
PerfpeSiive Proportion, is to be judged according to the
diftance of the eye from the thing viewed, as if one part of the
body comes nearer to the eye than another, it is to be reprefented
in drawing, &c. fo much bigger than the other part of the body,
which trends away from the eye : As if one leg ftands behind
another, the foremoft, coming firft to the eye, muft be made
fomevvhat bigger and longer than the other, becaufe the eye judg-
eth fo of it.
And, in like manner, you are to obferve the fame rule in any
other part of the body, that the Proportions muft be leffened ac-
cording to the diftance that it is from the eye; which, notwith-
ftand ing, cannot be much in a principal figure.
But this rule is more nicely to be obferved in {lately palaces,
cathedral churches, or fuch-like edifices, where there is a great
variety by reafon of their greater diftances.
As alfo, many times, many figures ftand far remote from the
eye, and fome nearer, which you are to take fpecial notice of,
that you exprefs thofe that are far off at a diftance, not too big
nor plain. See the fevera! articles in PERSPECTIVE.
PROS-
It is for want of the invention of Prints, that the machines of
Archimedes and the elder Hiero are loft; and the knowledge of
Diofcorides in plants, and alfo of feveral animals, and a great
many of the curious productions of nature, which the ftudies of
the ancients difcovered.
PRODIGi\LITY, is reprefented, in painting, Sec. by a
woman hoodwinked, of a fmiling countenance, holding a cor-
nucopia with both her hands, out of which {he fcatters gold and
other precious things.— Blind, to fhew they are fo who fpend
and fquander away their fubftance, without reafon, to thole who
are unworthy of it, for the moft part obferving neither rule nor
meafure.
PROPORTIONS of a human body. r. The length of an up-
right body is equal to eight times the length of the face or head :
The arm, hanging ftraight down, reacheth within a fpan of the
^knee : The length of the hand muft be the length of the face :
The arms extended muft be the juft length of the body.
2. Thofe parts which are near the eye muft be made larger
and longer than thofe that are farther off, becaufe the eye judgeth
fo of them ; and, according to the diftance from the eye, fo muft
you vary from that which is otherwife the real true Proportion of
thofe.
It is fcarce poffible to do any thing in the art of Proportion
commendably, without the knowledge of arithmetic and geome-
try ; wherefore, the knowledge of thefe fciences is required, as
what is abfolutely neceffary : For how otherwife fhould any one
underftand the exacl meafure and Proportion of a body ?
PerfpeSiive Proportion, is to be judged according to the
diftance of the eye from the thing viewed, as if one part of the
body comes nearer to the eye than another, it is to be reprefented
in drawing, &c. fo much bigger than the other part of the body,
which trends away from the eye : As if one leg ftands behind
another, the foremoft, coming firft to the eye, muft be made
fomevvhat bigger and longer than the other, becaufe the eye judg-
eth fo of it.
And, in like manner, you are to obferve the fame rule in any
other part of the body, that the Proportions muft be leffened ac-
cording to the diftance that it is from the eye; which, notwith-
ftand ing, cannot be much in a principal figure.
But this rule is more nicely to be obferved in {lately palaces,
cathedral churches, or fuch-like edifices, where there is a great
variety by reafon of their greater diftances.
As alfo, many times, many figures ftand far remote from the
eye, and fome nearer, which you are to take fpecial notice of,
that you exprefs thofe that are far off at a diftance, not too big
nor plain. See the fevera! articles in PERSPECTIVE.
PROS-