DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.48092#0263
XII.]
DURER ON ANATOMY.
237
of the leading lines by aid of the laws of perspective, and after-
wards would turn to the edifice itself and paint it from nature; so
in drawing a human figure he would have his followers first fix
its leading points by his theory of Proportions and then turn to
the figure itself and draw and colour it from the life. Between
the two parallels however there is this difference. The laws of
Perspective can be deduced with certainty from mathematical
first principles ; the Canon of Proportions could only be con-
structed empirically as the result of repeated observations.
Nevertheless, once constructed, it can certainly be used as Dtirer
suggested. Its use has practically been superseded by the study
of Anatomy.
It is a curious fact, considering what kind of man Dtirer
was, that he scarcely seems to have studied
anatomy at all. He only once even touches
on the subject in his work on Human Pro¬
portions (at the beginning of Book IV.). In
his figure drawings are no suggestions of the
outlines and attachments of bones and mus¬
cles. The silhouette of the human figure
was that upon which he spent his chief
energies. There is one incomplete sketch
of a skeleton in the London volumes (11. 48*
here reproduced), which may be compared
with the well-known drawing of Death on
horseback belonging to Mr Malcolm.
Returning to the contents of the pub¬
lished volume, the construction of the figure
of a normal man, seven heads tall, is fol¬
lowed by that of a normal woman. Then
come male and female figures eight heads
tall; afterwards figures of the same height
but with some of their proportions altered,
figures nine heads tall, and lastly figures
ten heads tall. Each of the foregoing ten descriptions is
illustrated by three woodcut diagrams, representing the front,
side, and back views of the figure in question, with the various
measurements affixed. Some general remarks of minor im-
portance follow and then the student is instructed in the
DURER ON ANATOMY.
237
of the leading lines by aid of the laws of perspective, and after-
wards would turn to the edifice itself and paint it from nature; so
in drawing a human figure he would have his followers first fix
its leading points by his theory of Proportions and then turn to
the figure itself and draw and colour it from the life. Between
the two parallels however there is this difference. The laws of
Perspective can be deduced with certainty from mathematical
first principles ; the Canon of Proportions could only be con-
structed empirically as the result of repeated observations.
Nevertheless, once constructed, it can certainly be used as Dtirer
suggested. Its use has practically been superseded by the study
of Anatomy.
It is a curious fact, considering what kind of man Dtirer
was, that he scarcely seems to have studied
anatomy at all. He only once even touches
on the subject in his work on Human Pro¬
portions (at the beginning of Book IV.). In
his figure drawings are no suggestions of the
outlines and attachments of bones and mus¬
cles. The silhouette of the human figure
was that upon which he spent his chief
energies. There is one incomplete sketch
of a skeleton in the London volumes (11. 48*
here reproduced), which may be compared
with the well-known drawing of Death on
horseback belonging to Mr Malcolm.
Returning to the contents of the pub¬
lished volume, the construction of the figure
of a normal man, seven heads tall, is fol¬
lowed by that of a normal woman. Then
come male and female figures eight heads
tall; afterwards figures of the same height
but with some of their proportions altered,
figures nine heads tall, and lastly figures
ten heads tall. Each of the foregoing ten descriptions is
illustrated by three woodcut diagrams, representing the front,
side, and back views of the figure in question, with the various
measurements affixed. Some general remarks of minor im-
portance follow and then the student is instructed in the