The Vitruvian Man translates to: "The proportions of the human body according to Vitruvius.” Marcus Vitruvius was a Roman architect around 50BC from whom Da Vinci understood the proportions of the human body.  However, he took Vitruvius’s ideas further and tried to understand the connection between the patterns of the universe and the structure of the human body as he deemed that the workings of the human body are parallel to the workings of the universe.

The work depicts a man in a superimposed position, inscribed within a circle and a square at the same time. As a consummate artist and scientist of his time, da Vinci’s work can be seen as an amalgamation between the arts and sciences, for it illustrates the mathematics associated with the human structure. The function of the painting is twofold: the first idea is already is that man’s body is proportioned according to geometry and mathematics. The second idea, and to think about it is truly incredible, but that these same proportions apply to architecture to produce the most perfect, and aesthetically pleasing buildings. Vitruvius used the concept and proportions of man to create stunning architecture.

The Vitruvian man can be seen as a bridge between religion and science. Leonardo da Vinci famously also said about the Vitruvian Man: "The outstretched arms and legs of a man form a square and a circle: the square symbolizes the solid physical world and the circle the spiritual and eternal. Man bridges the gap between these two worlds,” in his The Magical Proportions of Man. This overall reflects how da Vinci was taking religious inspiration conjoined with scientific and mathematical formulation to create his artwork, in a way represent how the world was headed towards a scientific era.  

• Da Vinci. 2016. The Vitruvian Man. 2016. [online] Available at: http://www.streetdirectory.com/etoday/da-vinci-the-vitruvian-man-jcowp.html. [Accessed 12 March 2016]
• Justine, C. 2002. Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man. [online]. Available at: http://leonardodavinci.stanford.edu/submissions/clabaugh/history/leonardo.html. [Accessed on 12 March. 2016].
• Earle, J. 2013. Create Lessons Worth Sharing around YouTube Videos - TED-Ed. Available at: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/da-vinci-s-vitruvian-man-of-math-james-earle.  [Accessed on 12 March. 2016].