The symbol Phi was chosen to represent the Golden Ratio because the Greek sculptor Phidias is said to have used it so much in his work. | |
According to Dan Brown, author of The DaVinci Code, the ratio of your height to the height of your belly button is the Golden Ratio, as is the ratio of the length of your arm to the length of your forearm, the ratio of the length of your leg to the length of your leg from the knee down, etc. You'll be checking this out for your homework. Albrecht Durer wrote the first math book written in German. It is known that he met with Luca Pacioli, who wrote a book on the Golden Ratio, and that he was fascinated with proportion. He may have used the Golden Ratio: one web site I found seemed to credit this drawing demonstrating the appearance of the Golden Ratio in the human body to Durer. In Durer's "Adoration of the Magi", the gifts from the three wise men, measured from the corners of the picture, are (supposedly) positioned in the golden ratio. | |
The proportions of Michelangelo's David conform to the golden ratio from the location of the navel with respect to the height to the placement of the joints in the fingers. | |
Raphael is also said to have used the Golden Ratio. | |
| Leonardo da Vinci, of course, was very interested in mathematics. He also illustrated the definitive work of the day on the Golden Ratio. Did he use it in his work? |
Stradivari was aware of the golden section and used it to place the f-holes in his famous violins. | |
Mondrian's work seems so mathematical. Surely he used the Golden Ratio! | |
Seurat is said to have attacked every canvas with the Golden Ratio. |