- Vitruvian Man
- In His Own Words
In His Own Words
Leonardo's Italian from the sheet, line by line, with our plain English under each line. Check the numbers for yourself.
His spelling is kept as he wrote it, around 1490. Letters in round brackets fill in his shorthand, for example mez(z)o.
The units
4 diti fa 1 palmo, et 4 palmi fa 1 pie, 6 palmi fa un chubito, 4 cubiti fa 1 homo
4 fingers make 1 palm, 4 palms make 1 foot, 6 palms make a cubit, 4 cubits make 1 man.
A cubit is the length from your elbow to the tip of your middle finger, one of the oldest measuring sticks there is. Four of them stacked up make a man's height, which is the same “elbow to fingertip is a quarter” rule in the table below.
The ratios
Arm span Same
Tanto ap(r)e l'omo nele b(r)accia, qua(n)to ella sua alteza.
A man opens his arms as wide as he is tall.
Groin 1/2
Il menb(r)o birile nasscie nel mez(z)o dell'omo.
The male member begins at the middle of the man.
Shoulder width 1/4
La mag(g)iore larg(h)ez(z)a delle spalli chontiene insè [la oct] la quarta parte dell'omo.
The greatest width of the shoulders holds a quarter of the man.
The [la oct] appears in the transcription, as if he began to write “the eighth” before settling on “the quarter”.
Elbow to fingertip 1/4
Dal gomito alla punta della mano fia la quarta parte dell'omo.
From the elbow to the tip of the hand shall be a quarter of the man.
Sole to knee 1/4
Dal di socto del piè al di socto del ginochio fia la quarta parte dell'omo.
From the sole of the foot to below the knee shall be a quarter of the man.
Knee to groin 1/4
Dal di socto del ginochio al nasscime(n)to del memb(r)o fia la quarta parte dell'omo.
From below the knee to the start of the member shall be a quarter of the man.
Chest to top of head 1/6
Dal di sop(r)a del pecto alla som(m)ità del chapo fia il sexto dell'omo.
From the top of the chest to the top of the head shall be a sixth of the man.
Foot 1/7
Il piè fia la sectima parte dell'omo.
The foot shall be a seventh of the man.
Vitruvius, the Roman he was testing, said a sixth. Leonardo wrote a seventh.
Head 1/8
Dal di socto del mento alla som(m)ità del chapo he l'octavo dell'altez(z)a dell'omo.
From below the chin to the top of the head is an eighth of the man's height.
Elbow to shoulder 1/8
da esso gomito al termine della isspalla fia la octava parte d'esso omo
From that elbow to the end of the shoulder shall be an eighth of that man.
Face 1/10
Dal nasscimento de chapegli al fine di sotto del mento è il decimo dell'altez(z)a del(l)'uomo.
From the hairline to the bottom of the chin is a tenth of the man's height.
Hand 1/10
tucta la mano fia la decima parte dell'omo.
The whole hand shall be a tenth of the man.
Reading his Italian
| Leonardo wrote | Meaning |
|---|---|
| omo, homo | man |
| diti | fingers (finger widths) |
| palmo | palm (4 finger widths) |
| chubito, cubito | cubit (elbow to fingertip) |
| fia | shall be |
| parte | part |
| chapo | head |
| chapegli | hair |
| mento | chin |
| pecto | chest |
| spalla, spalli | shoulder(s) |
| gomito | elbow |
| mano | hand |
| ginochio | knee |
| piè | foot |
| socto, sop(r)a | below, above |
| quarta, sexto, sectima, octavo, decimo | quarter, sixth, seventh, eighth, tenth |
The Italian is Leonardo's own text from the Vitruvian Man sheet, written in mirror script above and below the drawing. The English is our own close translation. The original sheet is held by the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice.