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Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileThis sketch features a central female figure looking downward toward two infants, executed with light, searching lines. Faint horizontal lines and a cross-shaped architectural plan are visible in the background, showing the artist working through both figural composition and structural design. The work captures a moment of creative transition where human forms are integrated into a mathematical or geometric framework.
The inclusion of a cruciform ground plan alongside religious figures illustrates the Renaissance synthesis of sacred geometry and humanism. This practice reflects the Neoplatonic and Vitruvian idea that the proportions of the human body and the design of the temple are both mirrors of a singular divine order, a concept central to the period's natural philosophy.
Vitruvius
The cruciform plan relates to Vitruvian principles regarding the symmetry and proportions of the human body as the basis for sacred architecture.
Leon Battista Alberti
Alberti’s 'De re aedificatoria' discusses the temple plan as a reflection of cosmic harmony and divine reason.
Object
Oil on panel
architectural
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
https://collections.ashmolean.org/object/72045
800 × 1027 px
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on March 31, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.