Of Albrecht Dürer, most famous painter and Geometer,

on Symmetry, Book

One.

When you are about to depict the human form, follow this method. On a set ruler—which should exceed the length of the figure you wish to make—draw a line of the same height as you have decided the picture should be. Do this so that the first point of the line marks the top of the head The vertex refers to the highest point of the skull., and the final point marks the heel. According to the variety of forms—whether you have conceived them in your mind as tall or short—adapt specific lines to each, and divide them individually. Therefore, whenever you hear the numbers of the parts mentioned in what follows, know that they are to be sought from the stature of the total height, from the top of the head all the way to the heel of the person whose figure is being established. This single line must be marked with the greatest care. This division may range from two parts up to fifty, or a hundred, or however many parts may finally be needed.

You will refer all those parts, marked with their numbers, to that long line drawn on the ruler, so that they align with its first or initial point, but then differ according to their own variety, as is necessary. In this way, longer parts will be marked with smaller numbers, and conversely, shorter parts with larger numbers. Dürer is using a fractional system: "2" represents 1/2 of the body, which is a large section, whereas "100" would represent 1/100th, a very small section. For example, concerning the total length: the half-line is 2; the third part is 3; the fourth part is 4; and so on. If the work requires it, you may further divide these marked parts at your own discretion into other numbers, whether even or odd. For anyone who desires to measure something accurately, but cannot grasp everything with one certain division, is driven by necessity to the breaking down of parts into smaller units.

That I have done this will appear later, for you will often see double or triple numbers placed—large, medium, even, and odd—by which I felt I could truly reach the reality of the subject. Moreover, the arrangement of these numbers which I have designated can be changed and used differently according to the talent of another artist. However, so that everything said by us so far and what will be said later may be better understood, I will here depict that ruler with its parts and the marks of those parts, just as I have taught how to make it. For before all else, the correctness of this ruler must be established; without it, immense labor and an infinity of time would be required to find the specific lengths of all the parts within the total height of the stature from the top of the head to the heel.

This "B" is a "signature mark," used by early printers to keep the large sheets of paper in the correct order when binding the book.