Four Books on Human Proportion

Next, I will describe a strong, peasant woman original: "pewrisch weyb"; Dürer categorized human figures by social type and physical build who is seven heads tall, matching the scale of the man described previously. I will do this following the same order as for the man. However, instead of the three upright lines, I will place points in those same locations to mark the length of the limbs. I will no longer draw horizontal lines through these points—neither for the thickness nor the width of the side-view, front-view, or back-view figures. Instead, I will place the numbers and digits at the same location where the horizontal lines would have been, next to the points. These indicate how thick or wide the side-view or front-view figure should be at that spot. I will use this method for all subsequent figures so that the drawings do not become too cluttered.

From the crown of the head to the height of the shoulder joints: one 10th part and two 23rd parts.
But from the crown to the pit of the throat the suprasternal notch: two 11th parts.
From the crown to the end of the chin: a 7th part.
From the chin upwards to the height of the rear vertebra the atlas or the nape of the neck: an 8th part.
But from the chin upwards to the end of the forehead: a 10th part.
I divide this tenth part into three equal parts: in the uppermost, I place the forehead; in the second, the nose, eyes, and ears; in the third, the mouth and chin. And beneath the chin, I make the flesh descend further.

The armpit is always lower in the back than in the front.

From the height of the pit of the throat:
To the waist: a 5th part.
Under the breasts: a 7th part.
At the nipples original: "tütlein": a 9th part.
Under the front armpit: a 15th part.
At the height of the breast: a 28th part.

From the waist:
To the navel: a 22nd part.
To the end of the hip: a 9th part.
To the end of the belly: an 8th part.
To the end of the genitals original: "scham": two 11th parts.
To the end of the buttocks: a 5th part.

From the sole of the foot upwards to the height of the instep: a 20th part.
But from the sole to the outer ankle original: "knorren" of the shinbone: a 28th part.
From the end of the ankle upwards to the middle of the knee: two 9th parts.
Or, I position the knee using the divider original: "vergleicher"; a tool for comparing proportions as I did before, which will make the knee lower than before; do whichever you prefer. From the middle of the knee upwards: a 30th part, where I end the knee; likewise, a 30th part below it, where I end the bottom of the knee. From the middle of the knee downwards: an 8th part, where I end the calf, and I make the foot one 6th part long.
Next, I make the arm from the shoulder joint to the elbow: two 11th parts. From the elbow to the end of the fingers: a 4th part.
From the end of the fingers backward to the wrist joint: a 10th part.

Since I have indicated the length of the limbs, I will next measure the thickness at all the points of the previously established lengths on the side-view figure.

I make the side-view head nine parts thick through the point of the rear vertebra.
Now, always pay attention to the points so you do not lose your way.
But at the point of the forehead: a 14th part and a 15th part.

Over the eyebrows also: a 14th part and a 15th part.
Over the head and nose: an 8th part.
Over the chin and neck: also an 8th part.
And the neck: a 12th part.
But at the pit of the throat: a 10th part.
At the height of the breast: a 7th part.