Four Books on Human Proportion

...is correct instruction, and brings it into habit, any figure can subsequently be made much more easily even without physical measurements. So that this instruction of mine may be better understood, I have previously released a book on measurement—namely concerning lines, planes, solids, etc.—without which this teaching of mine cannot be fundamentally understood. Therefore, it is necessary for anyone who wishes to undertake this art to first be well-instructed in measurement, and to gain an understanding of how all things should be laid out in a ground plan and drawn upward in elevation, just as the skillful Stonemasons original: "Steinmetzen"; Dürer often links the high art of painting to the practical geometry used by master masons. use in their daily practice; for without this, he will not be able to perfectly grasp my instruction.

No one should allow themselves to be turned away if they do not understand everything immediately; for what is very easy cannot be very artful. But that which is artful requires diligence, trouble, and labor until it can be acquired and learned. It is surely a vain labor when much effort and diligence is spent on a thing that is fundamentally wrong. However, if a work has its correct proportions, it can be criticized by no one, even if it is very simply made. With this instruction of mine, I intend to write only of the outer lines of the form and figures, and where they should be drawn from point to point, but not at all of internal matters. Dürer refers here to the "outer lines" or contours of the human form, focusing on geometry rather than internal anatomy or the "inner spirit" of the subject.

As to how old this art may be, who first invented it, and in what esteem and dignity it once stood among the Greeks and Romans—likewise how a good painter or craftsman original: "werckman"; a general term for a skilled laborer or artisan. should be prepared—I have no need to write of that now. Whoever desires to have knowledge of such things should read Pliny and Vitruvius, original: "Plinium vnd Vitruuium"; Dürer points readers toward Pliny the Elder’s Natural History and Vitruvius’s De architectura as the primary authorities on classical art history. and he will receive sufficient instruction on that account.

However, so that these books of mine might find a protector against gossip, and so that I might demonstrate the inclined will I bear toward your Lordship—for the sake of the many kinds of dear friendship and goodness you have shown me for a long time and in many ways—with such spirit as I can offer through my work, I have dedicated them to your Excellency. I pray that you will understand this undertaking of mine in the best light and, as you have always done, remain my favorable Lord and patron. In this I will place my total trust, and I shall be diligent to deserve it as best I can.