Four Books on Human Proportion

At the bottom of the shin shin (schinbeyn): the tibia, one 27th part.
Through the ankles ankles (knorren): literally "knots" or "protuberances," referring here to the malleoli, one 22nd part.
And the front of the foot, one 15th part.

Afterward, I determine the widths of the front-facing front-facing (fürsichtig): viewed from the front arm.

Under the armpit, one 18th part.
Behind the elbow, one 21st part.
In front of the elbow, one 16th part.
Behind the joint of the hand original: "glenck der hand," referring to the wrist, one 25th part.
And the open hand, one 15th part.

Next, by the third line, I make the rear-facing rear-facing (hinderwertig): viewed from the back man between the armpits original: "achsen," here referring to the width across the shoulders/axilla one 4th part wide. And I split the buttocks for him from the bottom upward one 8th part.
And I make his heels at the back one 24th part wide.

When I have now all lengths, thicknesses, and widths

orderly described and marked by the three upright lines, then I draw the figure with lines according to my best judgment therein. Or, if I am able, I place a well-proportioned person before me and draw the lines after him; that is always better than if it were made from one’s own mind original: "eignem sinn," implying drawing from imagination or memory without a model.

It is also especially to be noted, when one draws the lines of the man’s form, how nature has made the man so masterfully, as if he were made of two pieces: the body set upon the thighs. On both sides, from the hip area, a fleshy ridge fleshy ridge (wulst): a fold or muscular contour goes down around the belly, and likewise backward over the buttocks. I will indicate this in the following draft with a special line, as it stands before your eyes hereafter in the side-view, front-facing, and rear-facing image.

This man I designate with an A.

A complex, interlaced decorative knot or printer's mark, typical of 16th-century woodcut ornament, used to fill the space at the end of a chapter or section.