Four Books on Human Proportion

Three anatomical diagrams from Albrecht Dürer's Four Books on Human Proportion (1528) illustrate the proportional measurements of a female figure. On the left is a female figure in profile, facing right, with numerical and fractional notations marking various points from the crown of the head to the feet. In the center is a detached arm shown from a side-view, marked with its own set of proportional numbers and a vertical scale. On the right is a full-frontal view of a female figure, similarly marked with extensive numerical and fractional proportions across the head, torso, and limbs. Horizontal lines at the base of the full figures indicate the ground plane and include scale measurements. The characters AI appear near the feet of both full-length figures, identifying this specific proportional type as the first model of the first book.

Signature marker for the second leaf of the second gathering.

Measurements for the Figure in Profile (Left):
one 9th part These numbers represent fractions of the total body height.
one 14th and one 15th part
one 14th part and 1 original: "1/14 et 1"; likely a specific fractional remainder or an error in the original plate transcription for a secondary fraction.
one 8th part
one 12th part
one 10th part
one 7th part
one 13th part
one 12th and one 13th part
one 7th part
one 7th part
one 10th and one 11th part
one 8th and one 10th part
one 7th part
two 19th parts
one 12th part
one 12th part
one 20th and one 22nd part
one 12th part
one 18th part
AI Indicates Type A, Figure 1.
one 6th part

Measurements for the Detached Arm (Center):
one 11th part
one 12th part
one 20th part
one 17th part
one 34th part
one 27th part
two 11th parts
one 4th part
one 10th part

Measurements for the Frontal Figure (Right):
one 18th and one 19th part
one 15th and one 16th part
one 8th part
one 9th part
one 10th part
two 11th parts
four and one 15th part
one 6th part
one 8th part
one 10th and one 11th part
one 5th part
one 4th part
one 16th part
one 12th part
one 15th part
one 27th part
one 16th part
two 11th parts
one 7th and one 8th part
one 15th and one 16th part
two 21st and two 25th parts
two 25th parts
one 22nd and one 24th part
one 14th part
two 26th and two 25th parts
AI Type A, Figure 1.
1 and 16 original: "1 et 16"; possibly one 16th part of a larger unit or a coordinate for the ground plane.