Gallucci’s Commentary on Dürer’s ’Four Books on Human Proportion’
|On the Symmetry of Human Bodies
Book Five
Texte intégral
1 This book teaches the way painters can express the passions of the body and soul in the figures of men and women with lines and colors, whether they be natural or incidental, according to the opinion of philosophers and poets.
2Now published for the first time
1. On the Utility of this Doctrine1
- 1 Though often reserved for principles of religion, I have kept the translation of dottrina as “Doctr (...)
- 2 Gallucci divides physiognomic types used in painting to those derived from nature (dal naturale), i (...)
- 3 Vasari’s conception of disegno considers the way in which the “Idea” of the artist can be transcrib (...)
- 4 Gallucci uses lineamentì to refer to both the appropriate complexion of different forms and the con (...)
- 5 Building on his Preface where painting and poetry are discussed as “sister arts,” Gallucci often us (...)
- 6 See “6. How One Should Paint a Furious and Angry Man,” below. Homer, Iliad, transl. Barry Powell (O (...)
- 7 The temperaments (vitij) that he refers to are presented as self-evident, and based on everyday obs (...)
- 8 The most widely read treatment on martyrdom as a model for Christian living from the medieval and R (...)
3Even though in the Preface at the beginning of these books we alluded to the necessity of this fifth book, we, nevertheless, are determined to explain it more thoroughly so that with such knowledge those that study painting can pay closer attention by taking part in this most noble art. For this reason, it must be noted that all figures painters make can be reduced to three principle categories.2 Some of these come from nature, like portraits. Others from histories have a certain general usefulness, like those of Sts Peter and Paul, and other such figures. Alternatively, the painter may want to create his own history or fable and fill it with many figures, variously extracted from the Idea his soul has shaped after having considered and painted many different forms.3 The Idea needs only the diligence of the skilled painter who does not omit any detail that is in the truth, including all in the portrait with his lines and colors, and should not portray anything he did not intend. Moreover, the second [portrait type] requires knowledge of the art that we are going to set forth in this book. Because even if it is customary, for example, to paint St Peter with a squared beard and St Paul with a long one, the first as a brawny man and the second as praying, it is nonetheless possible to do this so ungracefully, since it is left to chance, that instead of representing the constancy of faith, the sanctity, and the other virtues proper to these columns of the Holy Church, they represent them as squalid and wicked men. Nor it is far from truth that one who has never learned the way to Rome, might while traveling depart from the right way, like one who does not know the difference between all the grains should select barley instead of wheat, or this instead of that. Amended with a knowledge of custom and history, this art can then direct the painter’s hand and his judgment appropriate to all the images; painters have a certain universal cognition of the shapes of these images. The pictures or figures that painters do not know perfectly, because they have never existed (or, if so, existed a long time ago), are of two varieties: some of them are open to interpretation by the judicious painter, while specific features define others. The figures of history paintings are open to interpretation if they are not the principle [ones] while such freedom of interpretation is not possible in the figures of the gods from antiquity or in the embodiment of virtues and other such stations of men that are collected in histories. Moreover, having this universal knowledge of the various kinds of figures will be very useful. This affords familiarity with the various kinds of pictures and the variety of the shapes of the human body, the colors that correspond to those features, as well as the coloration of the head.4 Homer demonstrates this stratagem well when he paints5 his enraged Achilles with eyes that look like fire together with a hairy chest and swift feet.6 How useful then is this contribution to the creation of the figures of the gods, and the concepts of virtues and vices, so well-known that it needs no further evidence, since we do not seek to explain the nature of these here.7 Instead, we attempt to teach the methods by which painters can represent the disposition of human bodies, virtues and temperaments through the emotions of those bodies. Students of painting should thus note how useful what is explained in this book can be, should these things taught be carefully studied, including the features and colors that are appropriate to all human figures he wishes to represent. Therefore, the valuable commentary on the figures that the painter wishes to show his audience is of a singular benefit. Possessing this knowledge will continuously bring him a fame that makes him immortal and a property that produces pious fruits, a property that, as we mentioned in the beginning, leads to an understanding of the soul that will last as long as the world. For if while we are reading the lives of the glorious martyrs, we are moved in the least and feel some spark or desire for martyrdom, what stronger a reaction would we then have should we see them with our own eyes, almost sprinting to their martyrdom? So it is said about those Holy Fathers who used to live in the hermitage, and others, who are examples of Christian living.8 In those, I would like to see the Christian painter describe the piety that writers attribute to them. But, because my aim in this book is not to cover doctrine in a verbose fashion, nor burden readers with its length, these few things will suffice to inflame the souls of students to embrace these precepts, lessening their labors with the hope of a reward both temporal and eternal.
2. On the Differences of Humans with Respect to Countries, Sex, and Age
- 9 The Barbary Coast includes the Berber coastal regions and cities throughout the middle and western (...)
4Be this the universal precept for painters, who must primarily imitate the natural things, that those living in the northern hemisphere have a lighter skin color and tougher hair than those who live in the southern part: Germans, Flemish, English, and other nationalities situated towards the pole, have lighter-complected flesh than the people who live in the kingdom of Crete, Sicily, Spain, Berber Coast,9 Egypt, or other places in the south. Furthermore, the bodies of peoples in the north are larger than those from the south. Tasso speaks of this when describing Arabs in Book 17 of his Gerusalemme Liberata,
- 11 The Mediterranean region.
- 12 Giovanni Paolo Gallucci, Della simmetria dei corpi humani, libri quattro (Venice: Roberto Meietti, (...)
- 13 The seminal ancient treatise on physiognomy, originally attributed to Aristotle and now considered (...)
- 14 Although not cited as such, the description is an almost exact quotation of that found in: Pseudo-A (...)
- 15 Pseudo-Aristotle, Physiognomica, 5: 809b.15, 5: 810a.1; Aristotle, Minor Works, transl. Hett, 110–1 (...)
5Still others from the areas between these two extremes have a moderate complexion, such as the very noble city of Venice (and all of Italy), France, and other such places.11 Although this middle region, said to be temperate, is inclined to be different in that it not only participates in universal qualities of extremes, [its peoples] are also so different in skin tone and in the stature of all of their bodies that some look like Germans, some Africans, and still some [look like] others. For instance, when Japanese ambassadors came to Venice, they said they were surprised by nothing more than the differences they saw among the Italians. Therefore, they are all olive-colored with small bodies and have faces that are almost shaped the same. I need to advise painters here that in all countries, and in all varieties, women have smaller heads, smaller and narrower faces, slender necks, more delicate chests, fewer ribs, while their waists and hips are fleshier than that of men; their calves are also different, and their knees are thinner. In general, they are softer, lighter and slenderer, and the shape of their entire body more delightful, light, noble, and generous. In addition, their bodies must be (as Dürer said)12 smaller and less defined than that of men; Aristotle represents this fact with the figure of the lion for men and leopard for women,13 given that (as he says) [the lion] has a downward-shaped mouth with a nose that is broad and large, rather than thin and narrow; the eyes are varied, often concave and not actually spherical, no less eminent, and well-proportioned; the eyebrows are big and the forehead squared; and in the middle of this concave shape, between the nose and the eyebrows, we see a certain seriousness that could terrify whosoever looks at it, which is made of fearsome hairs that fall over the forehead to the eyes in order to protect them. Proportionate to other parts of the body is the head, resting on a large, long neck, just as well-proportioned as the rest of the body. The color of his hair is a dark blond with dark brown and yellow with red in the middle; some highlighted strands appear as thinly layered gold and appear both hard and soft, between curly and straight, midway at the nape of the neck. The robust shoulders and the hale chest mean that it is in full strength, and as he is curled up his massive back displays the animal’s many ribs, along with noticeable hips and thighs that are not fleshy, but instead taut and full with strong muscles and veins. In the same fashion, he has strong, large and regal legs that show him to be elegant and brave while walking. In general, he is neither too moist, nor too dry, but with these qualities glides with long, deliberate steps, and, while in a pacing gait, shakes and flails his shoulders.14 These qualities of the body correspond to the passions of the soul: therefore, he is polite, generous, cautiously magnanimous, truthful, a great lover of victory, and, finally, caring towards his benefactors and relatives. This figure of a lion is used by Aristotle to describe the universal figure of man, just as he uses leopards to characterize women.15 In considering the qualities of all animals, leopards are not endowed with virtue or strength; the qualities of the shape of their bodies can be considered more appropriate for women than men. Though their rear legs appear to be capable of achieving something, we are only able to see some signs of strength in their speed among small animals and in their ability to catch small prey and tear them apart. Usually they have a small face with small, white, concave eyes set deep in the head, almost hidden, which they are able to shift quickly. Their foreheads are disproportionate in length and the area near the ears is more circular than flat; their neck is quite long and thin with few ribs in their chest and an apparent long back; and their hips and thighs are quite ample and plump. They have soft and supple sides (same as their belly) with hair that is uniform in color; their form is not well proportioned, with neither the different parts nor muscles defined. Leopards’ bodies are the same as their souls, which is cowardly; and since they are little thieves, it is true to say of their nature that they are full of frauds and deceits. Therefore, painters must, even more than is possible, represent men with the limbs of a lion, while that of a leopard is appropriate for women and effeminate men, as Homer testifies in the third chapter of the Iliad when discussing the Trojan prince Paris:
- 16 Homer, Iliad, transl. Powell, 3: 13–16.
When, advancing together, the two armies
came near, Alexandros, like a god, appeared wearing
a panther skin on his shoulders, and his curved bow…16
- 17 “I stooped and slipped over my neck and broad shoulders a tawny/ Lion’s skin for a cloak; then I ra (...)
6The way in which this is discussed is appropriate for poets. Virgil, for instance, says of Aeneas (to whom great strength had been imparted, and who wanted to rescue his elderly father from the fire of Troy) that he wore a lion skin on his shoulders, which stirred in his soul the strength of the animal and its limbs.17 The conceit is universal among poets [describing heroes]. Because it is possible that an individual man may be found that deviates from the universal, painters must be familiar with all types and variations. For instance, an individual man could be found that is fatter, paler and softer than any woman; or who is sickly and thin due to fatigue, hunger or illness; or made black by the sun; or a young man who is more delicate than an old woman; or a person who lives in the city and is always engaged in commercial activity in the shade; or, finally, a peasant who is continuously fatigued working in the hot sun. Besides these examples, there are many differences caused by the age of a person. Younger people are plumper, softer and paler than older people. Painters must be careful to ensure that everything is appropriate and not go against nature. I must also advise that in painting a small English or Flemish child, or one from another northern country, one must ensure that they are lighter than one from Egypt or the Barbary Coast, because all of these nations are (as we already said) more lightly complected than those.
3. On the Beauty of Human Bodies, Especially Women
7Even though the painter is obliged to imitate nature, he, nevertheless, strains himself in attempting to surpass it by choosing only the most beautiful parts. These are not the same for men and women, nor is there ever a man or a woman who is perfect in all parts. Perfection is also rarely found in nature, as Petrarch says in these eight lines:
- 18 The portrait of Laura, model for the ideal beauty and woman as precious object, becomes formalized (...)
This fragile and fallen good of ours,
this wind and shadow, Beauty by name,
was never, at least not in our age, complete
except in one body, and that was to my pain:
since Nature does not wish, nor is it fitting,
to make one rich, by impoverishing others:
yet all its wealth was everywhere in here
(pardon me you who are lovely, or think so).18
- 19 The legend dates from the fourth century BCE and was recorded in succeeding centuries by Cicero and (...)
- 20 “First paint for me her locks, both soft and black.” Anacreon, “Ode 28: On His Mistress,” The First (...)
8Zeuxis did this at Croton when he wanted to paint Helen the Greek, the most beautiful of all women. In order to capture her renowned beauty, he selected the five best most beautiful virgins of that city and, in copying the best part of each one, he created the most beautiful figure of Helen.19 Now, in order for this immortal painter to demonstrate such excellence in his art, he possessed two things, as all artists should: a perfect understanding of the beautiful and ugly parts [in nature], and an expert hand able to reveal what the soul could understand. This second ability could be obtained with the application of the first, I believe, like other things that could be learned through the classes of those who know better in these matters. Here I want to talk about beauty as it pertains to the artist, something that can be found described differently by various painters and writers, as well as in different ages. The wise painter should make a diligent effort to understand and consider what is written about beauty here and then take into account the general consensus of his time. If he considers only what seems wise and beautiful himself, disregarding everyone else’s judgment, then he will be called mad, like one who judges something beautiful that everyone else in that era or city considers ugly. For example, if he would wish to paint a woman here in Venice with black hair, as the Greek poet Anacreon wanted, as a painter would his lover, many would consider it of low class and the painter would be considered foolish or ignorant for his choice, being that the general agreement is that the beauty of a woman is primarily due to her blonde hair, and the meaning of its golden color, as modern poets contend.20 Keep, therefore, this universal rule of the painter and always consider the accepted conventions of the time or place where he wants to make a woman or a man or another beautiful thing. Regardless of period, moreover, we know that in all places and in all times a well-proportioned body has always been praised, though the same colors were not seen as appropriate for the body in the same fashion. Another accepted piece of advice that I should like to impart to the painter is that there is a huge difference between the beauty of men and women. What is laudable in women is of chief blame in men, as Homer has Hector rebuke his brother Paris in this manner, as if he were speaking Italian,
- 21 Homer, Iliad, transl. Powell, 3: 35–37.
“Little Paris, nice to look at, mad for women, seducer boy.”21
9And again he says, a little later [of Paris],
- 22 Ibid., 3: 37–45.
“… just because he was good-looking, while in his heart there was no strength or power.”22
- 23 Gallucci returns to this section of the Rhetoric throughout his Book Five in order to reinforce poi (...)
- 24 In the late 1580s, Gallucci translated into Latin the Catechismus of the Spanish Dominican Luis de (...)
- 25 “In a man who has reached his prime, beauty consists in being naturally adapted for the toils of wa (...)
- 26 A dancer and performer of pantomimes in Augustan Rome, Bathyllus was born in Alexandria and was the (...)
10He had a beauty that appropriately adorns women, not men. Speaking of this in his Rhetoric, Aristotle says that there are two types of beauty for men: that of the young, and another of middle-aged and old men. Therefore, he says, the beauty of a young man consists of having a strong body that can handle fatigue, and be pleasing to those that look upon it. Moreover, given their endowments, the young should willingly dance, jump, and joust in the presence of his lover in order to be reputed handsome; these things could not be easily accomplished if not with a well-proportioned body that possesses healthy coloring which makes anyone who looks upon him grateful.23 But, [Luis de] Granada said in the fifth part of his Symbolum that the most beautiful things to see are likewise the most useful to life;24 that concept is verified not only in men and others animals, but in all natural or artificial things that are used by the men. The beauty of a middle-aged man, [Aristotle] says, consists of a body that is adapted to and accommodates the toils of war, and who by nature strikes terror into onlookers.25 This is what Anacreon wants, that a painter gives him the eyes of a warrior in his poem Bathyllus, dark and threatening like that of Mars, but still clear as Venus to ensure that others would be fearful in looking upon them, yet see through to the hope of his soul.26 The old man is wished to have a body that performs the labors necessary for his age, and that in the same way they know that they were born with good coloring in their cheeks that was appropriate for their age and in this age we again seek a proportionate body as described by Dürer in his first book. Now let’s see how Ariosto depicts the beauty of a woman in Angelica:
The brutal, ruthless savages left the exquisitely beautiful damsel exposed on the shore to the cruel monster, and as naked as when Nature first fashioned her; not even a veil did she have to cover the lily-white, the rose-red, unfading in December as in July, which coloured her lustrous limbs.
- 27 Ariosto, “Canto 10,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 95–96; 103.
Ruggiero would have taken her for a statue fashioned in alabaster or some lambent marble, and tethered thus to the rock by some diligent sculptor’s artifice, were it not that he distinctly saw tears coursing down her rose-fresh, lily-white cheeks and bedewing her unripe apple-breasts, and her golden tresses flowing in the wind.27
11In such a way the painter could be clearer in the manner he represents the beauty of a woman, whom others look upon with astonishment. There is also no reason to omit how Tasso writes about the idea of beauty in [the figure of] Armida in these verses:
Never did Argos, Cyprus, Delos see
form of such fair deportment and address.
Like gold her hair one moment gleams, lovely
through veils, then unveiled glitters from each tress.
So, when the sky is clearing, glad and free,
now through a radiant cloud the sun shines less,
now bursts that cloud and spreads its piercing ray
more brightly and redoubles all the day.
The breeze new-curls some errant tresses’ maze, the rest by nature curl like waves of light.
But inward-gathered is her close-kept gaze and hides love’s treasures and her own from sight.
A tint of roses in her fair face plays,
sprinkled on ivory, mingling with the white;
but on her mouth, warm with love’s breath, there glows alone in simple ruddiness the rose.
- 29 Anacreon, Odes of Anacreon, transl. Moore, 17.
12As we have said, the Greek poet Anacreon speaks to a painter in a famous lyrical verse of one of his songs, asking him to paint his wife with soft, black, and perfumed hair;29 the colors should appropriately represent the forehead, paired with proper oil, eyebrows that are arched, but do not touch each other. The tips of her hair should look as though they are even and make contact, and must be black in color. Then he wants the eyes to be greenish in color, as the poets describe Minerva’s, or as we see with cats, lions and owls, and that they are as sultry as those of Venus, or like those of some soft, effeminate young man’s, or, so to speak, consecrated with lasciviousness and love. Furthermore, he asks that the painter make the cheeks and the nose the color of roses mixed with milk; the lips should be persuasive, in other words, small and pursed in order to move quickly while speaking, and that the neck and the chin be smooth and polished. Finally, she must be clothed in a scarlet dress that reveals her naked limbs.
13I would be amiss in neglecting to relate what Petrarch says of the beauty of his woman [Laura] in these few lines:
- 30 “Quel sempre acerbo et honorato giorno.” Petrarch, “Canzone 251,” The Complete Canzoniere, transl. (...)
Her hair pure gold, and hot snow her face,
her eyebrows ebony, her eyes twin stars,
from which Love never bent his vow in vain:
pearls and crimson roses, where grief received
the form of an ardent lovely voice:
flames her sighs, and her tears were crystal.30
14Ariosto, also speaking of hair, says:
15And of [Angelica’s] lips, he says elsewhere:
16But because we are going to address human limbs elsewhere in order to demonstrate which ones are better for each kind of person, this will suffice for now.
17This beauty is universal and can be found in both men and women (as we said before) when each part of their body is appropriate and functional. Such a judgment derives from the Greeks who would find a woman ugly should she have buttocks that are small and flat. For having been made with these two little features is contrary to the function of her body in order to support it without injury. Knowing that it is the nature of women to stay home and remain seated for long periods, it would be more convenient if they had buttocks that were softer and fuller in order to sit more comfortably. Catullus also finds the most beautiful parts of a woman corresponding to her fair complexion, and proportion of the body relating to the rule of proportion, as he writes of Lesbia [in comparison with other women],
- 34 “A woman is not beautiful when her ankle or arm wins compliments, but when her total appearance div (...)
- 35 “And now with all thy pencil’s truth, / Portray Bathyllus, lovely youth!… Oh! let this pictured god (...)
18Seneca also speaks of a woman’s beauty. He argues that it is, in fact, not the beauty of the arms or legs that should be praised, but instead a woman with a beautiful face who will receive all admiration, over the other parts of the body.34 It is sufficient to relate the suggestion of Anacreon to painters in his bucolic poem Bathyllus that when attempting to capture the universal beauty of human bodies, he should form the idea of beauty in his mind, the figure of a young man.35
19He asked that the painter make the roots of his hair black and golden at the ends; the hair should be curly and remain free to sweep over the forehead. The forehead must be soft and rosy adorned with black eyebrows. The eyes, black in color, are terrifying, with the likeness of those of Mars, yet calm and dewy like those of Venus, so that the fear instilled in those who look upon them would become hopeful. The cheeks are rosy, as is seen in apples or young children when they feel ashamed; the lips are tender and full of persuasion, appearing as though he is speaking even when remaining silent; the face has to be quite large with a neck of ivory like Adonis, a chest and hands like that of Mercury, the legs of Pollux, and, finally, the stomach of Bacchus.
4. The Figure of a Strong Man
20Although every man is capable of being strong, given strength is a habit carried by the soul, not every man and every body type is able to express all works of virtue. Erminia expresses such a belief in Book 6 of Tasso’s Gerusalemme in these lines:
- 37 Marcus Tullius Cicero, Dream of Scipio, transl. Andre Chaves (Pasadena: The Clinker Press, 2012), 6
21The sentiment is supported by Cicero, who says the same when speaking of Africans, which is why Paulus could not emulate his father’s studies relating to strength.37 Here then I should describe only that body which possesses the habit of strength. When this habit is absent, we refer to the body as brawny, meaning nothing other than the possession of the strength of brute animals, such as lions and others of the same kind. The proper body, which possesses the quality of strength, must be straight in shape from the legs to the hips; all parts of the body must be strong and firm, with the bones clearly visible beneath the skin in all parts. Ariosto painted his characters Astolfo and Samsonet in this fashion in these four verses:
22The sentiment is confusing when Ariosto has Olympia say the same thing to Orlando in this manner:
- 39 Ariosto, “Canto 9,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 56; 88.
“But if your mighty, Herculean aspect is a true image of your valour… ”39
23This is not to say that the figure should have a menacing gaze in a strong body, a misconception some painters have, leading them to make Hercules look like a bear with his limbs drawn in on themselves so that it is impossible to see his hands, feet or any other part of the body. The hair ought to be somewhat rugged and disheveled. The stomach should be wide and concave, not bloated, as in the figures of Bacchus or cherubs, for in this fleshy type there is no room for strength. Accordingly, his shoulders should be broad and large, along with the neck and everything up to the head. Homer attributed such qualities to Ajax in his description of the great warrior. Standing atop a tower in order to see the field of battle with the Greek Helen, king Priam asked her Ajax’s name, describing him in this manner:
- 40 Homer, Iliad, transl. Powell, 3: 222–225.
“Who is this other Achaean,
brazen and tall, standing out among the Argives
both for his height and his broad shoulders?”40
24Tasso, likewise, wrote in a canto of his Gerusalemme:
25The nape of the neck still must be robust and proportionate to his other parts and compliment the broad chest and strong, robust legs like two incredibly strong columns able to support the large base of the fortress [that is, the body]. However, these limbs should not merely be big and strong, but also firm, just as large and tall columns are not in themselves sufficient to support large palaces. The material must also be of good quality, such as quality marble, porphyry or serpentine. This must be said for the legs again. The feet must be distinct in every single part, so that all of the bones can be seen beneath the skin, but they do not need to be emaciated, and should be appropriately fleshy. The color of the skin should be dark and ruddy, unlike the complexion appropriate for women and young boys. The eyes should vary in color or be dark blue and also be well-positioned in the skull, not too set in the eye sockets, nor too protruding, but of average proportion in size and location. Within the eyes, there should appear little flames that are used to frighten onlookers, as Ariosto describes Orlando when he sang about him in this manner:
- 42 The youthful arrogance of Alzirdo leads to his undoing, for in challenging the Prince of Anglant, h (...)
The approach of Count Orlando, a man unmatched for valour, a man of so lofty a countenance, so imposing a demeanour that the very god of battle seemed but his second, attracted the notice of Alzirdo, who was fascinated by his remarkable build, his fierce eye, his wrathful countenance; he reckoned he must be a most mighty champion, but could not restrain himself from challenging him.42
26This stanza verifies not only what we have said about the eyes, which should frighten others, but also that the combination of different limbs should not be confused and disproportioned. The same thing is said by Virgil when speaking to Dante in these verses:
- 43 The description does not come from Dante’s poet-prophet, but rather the Aeneid when Aeneas holds fu (...)
“Instantly, Dares sticks up his face and his muscular, virile
Vastness, and raises himself to a rumbling roar from the menfolk.
This was the lone soul who’d often solicit a contest with Paris; He was the one, who, right on the tomb of Hector the Mighty,
Battered Bebrycian Butes, from Amycus’ blood, so he boasted,
Massive in stature, a champion. But Dares gave him a thrashing,
Left him sprawled on the tan-coloured sand and slowly expiring.
Such, then, was Dares, his head raised high for the start of the/ contest,
Flexing the breadth of his shoulders and stretching one arm, then
the other,
Out as he pummelled and slashed at the air with a series of punches… .”43
27In addition to this, we should add that his eyebrows need not be delicate and sculpted into clear contours like a woman’s, but should instead be broad and unkempt, growing towards each other over the forehead, though not necessarily growing together. The forehead has to be broad, but not too high. We can add to the description the expression and sounds involved in acts of straining, such as screaming aloud, which are made during bloody battles and other such violent occasions where it is common for men to show their valor. Moreover, as our description entails a broad, strong chest, he would also have a loud and frightening voice. And with such an agreement of appearance, virtue and expression, he would demonstrate constancy in all of his actions.
- 44 Seneca, Letters from a Stoic, transl. Campbell, 25: 1–7.
28The following derives from Seneca, and it could act as a summary of this chapter, where we find Virgil describing a strong man, while he deals with a noble horse in these verses:44
- 45 Book three is dedicated to the breeding and selection of best horses for war and other endeavors. V (...)
From the first, a colt of the best lineage walks in the fields with a higher step and brings his feet down lightly. He dares to go first on the path, to test raging rivers and commit himself to unfamiliar bridges, nor does he bolt at untoward sounds. His neck is arched, his head graceful, his belly trim and back plumped out, and his proud chest abounds in muscle. The finest colors are chestnut and gray, the worst white and dun. Then, if he hears the faraway sound of clashing arms, he cannot stand still, his ears prick forward, his limbs quiver, and, whickering, he snorts the gathered fires from his nostrils.45
29I would certainly not make a figure of a strong man any other way. Should more explanation be necessary, I cite the intrepid Cato, who, when moving towards the battle among the cries of the civil war at the military activities in the Alps, expresses himself with such comportment that I would not recommend another face for a warrior, nor another kind of habit.
5. How the Figure of a Timid Man Should Be Painted
30Although from the things said above about the characteristics of the strong man, we can easily understand those of a shy man to be the opposite; nevertheless, in order to elevate the understanding of painters, we are compelled to explain more clearly how it is possible that they can represent to viewers the true image and true idea of shyness. The timid man pulls his limbs as tightly to his body as possible, as when all men are alarmed by a serious fear for any reason; this comportment makes it look as though they are shrinking into themselves, looking for a narrower place to hide. They look like they are running away and are pale overall. This passion of the spirit [passione dell’animo] has already been divinely described by Ariosto in this stanza:
- 46 Ariosto, “Canto 13,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 35; 141.
He came upon many of the terrified fugitives routed by Orlando. Some bewailed the loss of a son, others of a brother whom they had seen expire before their very eyes. Abject cowardice was still imprinted on their wan features; such was their terror, they were still dumbstruck, dazed, and pallid.46
31And in another place, he concludes a stanza in this manner:
- 47 Ariosto, “Canto 31,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 107; 382.
… everyone was pale with fear for Rinaldo.47
32And in another place he also says of this topic:
- 48 Ariosto, “Canto 39,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 32; 469.
But when he noticed the Imperial Eagle, the Golden Lilies, and the Leopards close by, he blanched like a man suddenly aware that his incautious foot has trodden upon a horrid poisonous snake which has been slumbering torpidly in the grass: he recoils in a fright and flees from the angry, venomous reptile…48
33In the same way Homer speaks of Paris, who was overcome with fear:
- 49 The cowardly retreat incurs Hector’s curses. Homer, Iliad, transl. Powell, 3: 27–35.
Just as when a man sees a snake in the wilds of the mountain and he jumps back and his limbs tremble and a whiteness suffuses his cheeks, even so did godlike Alexandros [Paris] slip into the crowd of lordly Trojans, fearing the son of Atreus [Menelaus].49
34And elsewhere:
35And Ariosto also says:
- 51 Ariosto, “Canto 10,” 95–96; 103.
Never did a timid shepherd-girl start back more violently from a horrid snake…51
36Paleness and cowardly retreat are not the only symptoms of fear; the shivers, loss of voice, and hair raising are also common. Ovid speaks of such trembling when recounting the tale of Philomela.
37Virgil also speaks of Turnus:
- 53 Virgil, Aeneid, transl. Ahl, 12: 867–868.
For the first time, shock at a sight disables his body,
Loosens his limbs. Horror bristles his hair, chokes sound behind locked jaws.53
38Aeneas had the same reaction when Mercury ordered him to leave Africa for Italy by decree of Jupiter.
- 54 Ibid., 4: 280.
Senses lost, hair bristling in shock, voice frozen in locked jaws.54
39In a similar fashion, Ariosto also said:
- 55 Ariosto, “Canto 1,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 29; 4.
When the phantom surged up out of the water, the Saracen’s hair stood on end and he paled, and his voice died in his throat.55
40Tasso also wrote this in Book 13 of his Gerusalemme:
- 56 Tasso, The Liberation of Jerusalem, transl. Wickert, 13: 22.
At this the cheeks of all who heard grew pale, their fear by countless signs made manifest.56
41Furthermore, Ariosto speaks of trembling in this manner:
- 57 Ariosto, “Canto 1,” 76; 90.
Or too great an anxiety to kill the baron; or whether his heart, trembling like a leaf, caused his arm and hands to shake as well…57
- 58 “The signs of the coward are soft hair, a body of sedentary habit, not energetic; calves of the leg (...)
42Because some men are more susceptible to this passion than others, painters need be aware of how to portray them. Those embodying this passion have soft hair and a long neck with faces as those described above: their eyes flicker with fright; their eyelids seem to flutter in perpetual motion, as is seen in those who are fearful, illustrated by the painter through careful description of wrinkles of the forehead or temples that move the eyelids under their long eyebrows. The chest is small and weak, having within it a cold heart, an important indicator of fearfulness. To portray a shy man, the hands must be long and the legs swollen and full. The prudent painter must not only take care, knowing the true idea of fear, but also be aware and advised that in his paintings he cannot give heavy loads to shy men over strong men. Therefore, timid characters should not be shown with weapons of war or hunting, since they lack strength and loud voices (necessary to illustrate both hunters and warriors), attested to by many credible witnesses.58
6. How One Should Paint a Furious and Angry Man
- 59 “Thus Temperance and Courage are destroyed by excess and deficiency, and preserved by the observanc (...)
- 60 Lucius Anneaus Seneca, “De Ira,” Dialogues, transl. A. Bourgery (Paris: Les Belles lettres, 2003).
43Although it is necessary that the strong man be wrathful, unable to conquer anything without a measure of fury, as the philosopher [Aristotle] wants, he must, nevertheless, display moderation.59 Otherwise, artists portraying them would represent a figure who looked perpetually angry, as opposed to strong. Discussing the representation of fury and those incidental qualities that might convey anger, Seneca, in the second [book] On Anger, says: “the very furious are ones who are by nature tawny and blonde-haired, and, since others define those who are angry in this way, we are going to describe them together here.”60 Ariosto describes Gradasso angry in this manner:
44Elsewhere, he again says:
45And Tasso in Book 6 of his Gerusalemme says:
46As such, it is advisable to include the color of fire on the faces of angry and furious men, especially in the eyes, as Homer described the enraged Achilles:
- 64 Homer, Iliad, transl. Powell, 19: 334–339, 457. The rage of Achilles is central to the extant books (...)
In their midst, godlike Achilles armed himself for battle.
There was a gnashing of teeth, and his two eyes showed like the gleam of a fire. Into his heart an unbearable pain descended.
And raging against the Trojans, he put on the gifts that the god Hephaistos had labored so to make…64
47Tasso again wrote this in Book 7 of his Gerusalemme:
48Ariosto again locates fury mainly in the eyes when he says:
- 66 Ariosto, “Canto 7,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 56; 66–67.
The enchantress, then, presented herself to Ruggiero in Atlas’ likeness, with Atlas’ grave, venerable face which had always commanded his respect; on his face he wore the look of angry menace which Ruggiero had feared from early childhood.66
49And elsewhere:
50There he wrote about the speed at which such furious men are able to run, arising from the same heat which affects not only the complexion of the face, but almost all of the body, as bright and vermillion. As we have said, this is more so true in the face than elsewhere. Their hair must be very dark and thick, always complimenting their flesh, the color of fire; such characteristics are appropriate for one experiencing rage. This is seen in the color of their hair, which should be like that of a lion. Likewise, furious men should have full beards to complement their bushy mane, though without hair on their chests. These figures must be made so as to appear in motion; since it is not their nature to remain still, they will move their hands if they cannot do anything else. The extremities of their bodies must be big and strong, with unkempt and curly hair. The veins of the eyes appear quite large and red, while the arteries in the neck bulge greatly. As we have said above, the chest of the furious man must be hairless; nevertheless, some authors prefer it to be hairy, as seen when Homer describes Achilles:
51And he said these things when he described him as angrier than he had ever been. Again, it is appropriate for an angry man to bite his own lips, confirmed by Ariosto, who says in these verses:
- 69 Ariosto, “Canto 33,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 41.
… and Ravenna is sacked. “In his anguish the Pope chews his lip… ”69
52Tasso understood the same to be true and explained it in Book 7 of his poem in this manner:
53Virgil provides another characteristic feature of this passion when he describes the anger Dido felt towards Aeneas because of his departure from Africa. As he says:
- 71 Virgil, Aeneid, transl. Ahl, 4: 361–365.
For a while, she just watched him obliquely,
Eyes flashing this way and that as he spoke, scrutinizing at random
His whole being with silent looks.71
54In fact, this makes her turn her back, and yet still continue to eye every single part of him that inspired her wrath. This passion, which inspires hateful glances, was used by Tasso to describe an angry man in these lines of Book 7 of his Gerusalemme:
55And elsewhere:
- 73 Ibid., 10: 56.
Only the fierce Circassian never rose,
but with a terrible and scornful face
sat silent, like a lion in repose,
rolling his eyes and moving not one pace.73
56Now, because Seneca divinely describes an angry man, I considered it prudent to put his seal of authority on this topic, of which he says the following:
- 74 Seneca, “De Ira,” Dialogues, transl. Bourgery, 3: 1.
In order that one recognize people possessed by the passion of fury are not mentally healthy, we should now consider his gestures and actions. There are some gestures that are indicative of the insane, such as having a threatening face, sad forehead, vacant stare, quick pace, gesticulating hands, and an odd complexion. Finally, inhaling deeply and exhaling loudly are all signs of furious people. The eyes are fiery with a very flushed face due to the boiling blood deep in their hearts, causing the lips to tremble. His hair curls up and his spirit shrinks as he strides forward, limbs contorted, his moaning speech intermittent and unintelligible. He beats his hands and stomps the ground with his feet; his entire body provokes fear and greatly menaces those around. The face is frightening and ugly to see; it shall soon be known if it is more hateful or ugly.74
7. The Figure of a Man, Who Is by Nature Cold and Wet, therefore, Meek and Humble, Feeble, Slow, Quiet, and Effeminate
- 75 Because humors also determined skin color, “complexions” became an alternative term when discussing (...)
- 76 When Lomazzo became blind and abandoned painting for writing, he advised his fellow artists to mix (...)
57In many ways the angry man appears strong due to his warmth. Therefore, men who rarely burn from anger and have a cold heart appear shy and cowardly, lacking all virility. Though he is shaped as a man, he has the soul of a woman, which is slow by nature, and is thus different in appearance in many parts. These men must have a very light complexion with soft skin and a good stature with hair spiked upwards, as Aristotle recommends.75 Others want such a man to be yellowish in complexion with eyes tending to be a little black and languid or set in; the extremities of the body must be small and weak with thin, long hands.76 Because he feels easily ashamed, his shape must be made in accordance with one who is oppressed by such passion, about which we will speak more in the appropriate place. Suffice it to say here that his head and the eyes must be looking down towards the ground; and because these usually are idle and downward cast as women do, it is not appropriate for the painter to indicate a modicum of manhood in the face, which would be used to dignify the figure that he wishes to paint.
8. How an Ingenious Man Should Be Painted
- 77 The prolific inventor actually derives his name from the Greek term for “craftsman” or to “work art (...)
- 78 In a characteristic Homeric epithet, Athena is described as “The grey-eyed goddess.” Homer, Iliad, (...)
- 79 Pseudo-Aristotle, Physiognomica; Aristotle, De Sensu, 45: 18–20; quoted in T. K. Johansen, Aristotl (...)
58The ingenious man was called Daedalus by the Greeks, which means varied, as if the excellence of the craftsman lies in the variety of things [he creates].77 So if one wished to paint Daedalus — who made the Labyrinth and escaped from it, making wings for himself and his son [Icarus] — this figure must be painted with the color white mixed with red, have hair of medium length and a slight wave, and have soft, damp flesh, though not necessarily plump, because corpulence would smother his ingenuity. Nor should he be made scrawny, but the areas around the shoulders, neck and face must be the leanest of all the areas of the body. The area around the shoulders ought to be drawn together, while the parts around the ribs should have the skin drawn taut over the bones. If possible, colors should be used to assure that the proper judgment can be conveyed when viewing the thinness of the skin. Finally, the eyes should appear as those of a cat or an owl, which Homer usually describes as belonging to Minerva.78 We should acknowledge the debt to Aristotle’s wisdom in these things, since I have not found any other source addressing this topic.79
9. The Figure of an Uncouth Man Compared to One with Great Intelligence
- 80 “These are the marks of the little-minded man. He is small limbed, small and round, dry, with small (...)
59Therefore, from the figure of an ingenious man one can deduce how to paint a boor, who has no intelligence, since his opposite is unwavering. In order to clarify for scholars of painting, and because the philosopher [Aristotle] wrote on each topic separately, we, as well, will write on both of them again in separate entries. His complexion has to be painted completely white or black, and must be fleshy in all parts of the body, but especially the belly, which must hang from the weight of the fat. The legs should be long with girth and rounded near the heels, while all the other limbs are shorter and should almost look like they are tied in a bundle of flesh, and this should be seen mainly near the neck, which must be really short and supported by thin shoulders; the forehead is rounded and large, and the cheeks round and full; the eye is pale and motionless, seemingly unable to see; and the palms of the hands are round, and shoulders protruding, but all joints of the body hidden beneath the flesh, so that they cannot be seen.80
10. The Figure and Painting of an Effeminate Man, Soft by Nature and also through Incident
60In general, a man who has nothing other than the distinction of sex making him masculine and is in every other respect similar to women in his customs, should be similar to women in both form and action with habits again similar to women. A painting of a man with this character should appear to be in motion with all of his limbs actively moving, but slowly. He has a curved neck with thick and voluminous eyebrows, and his eyes must be shown as though looking himself over, as women do before going out of their houses. The corners of his eyes should have many wrinkles or creases, and his head should lean more on the left shoulder than the right one, while some more so on the right side. Ariosto describes Ruggiero in this manner in Alcina’s labyrinth:
- 81 Ariosto, “Canto 7,” 53–55; 66.
The delicious softness of his dress suggested sloth and sensuality; Alcina had woven the garment with her own hands in silk and gold, a subtle work.
A glittering, richly jeweled necklace fastened round his neck and hung to his chest, while his two arms, hitherto so virile, were now each clasped by a lustrous bangle. Each ear was pierced by a fine gold ring from which a fat pearl hung, such as no Arabian or Indian ever boasted.’
His curly locks were saturated in perfumes, the most precious and aromatic that exist. His every gesture was mincing, as though he were accustomed to waiting on ladies in Valencia. All about him was sickly, all but his name; the rest was but corruption and decay. Thus was Ruggiero discovered, thus changed from his true self by sorcery.81
61Ovid divinely described this manner of looking around that women do in the tale of vanity in this way:
- 82 Recounting the tale of ‘Salamacis and Hermaphroditus, ’ Ovid warns of being overcome by avariciousn (...)
The boy and seeing, saw her heart’s desire.
Yet though her heart would haste she paused a while.
Till, dress inspected, all in order placed,
Charm in her eyes set shining, she deserved
To look so lovely, then began to speak.82
62Virgil again has Numanus say to the Trojans that they are not men, but women, pointing primarily to their habits.
- 83 Virgil, Aeneid, transl. Ahl, 9: 613–617.
“You, with your needlework saffron and gleaming purpled apparel,
You take delight in inertia, indulging yourselves in your dances.
Tunics for you come with sleeves, and your bonnets have nice little ribbons.
Phrygian women, not Phrygian men… ”83
11. How a Humble Man Should Be Painted, and One Who Is Shameful, either by Nature or Chance, and a Woman Again
- 84 “The eyes are the abode of shame. That is why they feel more ashamed before those who are likely to (...)
63Shame resides principally in the eyes, as the philosopher [Aristotle] describes in his Rhetoric, and for this reason the painter has to focus his attention here, making them not too bright, but at the same time showing a certain glee;84 they should be black and shown as neither too open nor closed, as half-lidded as he does not have to move or close his eyelids. He must be slow in every movement and speech. These things cannot be easily communicated through colors; nevertheless, the painter who knows them could relay his figure with a certain vivacity since he has the strength to portray what he wants. But now we turn to how poets paint this passion in men and women, which is typical and useful for the preservation of their creation. This is how Ariosto spoke of Angelica:
- 85 The reaction of Angelica follows a description that compares her to a statue fashioned by a sculpto (...)
On hearing him speak she perforce became like white ivory sprinkled with carmine, seeing those parts of her exposed to view which, for all their beauty, modesty would conceal.
She would have covered her face with her hands were they not tied to the hard rock.85
64The same poet describes men taken by this passion in this manner:
- 86 Ariosto, “Canto 20,” 99; 241.
… they were so stung with unwonted shame that their faces all blazed like fire. None dared look at another; they kept their eyes down, silent, and crestfallen.86
65And elsewhere says this of Zerbin:
- 87 Ibid., 130; 244.
At this, Zerbin felt so humiliated that his cheeks burned red-and it would have been small wonder had every piece of armour he wore blushed scarlet too.87
66Ovid, likewise, describes the flushed face of Arachne shamed in this manner:
- 88 Ovid, Metamorphoses, transl. Freese, 6: 27–58; 122.
… Yet she
blushed all the same; a sudden colour tinged
her cheeks against her will, then disappeared…88
67And elsewhere:
- 89 Ibid.
It marked red the face of the boy.89
68Tasso said this about Armida, illustrating her shame and scorn:
- 90 Tasso, The Liberation of Jerusalem, transl. Wickert, 4: 94.
Or else, her eyes in modesty kept low,
she decks herself with chastity’s pale scorn, and alters with a hint of frost or snow the roses that her lovely face adorn.
Even as at first birth the new dawn will glow in the coolest hours of the earliest morn, so disdain’s blush in her fresh blush of shame confounds itself and mingles with shame.90
- 91 Seneca, “On the Blush of Modesty,” Letters from a Stoic, transl. Campbell, 11: 7.
69Seneca also explains in the same fashion this passion in the first of his Letters. He describes that it is as with comedy-actors, who imitate suffering, fear and dread, will represent melancholy by mimicking the sign of shame. Therefore, they lower their heads and their voices, looking to the ground, but they cannot control the flush of their faces, since it is not possible to have it when we want or drive it away when it comes.91
70This is enough concerning shame.
12. The Figure of an Insolent and Presumptuous Man
71The insolent and presumptuous man is the opposite of the shameful, who lowers his eyes as he goes while hanging his head low. Instead, he walks with his head held high, and upon careful inspection appears to be walking on his tiptoes; they seem to walk about like preening cocks. As such, diligent painters should focus on the following: the eyes should be prominent and bright, and they should appear to be in constant motion; the eyebrows are straight and thick; the nose is big, concerning the look they must be made lascivious; the eyelids must be big, and full of blood; the eye that appears to focus on the person or people to whom he speaks must be made so that it looks unmovable; the shoulders somewhat protruding, but not in the manner look alike to those who walked with crutches, as all of the form must be sufficiently bent towards the ground, although appearing as though raising their heads proudly; the face must be circular, and the chest lifted up; and the color of all the body must be red, which tends to the color of blood.
13. The Figure of a Cheerful Man
- 92 Plautus, Pseudolus, transl. David Christenson (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2013 (...)
72The figure principally consists of the appearance of the forehead and eyes, agreed upon by all ancient writers, who, in their writings, demonstrate this passion through its opposite when the brow cringes, showing pain and severity. Plautus, for instance, said that his head should stick out a little when speaking.92 And Horace speaks to Maecenas, inviting him for dinner in such a fashion:
73Additionally, Ariosto describes that sudden joy makes the face become suddenly pale in these four verses:
- 94 Ariosto, “Canto 23,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 67; 274.
So it was that the damsel looked her beloved in the face and turned pale with sudden joy; then, as a flower drenched from heavy rain revives when the sun comes out, she revived.94
74The same are described again in the face in the following undersigned effects:
- 95 Ariosto, “Canto 28,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 39; 343–344.
So strange a sight smoothed Jocondo’s brow and cleared his eyes. He became more jocund, as his name implied, and his glumness turned to gaiety. He became happy again, filled out, took on colour, looked once more like a cherub from paradise — a transformation which astonished his brother and the king and the entire household.95
14. The Figure of a Melancholic and Grieved Man
75The grieved man, or one who is melancholic by nature, should be painted in an opposite fashion as the cheerful passion just described. Therefore, the forehead must be wrinkled like a newly plowed field with relaxed eyebrows that appear to quiver, but with fixed and solid eyelids. In all aspects he should appear troubled, having discomfort in everything. The Ariosto divinely paints a man grieved in the person of Jocondo in this manner:
- 96 Ibid., 25–27; 342.
His brother assumed that he was dejected at having left his wife all alone- while on the contrary he was fretting and fuming that he had left her all too well cared for. With knitted brow and pouting lips the poor man gazed down at the ground. His brother tried every way to console him but to little effect, not realizing the matter.
He kept applying the wrong salve to the wound, increasing the pain where he should have removed it, widening the gash where he should have closed it- all this by talking to him of his wife. Jocondo had no rest day or night; sleep and appetite shunned him past recalling, and his face, once so handsome, changed beyond recognition.
His eyes seemed to have sunk into his head, his nose seemed bigger on his gaunt face; so little remained of his good looks that there was no further point in matching him with others.96
76Elsewhere in the same source, Rinaldo is described as thinking in this manner:
- 97 Arioso, “Canto 43,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 67; 516.
As Rinaldo thus brooded, head bowed, he was closely observed by one of the boatmen who sat facing him.97
77Moreover, common are those who by nature are melancholic, such as those who are grieving due to some misfortune, going about with head bowed, described in the same way by Ariosto in this case:
- 98 Arioso, “Canto 40,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 73; 484.
But on approaching, he recognized among the prisoners the King of the Nasamons, Baliverzo, Agricalt, Farurant, Manilard, Clarindo, and Rimedon, all weeping with bowed heads.98
78And elsewhere he describes a pensive man in this manner:
- 99 Arioso, “Canto 1,” 39; 5.
The knight sat down on the bank of the stream and rested his cheek on his arm; so deeply did he lapse into thought that he might have been turned to unfeeling stone.99
15. The Figure of a Cruel and Inhumane Man
79It is quite clear that beastly spirits have been found in human form, living almost as a man, not finding every day this inhumanity. But the painter should know how he should portray these strong, human beasts, naming them as such in front of other men, and creating a figure that is the most truthful as possible. This must be visible in the face, which appears to threaten everyone, pale in color with dry eyes, a wrinkled face, black hair that is stiff and long, and having little facial hair. The appearance must be in accord with the proverb by which everyone knows him: little hair, and light in color, no worse than anyone under the heavens. The hands of the man must be made as if pummeling something or himself; if appropriate, he should be represented barefoot and quite wrinkled. In this way, Suetonius describes the Emperor Caligula, a wild beast in human form:
- 100 C. Suetonius Tranquillus, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, transl. Alexander Thomson ( [n.p.]: Simo (...)
He was tall, of a pale complexion, ill-shaped, his neck and legs very slender, his eyes and temples hollow, his brows broad and knit, his hair thin, and the crown of the head bald. The other parts of his body were much covered with hair.100
- 101 Suetonius relates that he purposefully cultivated such an figure: “His countenance, which was natur (...)
80In the face, he was all frightful by nature and experience.101 In the second satire of Martial, he says of those who are very hairy:
- 102 Martial, Epigrams, transl. Nisbet, 2: 36; 131.
As it is, your shanks are shaggy with hair and your chest is with bristles: but it is your mind, Pannychus, that is depilated.102
16. The Figure of a Flatterer
- 103 This majestic processional dance was popular among the aristocracy, commonly opening ceremonial bal (...)
81The flatterer is the ape of his friend. Therefore, because the ape only imitates human actions that are ridiculous, so too do flatterers copy only those parts of their friends that are not essential for friendship. It is commonly known that the courts are crowded with these sorts of men as they aim only to satisfy their limitless desires, which they cannot do without taking money from the wealthy by pretending to love them. In wanting to make one of these ravens, so called by the Greeks, the painter must give them large and fat jowls; the corners of the eyes near the jaws must be crinkled and wrinkled. The whole person must be polished and appear as though moving with grace and almost with the timing of the people who dance the pavane, in which movement should not be affected by gravity, which would be appropriate for the moderate man.103 This will be accomplished by making the figure appear as though he is an early riser with a face like one who has just awoken.
17. The Figure of a Desperate Woman
82In the figures painted by Virgil of Queen Dido and Amata, wife of King Latinus, and in the figure of Olympia, narrated by Ariosto, we are going to describe how the painter should depict the desperation of a woman. [Virgil writes: ]
- 104 Virgil, Aeneid, transl. Ahl, 4: 890.
Dido, fearful yet crazed at the ghastly extent of her planning,
Frantically glances about her with bloodshot gaze, and
impending
Death now discolours her quivering cheeks with its pallor
and blotches.104
83And [Virgil] speaks of Amata in this manner:
- 105 The Fury Allecto sends a serpent to drive Amata, wife of King Latinus, mad. Virgil, Aeneid, transl. (...)
And the viperous venom of fury
Now seeps deep in her entrails, courses the whole of her being.
All fulfillment denied, driven wild by the monsters within her,
She’s now a force of fury herself unleashed through the city’s Vastness…105
84And what follows from this madness [sent by Allecto]? Now there is what Ariosto says about Olympia:
- 106 Ariosto, “Canto 10,” 20–21; 95.
No longer did she snuggle warmly in her bereaved bed; she leapt up and was outside in a twinkling, and ran down to the sea, tearing her cheeks, full of forebodings, indeed past all doubt. She tore her hair and beat her breasts and strained her eyes, the moon still being up, to see whether anything could be made out beyond the shore- but she could see nothing, only the shore. She called “Bireno,” and at his name the sympathetic caves echoed “Bireno.”106
85Tasso wrote this about Armida in the same way:
- 107 Tasso, The Liberation of Jerusalem, transl. Wickert, 16: 67.
… with hair blown loose, eyes blazing, face aflame.107
18. The Figure of a Man Full of Astonishment
86It is certainly impossible for a man not entirely wise to hide in his face the passions of his soul. Should more of the same wisdom shine in the face of the one who possesses it, his face will slowly change. Ariosto describes Leo in this manner:
- 108 Ariosto, “Canto 46,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 38; 561.
… Leo was so aghast that he was struck motionless as a statue: dumb, rooted, unblinking, he looked less like a man than like a statue donated to a shrine by a votary.108
87Elsewhere he again describes the change seen in the face of a man when astonished in this manner:
- 109 Ariosto, “Canto 10,” 4; 93.
“Well, I shall tell you — see if you don’t compress your lips and arch your brows in disbelief! ”109
88Such a passion was described by Tasso in this manner:
- 110 Tasso, The Liberation of Jerusalem, transl. Wickert, 10: 17.
The knight, dumbfounded, lifts his eyebrows and wrinkles his forehead, and with transfixed eyes
sees cloud and chariot hurtling overland
so rapidly, it seems to him he flies.110
19. The Figure of Beastly or Savage Men
89By beastly men, I intend to describe not those who allow themselves to be overcome by rage or pleasure or other such passion, but rather those who care not for their body, civil life or dress. These are similar to wild beasts and are depicted in this manner by Ariosto:
- 111 Ariosto, “Canto 10,” 89; 103.
They have come out from their forests and lairs, and they number sixteenth thousand, or nearly. They are as hairy as beasts- their faces, chests, flanks, and backs, their arms and legs are covered in hair.111
- 112 In his description, the Italian poet Jacopo Sannazaro cites Ovid: “Cacco, qui è detto per antonomas (...)
90Virgil confirms the same when describing Cacus, that he was not only beastly, but the very idea of a thief. Sannazaro explains that his name means thief,112 and so Virgil describes him:
20. The Figure of a Fraud
91Fraud is continuously found among men, and they practice it gladly; our plazas, circles, and houses are always rife with it. Should the painter wish to imitate the truth, it is necessary that he know fraud again, and fraudulent men, and he should become accustomed to painting it. Here we find scholars of painting describing the idea of fraud, as in the case of the divine Ariosto:
Fraud was pleasant-looking, soberly dressed; her eyes were meek, her bearing dignified, and she was so benign and simple in her speech she might have been the angel of the Annunciation. For the rest, she was ugly and mis-shapen, though she contrived to conceal her deformities
- 114 Ariosto, “Canto 14,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 87; 147.
beneath a long and ample robe- which always concealed, in addition, a poisoned dagger.114
92With Brunello, again, he painted, I think, a fraudulent man in this manner:
- 115 Ariosto, “Canto 3,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 72; 29.
He is of medium build; his hair is black and curly; his skin is dark, but his face is pale and his beard most shaggy, as also his eyebrows. His eyes protrude and have a shifty look; his nose is flattened. To complete his picture, his dress is like that of a messenger, short and close-fitting.115
93If judiciously treated, the painter can make use of this idea in men and women, diligently regarding the nature of the other figures, with what he wants to put together, because the fraudulent makes himself accommodating with many colors, as well with his habit and words. For this reason, Ariosto paints the fraud with long clothes, in general, but among soldiers he paints them with short clothes, being the proper habit of soldiers.
21. The Figure of a Deceitful Man, and of a Mean, Miserable, and Cowardly Man
94The sum of explaining with colors a deceitful man primarily resides in the eyes, which ought to be such that they appear languid and weak. The whole figure must, nevertheless, be appropriately proportioned and should appear as though constantly moving. The miser, moreover, must be made smaller in all of his parts just as he is in his soul, with a small face, and small in all of the other parts. In this, he must mainly differ from all of the others, as he has little hands. The eyes must be equally small, darting and shining, and those parts should be disproportionate because of the smallness; its color should be dull and dark, with a little bit of vermillion, but he must have long hair, that it looks as though he put effort into brushing it; the beard should be grown out and very thick around the lips; the shoulders should be rather curved, and the whole face like the one of a man who usually drinks a lot. The whole figure must be made to look as though he pairs many words, speaking quickly, and should be very skinny.
22. The Figure of a Wicked Man, Who, in Speaking, Says Impertinent Things
95The head of a wicked man, who speaks impertinently, must be rigid and oblique, and the color of his flesh should lean towards green, and look like a man who has just awoken from sleep, or rather a man who stands up from the table full of food. This figure must have very large ears with flat hair and a thin and languid neck, weak forehead, and hard and sour eyes that appear dark, small, dry and sunken. When moving, he appears unmovable and straight with cheeks and chin that are narrow and long, almost as though the mouth is open and divided into two parts. The face should be made rather long, and his stature bent with a large belly and legs. The articles of the hands and feet must be rather long and open.
23. The Figure of an Insane Man Who Is, at the Same Time, Wicked
- 116 Gallucci, Della simmetria, 3: 80–85.
96In wishing to represent an insane man, who is at the same time said to be wicked, the painter must portray him with black hair on a small, narrow head, as did our Dürer.116 The ears should be disproportionate in size and almost detached; the neck must be in all aspects circular; the eyes must be dry, dark and small, sunken in the head; and proportionate with the head, the cheeks are long and thin with a protruding mouth that appears to speak incessantly. The whole of the body should appear somewhat curved with a large stomach and legs, and, when possible, the colors should be made to appear hard with flesh greenish in complexion. The face below his eyes should be made to appear puffy, as though just awoken in the manner in which Ariosto in his Orlando depicts an image in these verses of the insane man:
- 117 Ariosto, “Canto 29,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 60; 358.
His eyes were almost hidden in his face, which was lean and wizened; his hair was a matted, bristling mass, his bushy beard looked appalling and hideous.117
97Sallust also describes Catiline in this manner, since he was nagged by his own conscience having poisoned his future stepson; his soul was stained with sins in the eyes of the gods, and hateful to men. He could not find respite in the day or night. So afflicted was his conscience and troubled was his mind that his color was bloodless, his eyes dark. He would come and go early and late with the imprint of insanity on his face.
24. The Figure of Big Eater, and of One of Great Memory
- 118 “Those who are longer from the navel to the chest than from the chest to the neck have good appetit (...)
98If the painter wishes to show, through his lines and colors, one who eats a lot, he should make the mouth large, especially the part that receives food. In doing so, that part of the body from the navel to the chest will also be made larger, along with the area from the chest to the neck, because the area that receives food needs to be able to accommodate a great quantity.118
99If one wants to portray a man that has a great memory, ensure that his face is wide at the bottom and tapers towards the top of his head, which are, nevertheless, proportionate to each other, in the way that Dürer teaches in the Third Book. The body will still need to be fleshy and beautiful, because his likeness is still of a man who sleeps little.
25. The Figure of a Loquacious Man
100The talkative man must have a larger upper body in order to make what is taught by Dürer in the Third Book. He must be good looking with a hairy stomach. In addition to this, he must have some lines along the bridge of the nose between the eyebrows that stretch down towards the nose.
26. The Figure of a Drowsy Man
101The drowsy man must be painted in this manner: make the upper body parts larger than the lower, but the most important aspect of this task involves the eyes. Whenever there are men who are this way by nature, I would want their figure to be as such. Nevertheless, if one makes the eyes sleepy then all of the other figures would also look drowsy, and one will deprive them of their own vigor. This figure must also have a hairy stomach.
27. The Figure of a Libidinous Man
- 119 “He has pale skin and is covered with straight, thick, black hair; his temples are also covered wit (...)
- 120 “In stature he was a little below the common height; his skin was foul and spotted; his hair inclin (...)
102If one wants to portray the figure of a prurient man, which is often necessary for a painter, one will need to include many white hairs around the lips with thick, straight black hair receding at the forehead. The eyes are imploring, though watery and fat; the legs are thin, nervous and hairy, but the belly is fat.119 His beard is withdrawn from the nose and chin, and the veins in his arms protrude in a noticeable fashion; mainly on the thighs, there are thick, horrible hairs, [and he has] curved feet like that of a bear. In general, the upper body is larger than the lower, such that the skinny legs convey that he is a lustful man, as Suetonius wishes to describe Nero.120
28. The Figure of an Envious Man
- 121 “Dire Envy will fear the Furies and the grave stream of Cocytus and the twisted serpents of Ixion a (...)
103Called upon to know how to unfold all things that fall under his sight, by choice and by accident, the painter should not be ignorant of the figure of an envious man, the plague of which, however common, still has something peculiar to itself. Therefore, his figure should see the left side of the body larger than the right; the eyebrows should continue down to the cheeks, his color livid, and thinness that is manifested in the face, as Virgil sang in his epigram on envy.121
29. The Figure of an Ugly Man and Woman
- 122 See “Chapter 3: On the Beauty of Human Bodies, Especially Women.”
104We had described at the beginning122 that which makes a woman and a man beautiful; now, at the end, we are going to describe that which makes them ugly, though this can be understood from their contraries. There is only one verse in his satires where Horace describes an ugly woman in a contrary fashion to what we have mentioned above:
105The same thing is confirmed by Catullus, again in this sense:
106Ariosto describes again the ugliness of Alcina in this manner:
- 125 Ariosto, “Canto 7,” 72–73; 68–69.
… he was astonished to find that in place of the beauty he had just parted from, he was confronted with a woman so hideous that her equal for sheer ugliness and decrepitude could be found nowhere on earth.
She was whey-faced, wrinkled, and hollow-cheeked; her hair was white and sparse; she was not four feet high; the last tooth had dropped out of her jaw…125
107Homer describes an ugly man in this manner:
- 126 Homer, Iliad, transl. Powell, 2: 247.
Thersites, a blabbing soldier,
who had an impudent way with officers,
thinking himself amusing to the troops —
the most obnoxious rogue who went to Troy.
Bowlegged, with one limping leg, and shoulders rounded above his chest, he had a skull
quite conical, and mangy fuzz like mold.126
- 127 The thirteenth-century Byzantine scholar had been the first to write a biography of Aesop based on (...)
- 128 The only man in Homer’s Iliad to be described as ugly. He opposes the war and is promptly beaten an (...)
108I speak of the Phrygian in the same fashion. Although he possessed a very excellent soul, he was the most deformed of his time, as Maximus Planudes wrote in his life. Therefore, he had a small head with pressed nostrils, a short neck, and lips that protruded greatly. He was black, which is how he got his name Aesop, meaning the same in Ethiopian.127 He had a large stomach and was bent with legs folded outward. Such was his ugliness that it exceeded the Homeric Thersites.128 From this, painters will easily be able to make an ugly man and woman, for we discussed the ugliness of women and men. This is not the case for those painters who make their paintings ugly because they cannot make them beautiful; not knowing, they would make them in this manner and it would be said that they are beautiful paintings. Otherwise, the painter would force himself to represent a handsome man or a beautiful woman.
30. On the Different Feet of Men, and Those Which Are Suitable
- 129 Horace, Odes and Epodes, transl. Bennett, 2: 10.
- 130 Pseudo-Aristotle, Physiognomica, 6: 810a.20–25; Aristotle, Minor Works, transl. Hett, 114–15.
- 131 From this comes the proverb Ex pede Herculem — “you may know Hercules by his foot.” Aulus Gellius, (...)
109It seemed to me that I should now treat all of the parts separately in imitation of the master of color, so that painters could select material of all members from this great forest of diversity to make their works overall beautiful, and from expert praise. First we will discuss the principle of feet, which will be made big, but not disproportionately so, and well made, as our Dürer teaches; they should be muscular with veins seen through the skin, apparent that they will be very appropriate to a Hercules, a Milo of Croton, a Hector, an Orlando, and, in general, a brave and bold man. These feet are to be used in the case of man, but not woman, because her feet should be made small, slender, fleshy, and tender, without defined muscles; when viewed [these feet appear] unshaped rather than strong, suitable instead to those men that we wish to dress in costumes similar to women; those are effeminate, soft, with a weak and helpless body. Should the painter wish to represent a fair nature with great weakness, he ought to make the feet short and wide; if one makes the feet longer than that, every proportion will be violated, and one will know that a man full of fraud, deceit and betrayal is represented. This follows those figures where we wish to represent a man whose soul is fragmented into different parts. On the other hand, should one wish to create the figure of a wicked man, these need to be even smaller than those; said appropriate measurements will represent a man who is evil of mind. Wishing to represent an evil man, one will still make the feet curved above and concave below; the same [man] again should be made with the soles of his feet very large and even, with ankles very close to the ground, from which one can see that all ends are considerable, and [represent] the golden mean, as Horace sang.129 If then one will make the nails and the feet curved, like those of birds of prey, the ferocious man, who is brash without shame will be portrayed, which of all these characteristics are believed appropriate. When one wishes to portray a shy and timid man, one should make the toes webbed, almost joined together, which is found in quails, therefore, they are very shy animals.130 With this, enough has been said about feet if we also add what Aulus Gellius says about the way to determine the size of Hercules’ [feet] from the size of a stadium in Pisa, where running at the Jupiter Olympics was held, which was measured at six hundred feet by Hercules. And since the other stadium in Greece, likewise, was six hundred feet, and because when speaking about Hercules we know he was larger than the other men, and the stadium measured by his foot would then also be larger than that measured by the feet of other men.131
31. On the Diversity of Heels or Ankles Compared to the Figure that [the Painter] Wishes to Represent
110Wanting to make a strong man, we must give him strong ankles and make those parts surrounding them sinewy and muscular. Yet if on the contrary one should wish to form a figure of a weak man, who is effeminate and shy with very little spirit, these parts should be made very soft, fleshy and without any appearance of veins or muscles. If the ankles are made very thin, this will represent a timid and intemperate man. Some want the ankles to be thin, with fleshy feet and sharp heels, stubby fingers and thick legs; these are mostly the members of a man that goes mad and raves.
32. On the Diversity of Legs with Respect to the Different Figures They Want to Make
111When one wants to form a robust, strong and brave man, the legs need to be sinewy, muscular, and strong, and those legs are universally appropriate for men. The legs of women are effeminate, tender, timid, and of little spirit, smooth with no evidence of veins or muscles. Should one portray them muscled and sinewy yet thin, one forms the legs of figures that convey timid and luxurious men. Therefore, these are the legs of the birds, that all of these are of this nature. If it will be necessary to make the figure of an odious, immoderate and abominable man, one will have to make his legs much larger, appearing as though they are about to crack. These [are the legs] of insolent men, who do not respect anyone, nor do they feel ashamed of anything. Therefore, those who are modest and temperate are well-proportioned in all the parts of their body, and every disproportionate element is an evident sign of a part of a soul which is equally disproportionate.
33. On the Diversity of Knees Appropriate to Different Figures
112The knees of the arrogant man must be equally made proportionately flabby and soft, meaning big and fat, and full of flesh over the necessary measures, which will still show that they are not accustomed to any hard strain, and are full of vanity. Therefore, most of the time this occurs with men who are not good with facts and who therefore try to assert themselves instead using words, in which there are many lies. On the other hand, wanting to make the figure of a strong, bold, fearless and modest man, his knees must be proportionate and skinny, and those are again discreet and tough.
34. Which Thighs and Buttocks are Appropriate for Which Figures
113The figure of a man of valor with much spirit and courage [should be given] thighs that are full of bones, veins and muscles, which is proper to men, just as the contrary is appropriate for women where [the thighs] are lascivious and full of feminine effects, having them full of flesh without the appearance of bones, though they may be bony, or sinew, or muscle; likewise, buttocks tight around bones that stick out must be made for the strong, brawny, and brave, like in the opposite way they must be made fat and full for timid, lascivious and effeminate men. Nevertheless, I advise that in wanting to make the buttocks of a strong man, do not make them too thin, and make them similar to those of apes, because those convey men of bad habits, those who are evil, scoundrels and wicked men, the worst of all.
35. Which Limbs and Stomachs Belong to Which Figures
114To portray the strong man, his limbs must be made well and large, but not disproportionately so, only large and sinewy, which one must do with hunters, where we find that the lions, dogs, and cats that are also delighted by hunting are like this. The opposite [limbs] should be used in creating those of women, and also of men who wear similar costumes to women, being small, full and soft. The stomach then, which is proper to the men who are brave, strong, magnanimous, and ingenious is the one which is large and partly full in the manner that in all parts it is pronounced or inflated; cowards, pushovers and boors of little intelligence should have stomachs that are very short and shallow. To an immoderate man who drinks and eats a lot, his belly has to be made big, full, marked, and soft, which should be equally applied to lechers. If to the contrary one forms a figure with the belly that looks hard and irregular with a great deal of flesh all compacted, this will illustrate overt vileness and an insatiable appetite. If one should want to make the figure of a brave, gentle, smart, or talkative man, then the stomach must be made hairy.
36. Which Back and Ribs Suit Which Figures
115Men should be made with broad, large and robust backs, especially the courageous who have much spirit and courage. Otherwise, the backs of women, effeminate men and the weak and timid, who possess no or little courage, should be made small, narrow and feeble. Again, the ribs of those with much spirit should be painted according to the ornament of fortitude, large and protruding; otherwise, those of women and effeminate men should be made small, almost completely hidden, but I should warn you, however, that if, together with these big things, there is an excessive swelling made, the figure represents a mumbling man, who imprudently says whatever is in his soul with his mouth, and he does not do anything more unwillingly than be silent, which is understood from the frogs that are the same in body and voice. These parts also accompany greedy men and gluttons, the rough and senseless, and those who possess very little judgment. In sum, they are like children in action and in bodily appearance.
37. Different Measures of the Stomach, Chest, and Belly that Suit Different Figures
116In wanting to create the figure which suits a most gluttonous man, who eats much because he is stupid and senseless, and lacking any judgment, the part that goes from the navel to below the chest can be made much larger than from there to the throat. Because this is the area that contains the organs that receive food, and because he eats a lot, the area needs to be large. Moreover, since a generous amount of food fattens, and fat hinders cleverness, these men are rough and senseless, as they do not set aside room for judgment. Yet if, on the contrary, one wants to make those same parts to represent a wise and prudent man, the chest should be larger than the area between the stomach and the chest, because prudent men are content with food that is enough provided by nature. Should, on the other hand, one make that space from the stomach bigger than the space from the chest, a man that is always sick and short-lived will be formed.
38. On Some Correspondences that Some Members Have between Them
117It is not without benefit to tell students of this noble art that some relationship exists between members not only with respect to size, but also to flesh. For experience teaches us this truth, that if we meet a man who is fat in the face and corpulent, he will also have a stomach that is fat and rotund; if his face is gaunt, so too will the stomach correspond to him; and if the painter should make a figure with short arms, the legs should also be made short. The same correspondence should also [be found in] the feet, hands, necks and legs, which should be noticed also in certain signs, such as the veins that are seen in some, both in the face and in the other parts of the body. Therefore, if the painter makes one of these veins at the top of the forehead, and if the figure is nude, he should make one similar in the penis; if in the eyebrows, another one [should be painted] in the chest; if in the eyelids, he should make another one under the stomach in the belly; and if he makes one in the nose, he should make another similar one in the genitals, or rather in the middle of the chest, or rather around the organs of generation, the signs that are on the cheeks are shown the same as the others in the genitals; if [veins are found in] the lips, he will also make [them in] the arm, between the shoulder and the elbow; [and, finally, ] if in the hands, they should be in the penis, and in the genitals again. And in the throat, they should also be made in the straight band of the chest. Those things, although seemingly minute, lend gracefulness to the figures and make them appear natural, and make the painter immortal.
39. How the Chest and Shoulders Should Be Done in Several Different Figures
- 132 Virgil, Aeneid, transl. Ahl, 2: 168; 4: 10.
- 133 Along with Philo of Alexandria, Plato described the chest as the location of the soul. The amount o (...)
118The big and broad chest, endowed conspicuously with muscle, must be used to create strong men of great daring, as we said above of the figure of the horse, or strong man of Virgil;132 on the contrary then, the shy, weak and cowardly must be made small and narrow, and with no evidence of muscles or veins. The bestial and cruel, who are without humanity or compassion, must be made with abundant flesh. For a lascivious man, who is of the habit of drinking much, his parts must be made equally full with the breasts very swollen and corpulent; the shoulders, moreover, must be made equally broad and muscular as with the strong and valorous, which are proper to men and women, as one reads in Plato. Effeminate and shy men, on the other hand, must be made small, with no muscles or veins.133 For a fool, they must be made narrow; the senseless, full of flesh; a magnanimous, prudent, and lovely man, large and rather rounded; and the crazy, envious and immoral, curved so that the shoulders cover the parts in front. On the contrary then, the vain, lascivious, and [those] full of feminine desires, must be made not curved, but concave.
40. On the Shoulders and Chest Most Appropriate to Different Figures
119The shoulders of the strong in spirit and body must be made vascular, muscular, or firm, while those appropriate to women, effeminate men and the weak, given their languid nature, have no apparent veins or muscles. These again are appropriate to the insane, vain, avaricious, and worthless, unlike their superiors, prudent and reasonable men, [who are] equally liberal and courteous. Lascivious men must be painted tall, thin and evil. Stupid men must be made separately, as they have a depression in the middle [of their chests]. If one paints a figure of that part of the chest with an equally sunken throat, a place for intelligence and the vivacity of the senses is shown. In this, therefore, is the large path through which the spirits go from the heart to the brain, for which one portrays the senses. Otherwise, the painter will portray a senseless man. If one depicts this part of the chest disconnected and near in a picture, the same should be accorded to all of the stupid fools and the ineffectual; the sum of this matter consists to form the fork or the key that is found in that part [of the chest]. Therefore, if one makes it too large, that figure will represent lasciviousness and habits of feminine rashness and foolishness.
41. On Arms and Hands Appropriate to Different Figures
120As Dürer taught in the First and Second Books, arms made with due proportion are appropriate for a figure in which one wishes to show readiness in working, strength, goodness, and courage. On the other hand, making them shorter than this proportion (in the way that Dürer teaches in the Third Book) will produce a figure that represents envy, malevolence, and one who delights in harming others. If one paints them as gaunt and thin, then some tenderness of soul and body is shown. If instead, one wishes to show a rough and stupid [figure], make the arms thick and fleshy with hands, likewise, proportionate to his body and arms. Therefore, ingenious and valorous men must be made proportionate (as in the relationships Dürer taught) with tender and soft flesh, in contrast to a strong man. The dim-witted must be made rugged and larger than the appropriate proportion; then men, who are astute, absorbed, weak, and with little goodness, must be made shorter than the appropriate size. Those figures where one wants to represent a glutton, a garrulous man, or the figure of a miserly and rapacious thief must be made thin and distorted; they must be made short and narrow, which is appropriate to represent a Judas.
121The insane must be made very short; lunatics and scoundrels are both short and large. If one makes both the hands and fingers very short, then with them one will represent perfectly a traitor, a deceitful thief, and a trickster. Yet if one makes these fingers quite short and also pudgy, one will achieve the appearance of vices, namely lust, pride, wrath, and envy.
122Moreover, if one wants to form a vain and foolish man, one must make him small with thin fingers, which compliment his mind, always full of tantrums and unfounded hearsay. For a man who is crude, immoral and also vulgar, one must make the fingers crooked, uneven and contracted, which is also appropriate for the greedy.
- 134 Hera (Juno) is referred to as “white-armed.” Homer, Iliad, transl. Powell, 1: 59; Nausicaa “… Nausi (...)
123Furthermore, it is noteworthy that Homer describes Juno, Nausicaä (daughter of King Alcinous), and the two bridesmaids as having white arms, which are beautiful.134
42. Which Fingernails Are Appropriate to Different Figures
124As everyone knows, there is no small difference between the fingernails of men, but even in this the good painter must use diligence. Therefore, the fingernails of the prudent who are of good intelligence, singular goodness, and great wisdom should be made thin, clear, long, vermilion, even, broad, soft, glossy, and shining. The nails of the arrogant, shameless and rapacious should be curved like birds of prey, [specifically] hook-shaped; and if painters make the same with long and narrow nails like animals have, they will show in those figures that there is no wit or prudence, nor any positive virtue of the body, being instead continuously tormented by beastly appetites. Finally, the fingernails of the vile, full of every wicked act, must be made truly ugly, as in the figure of a lustful man who must have circular nails; [likewise] if the painter will make the nails pale, black and without any splendor, he aspires to create a figure without any sign of a balanced spirit, little inclined to virtue.
43. On the Diversity of Necks Appropriate to Different Figures
- 135 “Therefore as portrait-painters are more exact in the lines and features of the face, in which the (...)
125Although the master painter should use diligence in explaining all of the parts of the body, nevertheless, he must be quite diligent around the head, especially in the face. Plutarch wrote of this already in his Life of Alexander the Great, noting that [the face] clearly signals the habits of the soul [costumi dell’animo].135 In order to do this better, we will speak of each part separately. In figures where the painter wishes to represent strength and valor, one must make the neck moderately large; and to make a weak and shy [man], the neck should be appropriately thin, which is explained divinely by Juvenal in his third Satire in the same manner:
- 136 Juvenal, Satires, ed. Richard George (St. Albans: Baikal, 2012), 3: 58–125.
And aren’t they the people most adept at flattery, praising
The illiterate speech of a friend, praising his ugly face,
Likening a weak, scrawny neck to that of brave Hercules.136
126What is more, if the neck will be made large, long and burly, one will form the figure of a man that is similar to a bull: choleric, bold and boastful, ready and expedient in his actions. The beautiful proportion of the neck consists of a certain likeness to the neck of a lion: mid-length, nicely toned and vascular. This is appropriate for magnanimous men, and others who are naturally inclined to discipline and are of cheerful wit. But [necks that are] long and thin, such as those of deer, should be used to make figures where one wishes to show those who embody timidity, weakness and cowardice of spirit. Fitly then, the presumptuous, traitorous, fallacious, and mockers will have a very short and squat neck. These, moreover, hate the light and love the darkness for their activities, as thieves are always a danger to the simple ones, the lambs. Additionally, figures of coarse and insane men, who, like those who are unintelligent, have a neck that always seems to be stiff and straight.
- 137 According to the Greek writer Ctesias of Cnidus, Sardanapalus was the last king of Assyria. Later D (...)
127Those who lack intellect and are lewd and offensive must have necks oriented as though they were astrologers, wishing to contemplate the stars. Again, with the insane who never stress about accumulating wealth, [the neck] must be oriented downward so as to hide all before it. The prudent, adorned with beautiful costumes and manners appropriate to gentlemen, must have the neck bent towards the right side, since a leftward orientation conveys lustfulness, such as with Sardanapalus, according to men of good advice.137 If the painter wishes to form a figure that appears to have a neck which seems to be oriented to one side and then another, he would make an unstable and frivolous man. An evil and wicked man should have a limp and languid neck that seems deflated and without bones. On the contrary, both the rude and those who are ignorant of letters should be shown with stiff and short [necks], the backs of which being rough, which will make the part facing out represent fickleness, talkativeness and presumption, and laziness in his actions. Those then who will be made in this manner, but tall and eminent in his own way, will again be appropriate to show pensive, miserable and disdainful men.
44. Diverse Cheeks Appropriate to Different Figures
128The painter must use diligence to confirm that all of the parts of the body accurately represent the figure of man, which was formed first in the soul. Moreover, more diligence must be paid when forming the face and head, as in some manner those parts contain all of man. Those parts are where observers first direct their eyes and form their first opinion of the author of that [figure] and have a greater power for those who seek to represent the affections of the soul that are held locked within. I must warn, therefore, that cheeks, which are longer than due proportion demands, should only be used to make those figures that represent prurient vanity, and whose many words are rife with lies. The cruel, weak, fraudulent, and cowardly should be made smaller on the right and rounded. Those of a lazy man, who adores Bacchus as his god, should be painted full and pudgy. On the contrary, those of a vicious man, who relishes when he injures and ridicules, should be made thin and skinny. A jealous man, who always frets for his soul due to the success of others, should have cheeks and a jaw that are proportionally large and protruding, so that others can see them.
45*. Diversity of Lips and Mouths Appropriate to Different Figures138
- 138 The numbering of the chapters as printed in the original edition contains a misprint. Chapter 45 is (...)
- 139 “Those who have thin lips and slack parts at the joining of the lips, so that the upper lip overhan (...)
129We will speak here of great certainty and grace that is sighted in beautiful lips, whence it is that in thousands of ways they are celebrated by the poets. Those of magnanimous and strong men should be made similar to the lips of a lion, thin and soft, especially in the corners of the mouth, and the upper one much bigger than the lower one; in other words, it should rather stick out in the way that the mouth has the right proportion, which was taught by our Dürer in his well-proportioned figures.139 If those lips are made in a rather small mouth, they will well accommodate a woman and effeminate men. If one makes a painting in order to illustrate an unpleasant, annoying, perfidious, and presumptuous man, who is generally insolent, one must make the mouth and lips larger than the correct proportion should be. A lustful man must have lips that are hard and thin, and really protruding next to the canine teeth, and those parts also show the same with the poorly created chatter who willingly does outrage and who, when he talks, does so loudly and, finally, with the mouth and habits of a pig. For a rude man, and those of poor judgment, one must know that the lips are to be made full with the lower one sticking out more than the upper one; these are similar in mouth and related costumes.
- 140 Philippians 3: 19: “Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in (...)
- 141 The denigration of a woman’s beauty was earlier tied to the dryness of her mouth and lips. Should a (...)
130A very large and open mouth [is appropriate for] the faces of the greedy and gluttonous, who are never sated, and have (as the sacred letters explain) their stomach as their god;140 together they produce [a figure that is] unpleasant, cruel and has a large torso full of madness. Yet scoundrels, murderers and traitors must be made with small and protruding mouths that stick out. Likewise, the mouth that is made large with rounded lips that excessively juts out will be best adapted to those men who represent a pig in their physique. In those that truly have fickle habits, the mouth is then curved inward and full, like those who are angry, and is also applicable to those figures where one wants to represent evil, immodesty, envy, timidity, and deception. Lastly, a dry mouth befits a beautiful woman as Catullus wrote after the Argonautica [of Apollonius Rhodes], calling dry lips beautiful. In mocking the mistress of Formianus, he says that she is ugly since she does not have a dry mouth [i.e. drooling].141
45*. The Way to Form the Chin in Different Figures
131The well-formed chin, along with a beautiful body of more than a little grace, draws the eyes of observers due to its diversity and elicits different feelings in their souls. And for this reason, painters need to be aware of which chin suits which figure. For the man who is well proportioned in body and soul, and because of this is good, loyal and brave, the chin should be made pointed; while women, as well as lustful and effeminate men, should be made long and round, as is appropriate when one wants to show vanity, glibness, imprudence, and other things unworthy of such men. The [chin] on the face of such men who are cruel, deceitful, wicked, and, in short, have many serpents in their souls, should be made short and squat as their chins are similar [i.e. to a serpent]. The square chin then suits those figures where one primarily wants to represent fortitude. Painters who wish to include a dimple found mainly on the chin should be especially diligent here. For if he makes one that is very large, he represents fraud, deceit and wickedness; if he makes it small, he will make the figure loving, graceful and full of merriment.
46. On the Diversity of Noses Appropriate to Different Figures
- 142 Virgil relates that disfigurement was a common punishment for criminals: “Here he sees Priam’s son, (...)
- 143 Gallucci, Della simmetria, 3: 80–85.
132We cannot say with words what is understood by all, for there is no part of our body that most increases beauty or ugliness than the beautiful or misshapen nose, and for this [reason] Virgil calls a disfigured nose the dishonorable wound.142 Hence, great diligence must be used in this to ensure that it is proportionate to figures, since one wants to make paintings significant for the diversity of their members. Therefore, the extremely broad nose that oxen have indicates slowness and laziness in that figure. The nose of a rude and stupid [man] must be made bulging in the middle; if one makes it slim and thin on the top, then that figure relay great anger and resentment. For a magnanimous man, who is bold, brave and talks much (and is somewhat boastful) the nose must then be made like those of lions, rather hard and rounded everywhere, and very broad on the top. If one makes it round, but sharp at the end, one will represent lax morals in human form, which is to say a man who is slightly unstable, talkative, inconstant, and libidinous. A virile and prudent man shall be made proportionate to the face in the manner which Dürer has taught us, and, as such, to a foolish, effeminate and soft man, it must be made without any proportion.143
- 144 Suetonius describes Augustus: “His eye-brows met; his ears were small, and he had an aquiline nose. (...)
133Furthermore, it is appropriate for virtuous men for the [nose] to be very large, while one can make, especially, vicious thieves, swindlers and fraudulent men smaller than the true proportion. For one who speaks little, it is appropriate to make [the nose] straight, appearing as though drawn with a line; for brash men, the nose must be curved where it rises between the eyes, and then in the rest straight. This [design] befits scoundrels and evil men, who are similar to ravens that eat each other’s meat. If one paints a figure with an aquiline nose that is broad at the top and hooked towards the end, one will portray a man of great spirit, magnificent and noble. Suetonius writes of this in [the lives of] both Emperors Augustus and Galba, who were fierce and eager to possess other’s empires and authority.144 To a bold hedonist, who is like a rooster, must be given a nose similar to that animal, which is crushed in the middle, while the extreme parts are eminent and curved, especially in the upper part. If one forms it depressed at the top, as with goats and deer, this befits those men who are lustful and shy. Dishonesty and wickedness will be represented by the nose that is shaped large and flat at the top. If the nostrils are made flared, this will be a sign of much anger and scorn, and of a robust and luxurious body; on the other hand, if one makes them narrow and curved, then one will represent [a man suffering from] madness who threatens to drown someone. Strong appetites are thus represented with noses that are twisted in every which way.
47. On the Diversity of Faces Appropriate to Different Figures
- 145 Gallucci, Della simmetria, 3: 80–85.
134Moreover, since we have talked about the nose, mouth and cheeks, we will now consider the diversity of faces appropriate to the different figures and passions we want to represent. A painter wanting to make a joyful and cheerful man, who is lustful but remembers little, must make the face large, plump, moist, and quite fleshy. Such a face also represents timidity, envy, or impudence, and sometimes the frenzies of Bacchus. If, on the contrary, the painter should want to make a diligent, prudent and attentive man, or a vicious and stingy thief, he must give him the head of an ape, or a female cat, that is narrow, thin, gaunt, and dry. And again these represent mainly the habits of a female cat, who with deceit during the night perpetrates robberies and evil deeds. A virtuous man, who is moderate and good, must be adorned with one of those well-proportioned faces that Dürer described in the first two books; those made larger represent men who are sluggish, lazy, drunken, who speak jealously and are not clever, while those that are smaller are appropriate for tough and greedy men, [who are] rapacious for other’s goods and accompanied by many insanities.145 Now the painter must be warned that even if all of the extremities are depraved, the face, nevertheless, can be made large, flat and fleshy if we want to [make a man who] has much love, faith and civility, and who is patient in the face of adversity which arises in this life. One must then make the face of a man who is a liar, who is scandalous, envious and full of vanity, similar to that of the birds, which are narrow and sharp. The face of murderous thieves and wicked men must be made concave in the middle in the manner Dürer teaches in the Third Book. A crazy person must be made with a face that looks insane and cheeks that seem to tremble, but if one makes him trembling with a cheerful face, one will represent a lustful man.
48. On the Diversity of Eyes and Parts Nearby Appropriate to Different Figures
- 146 Matthew 26: 36–46
- 147 Suetonius, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, transl. Thomson, 50: 285.
135The eyes are certainly the principle part of the human face, and, because of this, the most loved by men. Hence it follows that the painter also must strain as much as possible to make [eyes] in the manner that searches the figure that he wants to represent. Therefore, the neighboring parts under the eyes, properly called cheeks, must be made large, and eminent; in those parts we represent a weak man, who is feebleminded and easily intoxicated. A man who is burdened by sleep (as one would make the three disciples who accompanied Christ our Lord in the garden) must be made with eyelids, which is the cartilage that covers the eyes; when they are closed, [they] are also swollen, demonstrating in that shape a great desire for sleep. Along with sleeplessness, should people by some accident want to portray these passions, the shapes are also appropriate for representing intoxication.146 Diligent painters represent intoxicated figures with heavy lids below the eyes, while those who have slept a lot [show heaviness] in the upper part. Eyes that are larger than those of regular, well-proportioned figures ought to be used when the painter wants to represent the laziness and idleness of oxen, who likewise have eyes of this sort. It is true that this together will form a certain Idea of compassion, pleasantness, and meekness. The painter will then make the eyes of a timid and cowardly man smaller than the true proportion; if painters want to represent in a figure the malice of apes, they must make the eyes of apes, which are concave, as Suetonius describes Emperor Caligula.147 If astonishment, boorishness, and lethargy of a dimwit [are to be represented], the eyes must be equally and greatly protruding from the head. Moreover, with concave eyes, one portrays shrewdness of dress, as well as fraud, envy, pitfalls, abrupt betrayals, and infidelity, which will be shown if we make them weak; and if they appear as though they are falling, one will show the frauds and deception, while if with those we associate moisture, that will represent madness. If then a figure has prominent eyes, but in such a manner that they are also surrounded by a tight and deep pit, or rather by such a crease of missing flesh, this represents the eyes of frauds, swindlers, and the wicked; however, if one makes the eyes the same but filled with blood, then one will show that he is very brash in these lascivious things delighted in before this, such as drinking and overeating. If this is what one wants to portray, which is at the same time right and imprudent, they ought to be white in color with heavy eyelids over them giving more of an indication of madness. A prudent man, who is fair and clever, must certainly then be made pronounced, but misty, and like flashing stars, quite large and pure. Murders, sorcerers, poison makers, and other such scoundrels, must be made plain, small, dry, and full of darkness. If then they are made very prominent, small, and gloomy, the creator will represent a figure that is well prepared in hand and in language. Well-proportioned eyes, therefore, ought to be between these extremes of large, small on the outside and medium [on the] inside, and these accommodate that shape in which we want to show the group of all virtues, and the best dispositions of body and soul.
49. Which Face is Appropriate for Which Figure
- 148 Ibid.
- 149 In fact, his later biographers reiterated that he may have received his name from the very breadth (...)
136Men who are abrasive and ignorant must be made with their foreheads narrow and taut as seen in boars; on the other hand, if one wants to make a figure that represents laziness and sloth, then the shapes should be larger than the proper proportion demands, as Suetonius writes is the case with Emperor Caligula and adds that [his forehead] was also bowed.148 Fickle men, and equally those who are frail, must be made with small [foreheads]; choleric and haughty men, rounded; and the dim-witted, and those who lack any kind of judgment, spherical but unequal and mountainous. Effeminate and weak men must be made with a very narrow one. Imprudent men must be made with a high and very rounded one, while malicious and dishonest men [must be made] furrowed with a broad surface. The forehead appropriate to insane and furious men is again long and broad, such as is seen in lions. The appropriate forehead for ingenious men, who easily understand any doctrine or artifice and are believed to be knowledgeable teachers, is described by Petrarch and Plato. As we read in his life, this forehead is appropriate for magnanimous, enlightened and courtly men, as well as persistent and steadfast men.149 The forehead appropriate for liars and philanderers, the strict and confidant, and the querulous and contentious has no wrinkles or creases between the eyebrows. On the contrary, many creases would represent again with that shape the pensive, afflicted and obstinate. As Juvenal says in his ninth Satire:
- 150 Juvenal, Satires, ed. George, 9: 1–47.
I’d like to know why I so often see you looking gloomy,
Naevolus, your brow all overcast, like Marsyas in defeat.150
137And later he says:
- 151 Ibid.
… Where
Are those fresh furrows from?151
50. On the Various Heads Appropriate to Different Figures
- 152 Gallucci, Della simmetria, 3: 80–85.
138The head that is larger than any due proportion is appropriate for those human figures in which the painter wants to demonstrate villainy of spirit or a beastly soul with the greatest of cruelty. Furthermore, [this head represents] greedy avarice, carelessness and a soul that is completely rough. If, on the contrary, the painter makes the head smaller than the due proportion, he will make a figure that represents fraud, arrogance and wickedness. A bold and sensitive man must be made with a well-proportioned head, which is somewhat large, as Dürer teaches.152 Should one add to that somewhat large head the upper part that reveals the beginnings of baldness, then one will represent in that figure the head and habits of a donkey. Brash people should be made with a forehead that is sharp at the top like pinecones; these are similar to ravens and crows. Courageous and daring men should have a head that is modest and turned downward, which is also suited to both proud and reckless men. If the painter wants to represent the fraudulent and duplicitous, he must make their heads concave at the temples; again, this figure will represent hatred, and a hurtful and bestial soul. The head that is then well-proportioned and rounded, without concave temples, but rather full, must be made for ingenious, rational, kind, merciful, and prudent men; in short, those adorned with every virtue.
51. On the Diversity of Ears Appropriate to Different Figures
- 153 “His eye-brows met; his ears were small, and he had an aquiline nose.” Suetonius, The Lives of the (...)
139Ears have the strength to demonstrate the quality of a person that the painter wants to represent in his lines and colors. Therefore, lustful and wicked men, thieves, and, finally, all of those whose habits are similar to apes must be made with smaller ears than proper measure demands; on the other hand, ears that are too large and exceed the size of due proportion taught by Dürer represent a donkey in ears and habits, which is to say a man who is rude, silly, foolish, and stupid. Formed in this figure, then, is a well-proportioned intellect, a singular talent, a happy docility, clemency, and compassion. The ears must be made proportionate in size, formed in a half circle, protruding little, [so] that they just rest on the side of the head, as though languid and falling, but that serve uniformity in all its parts. Of this sort were the ears of Caesar Augustus, as Suetonius writes in his life.153 Therefore, every virtue relates to uniformity, and uniformity informs and directs the tools that painters are to acquire. If then one makes them protrude greatly from the head, that painting [will represent] many vanities and many words: two things that are always joined together. Envious men must be made with longer ears than are the due proportion. Portraits of men where the painter wants to represent a breathless anxiety, full of color, he must make the ears dry and thin. Those who are full of thoughts and are uncommunicative must be made straight and stretched; and if one includes many hairs in the ears, this makes ears that hear very well.
52. Which Hair Colors and Complexions Should Be Used for All Figures One Wants to Represent
- 154 Ficino quotes the poet Agathon, who is an interlocutor in Plato’s Symposium: “Glowing because it in (...)
140For the figure of a lustful, timid, and cunning man, one will choose a very dreary color for his flesh and hair, which seems black, seen mostly with the Moors, which Africa is wont to send forth. White [flesh], then, is somewhat moist and bright with very black hairs; one must make the colors bold, ingenious, pleasant, and shifting. In such a complexion, the hairs will be made sparse and white, appropriate for women and effeminate men who are full of fear. The spirited, magnanimous, dignified, and proud, who are like lions, should be made with hairs that are the same color of the lion, not with black nor white, but from these [colors] a third one that is moderately composed and clearly open. Those that will be made with a red color, as is found with foxes, will represent again crafty habits, which are slyness and wickedness together. The fearful must be given that pallor which comes to those who fear and also to those who are in love, as Plato describes.154 In a figure in which one wants to represent laziness, slowness, incontinence, fraud, betrayal, treachery, and impiety, one must make the color of ash or lead. The color of apples [must be used], then, to [represent those who are] slow in spirit and body, who feel at the same time afraid and garrulous, and also greedy. If one wants to form a figure that demonstrates truth, lies, and fear, one must likewise use a light green color with many hairs on the face; in such a figure one also represents a perpetual desire to eat. A jealous and unpleasant [man] must then be made with the color green on a fully dry face with very sparse, black hair, which will show mundane thoughts and virulent malevolence. A man who is nimble, mobile, lightweight, and fast in body and soul must be made with the color red on his skin and hair; the exact redness is determined by the extent to which the figures embody those qualities. If, however, one mixes a great amount of blood with flesh that is white, soft and radiant, one will form a man who is ready to learn and is good, kind, friendly, courteous, and quick to forgive. Nevertheless, if one makes the hair fiery like live coals, but very hard and large, and one makes the flesh tough and dusky, but not damp, one will form the idea of fury, anger, outrage, malignancy, and extremely sad thoughts of frauds, deceits, betrayals, and infidelity. If the painter wants to represent a man who is gravely inflamed with anger, he will make the chest a flaming color along with building veins in the neck and very swollen temples, which will better record this fury. In fact, using just one of these signs is enough to represent a choleric figure, and this is to be formed in him still, who, due to some accident, is very angry. Where the painter will make a cheerful and joyous figure, he must make the face strewn with the color of roses, then the hair blonde, or vermilion, or any other cheerful color. Also in this figure can be seen a perfectly natural blush due to the slightest reason together with great modesty, and this seems to be very appropriate for women. Here the painter must be warned that the color should be spread well throughout the face. For if he painted only a very small area of the cheeks, modesty and virtuous shame would not be formed, but rather a rapacious desire to drink or one, who because of some circumstance, had been ashamed. Anyone wishing to form a wicked man in order to conjure the ugliest vices that can be conceived of and cannot be mentioned should show a man lost in drink, whose nose is so colored with blood that is almost black, or truly of the color which is seen to be the liver, and this figure, even more so than the spoken vices, will also represent slander, envy, pride, or rather bestiality, and cruelty.
53. On the Eye Colors Appropriate to Different Figures
- 155 Pseudo-Aristotle, Physiognomica, 6: 812b.1–13; Aristotle, Minor Works, transl. Hett, 127–29.
- 156 “It is said that he was tall, of a fair complexion, round limbed, rather full faced, with eyes blac (...)
- 157 “His eyes were bright and piercing; and he was willing it should be thought that there was somethin (...)
- 158 Second Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian line who was highly criticized by Roman historians such (...)
141The eyes, which are called the windows of the soul, have the profound power to move observers, so much so that in them seems to be the sum of this vocation of explaining the passions of the soul through those things that fall under the senses. Therefore, painters who aspire to immortality must be quite diligent in painting them in the manner that seeks out the figure that they wish to form. First of all, the painter must note that the eye is composed of three parts: the white, the pupil, and that small circle that contains the pupil [the iris], which is contained within the white. The first two parts are the same in all men and do not vary, while the [iris] is the only one that varies in color. Besides this, I must, likewise, warn that this same part changes in different ages; therefore, the color of youth is different than that of old men or of children, while yet another is for decrepit men. This difference is so vast that I met a seller of glasses here in Venice, who, upon seeing the eyes of a man, could immediately find in his box of glasses one that suited that sight even though he had many boxes of very different [strengths] in his workshop. All of these warnings must, therefore, be noted by diligent painters, which they can more easily learn from these precepts, as had that glasses maker who learned after much experience; besides this, the painter must know that the pupil does not change despite the color no matter the size. For instance, small pupils, like those of foxes, snakes and apes, must be made to appear wicked, covetous, full of evil thoughts, and a little daring, as these animals’ pupils are. If the painter makes the eyes white and olive, he will represent the same vices more clearly; and more so if he makes the eyes concave, dry and in a certain way full of darkness; [finally] he will further suggest malice should the eyes be made almost stained with various colors. If the pupils are made large, as with sheep and oxen, he will show in that figure a rough man, talented later in life [ingegno tardo], very patient and, finally, simple and coarse. A man of good taste and moderate in decorum must be made with the pupils between small and large, of moderate size; should the painter wish to make a figure of a man far removed from goodness and righteousness, and suffering with confused emotions, he must make the pupils both ornate and angular. These same passions are also demonstrated in those eyes that have one pupil larger than the other. A man who is very choleric, disdainful and proud must be made with veins full of blood in the whites of the eyes; the greater the amount [of blood] included, the more his fury is captured. On the other hand, should these veins be made together with eyes that are dewy rather than dry, the moisture will represent a Bacchus, while a prideful and serious [man], [who is] completely insane, has a certain pale blotchiness scattered throughout the eye; and if the eyes are shown moving together, then one wants to show a man who has a great memory and good judgment, as well as one who is thoroughly contemplative. A man who is jealous and spiteful must have blue eyes with some white rays around the pupil that are almost imperceptible. The eyes of dim-witted liars will be made green with gold rays radiating from the pupil. The lustful should be made, as they are called, changeable, or charming, according to the Greeks.155 The greedy and intemperate must be made in the same way, but with these differences: the rays that emanate from the pupil are so thick that they cover all of the small circle located around the pupil, and these eyes are called black eyes; should one also add blood veins to the white area, rage is represented (as we said), and combined together with dryness, extreme anger will be represented with the said things. Should they be made misty, one will represent magnanimity, fortitude, and good judgment, which Suetonius says of Julius Caesar.156 And these things signify those [characteristics], but with some sort of irascibility and lust. The painter must be warned that if he makes the eyes stained white, almost like spikes, that he will represent frauds, robbers, sagacity, and temerity; but if he includes these [spikes] in those eyes, which we called changeable or charming, he will represent a rude man with unpleasant habits; and if he makes red stains scattered in the blacks of the eyes, he will form a murderer, a lecher, a cheat, a crafty [man], or whatever he holds in his heart or his mouth. Pale and dry spots [in the eyes] represent a man desirous of impossible things, an investigator of the things created by nature to use in predictions for men, and a big trunk of fury. In sum, when the painter makes eyes that are stained, it always represents a soul cluttered by many vices. Now the painter should follow these universal precepts concerning the eyes: where the color is pale and clouded, it always means some kind of misfortune; and if these are also dry, it will more openly communicate treachery and infidelity; and, moreover, making them small, along with these characteristics, will more clearly indicate infidelity, fraud, betrayal, and deception. If the painter will make [the eyes] pale and of moderate size, they will be appropriate to attentive, clever and ingenious people, and others who are able to apprehend every difficult thing, and together in a certain way, moderately sparing. Shining eyes then, which can be seen in roosters, although very beautiful, should, nevertheless, only be used for the very lustful, as indeed can be seen with roosters. The eyes appropriate to men who are smart, ingenious and of great valor are described as attractive. These should be shown as shining and watery, as indeed can be seen in lions and eagles, and as Suetonius [describes] the eyes of Augustus.157 Nevertheless, should those be larger than due proportion, gleaming and seeming to move, as in a man burning with anger, and should they have very large and open eyelids that are similar to the eyes of wolves or wild boars, then they will show cruelty, bestiality and thievery. Indeed, this is the nature of these animals as it was with the cruel Tiberius Caesar.158 If these will be made smaller than due proportion demands through research, [the painter] illustrates the diseased and the fraudulent, while, likewise, robust and flashing eyes are appropriate to gluttons and fools. If the terms of proportion are not exceeded, either in greatness, smallness or splendor, but are moderated within these extremes, they will be appropriate to a great soul, a singular spirit, desirous of honor and glory; and if they occur together with arrogance, unbridled anger and a love for excessive drinking, and that fleeting disease will not be contrary, then one can make the worn-out eyes of Alexander the Great. In sum, all pulsating eyes should be made to [illustrate] scoundrels. Those eyes, then, which are only seen half-opened and looking down, should likewise represent those who can be called old foxes; and if those are also concave, they will be worse, and are appropriate to those men who are tarnished with some evil. If the painter could form in a figure those eyes which have been mentioned but with a smile on the lips and a certain tremor in the forehead, cheeks and eyebrows, he will represent a very wicked man, and even worse if he raises and lowers his eyebrows often while gazing around at bystanders; again one makes the eyes of this figure as though they seem to be keeping themselves open by nature. The aforementioned smile, along with teary eyes, are appropriate for a fool, while if the figure is made with the eyelids taut and the forehead weak, as well as the parts around the ears equally weak, here the painter represents a virtuous man. Thoughtful and ingenious men should have eyes that are somewhat swollen and dewy with a beastly and frightful appearance. If these [characteristics] are joined with dryness of the eyes, illness and desperation will be demonstrated; should next to them be a rugged forehead and fixed eyes with upturned eyelids, this will make him more proud and brash. The eyes appropriate to a timid man are fixed, rigid, firm and watery; those of the insane are dry, while those of fools, pale. Wrathful, cruel and malicious men should be made with very long eyebrows, where one wishes to disappear [due to fear] for the eyes. In the jealous and lustful, the eyes should be made large and rigid with the color vermilion, while if to those eyes are added certain creases in the cheeks, shamelessness, injustice, instability, desperation, and unhappiness will be described. The eyes of the greedy should be made small and fixed, while adding a rugged forehead forms the figure of a fraud; moreover, making the entire figure slope will create the idea of thieves along with cholerics. The eyes of swindlers and the wicked should be made similar to olives, rigid and dark. The eyes appropriate to a young student are small and misty; the forehead should be without wrinkles with eyelids that appear as though they are moving themselves.
54. On the Eye Movement Appropriate to Different Figures
142Although the painter cannot make eyes that move, as they remain fixed in the figure he has made, nevertheless, experts well know that, when they want, they seem to move. These few precepts will provide no little help to those [interested], which I will finish in a few words. So, in the face of a figure where the painter wants to represent the idea of carelessness, betrayal and confusion, the eyes should seem to move quickly. The eyes and eyelids should move together with the timid, while those who are bold and confident in peril have eyes that move with firm eyelids. The lazy and slow, who unable to begin anything, nor complete what was begun, should be made with eyes that move slowly. The insane and useless should have eyes that dart rapidly from one side to the other. Those who are drunk, greedy, dull, stupid, and foolish appropriately have large and trembling eyes. Eyes that are trembling, white and small are appropriate for the unjust, insolent and faithless. Those who waver and are lustful, but not wicked, dedicated to indecent behavior, along with those who are ambitious and envious often [appear] close to birds of prey; likewise, [the eyes] befit the ingenious and intelligent when they have some wetness. Those which are pale and trembling show a troublesome mind that is ingenious, but with a greatly discontented soul.
- 159 In the Dream of Scipio, he travels through the planetary spheres and notes the light is “too bright (...)
143For the lustful and thoughtless, make the pupils of the eyes (as we have said elsewhere) turn upwards when opening and closing. If the painter does not make them turned upwards, but straight and fixed with eyes of proportional size, pleasant splendor, balanced moisture, and without wrinkles in the forehead, he will form in respect to this part, a religious man, cautious, eager to learn, kind and loving. But if, on the contrary, he will make these same [eyes] dry, [this is the] formula for an unjust, proud and bestial man; and should he join this dryness with wrinkles on the forehead, eyebrows that meet and with a hardness of the eyelids, he will make a bold, brash and bestial man that delights in many gifts. In order to make a singular genius, the eyes should be fixed, watery and splendid, opened so that all the circumference of the eye, or the circle located around the pupil [the iris], is visible, such that their stare is content. But if they are dry and dark, and, nevertheless, were intended to look content, they will be appropriate to the brazen and extremely bold. Now it must still be advised that the eyes are not straight in all men, or look straight ahead; there are some that seem to look to one side and often watch the other. Moreover, eyes that look to the side are appropriate for insane and careless people; those that look to the left are appropriate to the lustful; and those that look at the nose, or mustache, are useful for travelers, as Macrobius notes.159 If one includes dryness in these eyes, and if they will always appear in all aspects fixed, they will be appropriate to those who are genuine, but through good judgment deceive men that are without shame and are overcome with sorrow, which will be even more appropriate if they will be made trembling along with the conditions above. If the painter then makes the eyes as though the right one stares ahead, while the left appear crooked, they are appropriate for both the insane and the lustful; moreover, the extent of the crookedness indicates one vice more than the other, depending upon the severity; and if the painter makes them completely crooked, he will represent a Bacchus, a lecher, and a figure of those who are seduced by evil. The painter will show this more clearly if he makes them look as though they are trembling, but if he does not make them trembling, but pale, he will show a cruel and deadly figure. If he will make them large and red, this will be appropriate to the gamblers, the lustful, and the greedy; if he will make them cross-eyed and looking down with the eyelids almost closed, he will represent the same, as it was said of those whose eyes are completely crooked, and still demonstrate firmly those same emotions. If he makes them so that one looks up and the other looks down, while the eyes are closed and they appear to tremble, he will make a figure that seems fearful of a debilitating disease. Now the painter should be advised of those eyes that are called beautiful and well proportioned, not only to learn about the beauty in those and the right proportion, but also to know and learn about the diversity that we have narrated above. If the ends of the hair of the eyebrows draws a line to the last extremity of the hair of the eyelids, and it is found that this line is completely circular, then these will not be prominent nor narrow. When the eyebrows move beyond the eyelashes, they are said to protrude, and when they are shorter, they are said to be hollow. Therefore, the accord of the eyes consists in this: the eye should be in the middle where one cannot see more of one part of the whites than another, while ensuring that they remain fixed; this will occur when the outer part of the circle enclosing the pupil [the iris] is equally covered by the eyelids in the top as in the underside.
55. On the Diversity of Hair Appropriate to Different Figures
- 160 “The other parts of his body were much covered with hair.” Suetonius, The Lives of the Twelve Caesa (...)
144Although we have touched on the diversity of hair elsewhere, nevertheless, it seems appropriate to me here to speak more specifically about the treatment so that the painter will have a particular place to find these established precepts. The painter will make a timid and fraudulent [figure] with very curly hair, but those who are unpleasant, immoral, unwise, and irritating in manner should be made long and flowing. A beastly and violent man will have very thick hair all over, while the malicious and deceitful have little hair; soft hair [is appropriate for] women and effeminate men, but neither should have rigid hair, which is appropriate to the beastly and rough. Moreover, the just, temperate and of good wit should be made in the middle between these extremes: this does not mean curly or straight, but rippling in a certain way, not too thin, neither too thick, not rigid, nor soft. Along the same lines, if the painter includes many hairs on the legs, he will form a fierce and rough man; if hair is only on the upper part and none below, there will be only fierceness. If, however, there are hairs only around the ankles, painters will represent bestial lust along with foolishness; he will show it most clearly if there will be much hair on the thighs, hips, and genitals. The frivolous, fickle and lascivious should have ample hair on the chest and stomach, while swindlers only [have hair] on the chest; if the shoulders and back are hairy, this will create a figure that represents a man who continually forms in his mind new fantasies. One should include much hair on the necks of the magnanimous and fearless, as is seen in lions. Similarly, those who, like a bear, will have the whole body covered in hair, as Suetonius says Caligula should be, who was, in fact, most beastly.160 Those who are by nature grieved, melancholic, and altogether evil and envious, must be made with rigid, thick and tangled eyebrows. This figure is similar to a pig, which has thick and dense eyebrows that extend to the temples and bend somewhat towards the eyes. If then the eyebrows do not extend towards the temples, but are only somewhat bent in the front, he will represent a certain awkwardness and bashfulness. But if, to the contrary, they turn away from the nose and come very close to the temples, the painter will shape in that picture a liar, who is vapid and fraudulent; and if he bends them not to one side nor the other, but makes them straight and equidistant to either side, a fiery lust will be manifested in that figure. If then he will make the hair descending to the middle of the forehead, split into two parts, the painter will show in this and put before the eyes of observers a figure of courtesy, courage, and other similar virtues that benefit human society.
56. On the Diversity of Stature Appropriate to Different Figures
- 161 “In stature he was a little below the common height.” Ibid., 51: 379.
- 162 “His cruel and sanguinary disposition was exhibited upon great as well as trifling occasions.” Ibid (...)
145Should the painter wish to form a figure that is astute with a shrewd wit and quick in his actions, and then present it to the eyes of observers, he should be made small of stature, but well-proportioned. This was the height of Augustus Caesar, whom Suetonius wrote in his life of the same was five feet and three-quarters tall.161 On the contrary, should one wish to show a figure representing slowness in wit and action, he must be made disproportionate in size. This is the sort of body that Tiberius Caesar had, who was full of many vices and especially cruel, as Suetonius notes.162 If then the painter makes a small figure with parched flesh and black or red hair, he will form a man unstable in all things who never finishes anything. On the other hand, making a man tall, fleshy, and with white hair, will form one who is entirely useless and indifferent to everything, because these [men] are simple, uncouth and lazy. If then he makes the picture of a short man with white [hair], he will make a prudent and rational man; this will be even more clear should the painter make a large man, who is lean, hairy, and with a dark complexion. And from all of these things, the painter, who, wishing to form a beautiful man adorned with genius, needs to form a well-proportioned body of moderate stature, musculature and hair, which does not show excessive moisture nor excessive heat, but a well-balanced nature.
57. In What Thing Beauty Consists, and Proportion of Bodies According to Marsilio Ficino and Painters
146Although at the beginning of this book we named the thing in which the beauty of human bodies consists with the authority of Aristotle and of the poets, here we will speak of the beauty of the human bodies according to the doctrine of Plato explained by Marsilio Ficino over the banquet of the same, and together tell what measures modern painters use, in order to conclude our book with beauty, which should serve painters to reach their goal at their panels because students will not have to search elsewhere for these measurements which are commonly used. Now painters listen to what Ficino says:
- 163 Alternatively translated by Jayne as “Arrangement, Proportion, and Aspect.” Ficino, Commentary on P (...)
- 164 Ibid., 88.
- 165 The section was cribbed almost verbatim by Nicholas Poussin for one of his longest aphorisms publis (...)
What thing consists of the beauty of the body? A certain liveliness of action, and a certain grace, that shines in the same beautiful thing for the influence of its own idea. This splendor does not descend into matter if the material is not properly prepared, that it is possible, now this preparation of the body that lives consists in three things: order, mode, and species;163 the significant order being the intervals of the parts, the quantity the mode, the species of lines, and colors. In order that all parts of the body have their natural place, the ears, the eyes, the nose and the other parts must first be in their proper positions, the eyes at an equal distance from the nose and both ears equally spaced from the eyes. And this proportion of distances, which is part of the order, is still not enough if the mode of the parts is not added, attributing to each limb its proper length in accordance with the proportion of the whole body, so that three noses placed end to end will fill the length of one face, the semi-circles of both ears joined together will make the circle of the open mouth, and the joining of the eyebrows will also amount to the same; the length of the nose will match the length of the lip, and likewise of the ear. The twin circles of the eyes will equal the one opening of the mouth; eight heads will make the length of the body; this same length the spread of the arms to the side and likewise of the legs and feet will also measure.
Furthermore, we consider the form necessary so that a graceful disposition of the line and curves, and the splendor of the eyes, will adorn the order and mode of the parts. Although these three particulars are in the matter, they nonetheless may not be any part of the body.
The order of the members is not member, because the order is in all the members, and any member is located in all members. Moreover the other is nothing other than an appropriate interval of the parts, and the interval in nothing other than the distance of the parts, and the distance, or is anything, a useless vacuous, as it is some stretch of line. Now being without profundity, and without width, which are necessary to the body, as could we name them bodies? Equally the manner is not a quantity but a term of quantity, and the terms are surface, lines, and points, which missing profundity are not bodies.164
The species then assures a sweet agreement of lights, shadows and lines, which is not in the material. Of all these things that are manifest, that beauty in all distance of the material of the body, is never communicated the same to the body, if it is not to be disposed with these incorporeal preparations, which I have recounted.165
147These things are from Ficino, from which students of painting will glean much, especially if they turn to their soul from which they will know that:
- 166 Likewise in Poussin’s aphorism on the descent of beauty we find that: “And thus we conclude that pa (...)
Painting is nothing other, than an idea of the things in everything incorporeal, which although represents bodies, represented only the order, and mode, and species of things, that are in all incorporeal things.166
- 167 Ghiberti and earlier Renaissance writers reiterated the proportions of Polykleitos in his lost Cano (...)
148Now we shall speak of what modern painters say about the proportions of the human bodies, who, nevertheless, follow the ancients, as can be seen in Pliny167 and many others, who divide the face from the root of the hair to the bottom of the chin into three equal parts, each as long as the nose, which is also as long as a thumb on the hand, slit of the mouth, and as much as all that area that contains the eyes — from where the nose is joined with the forehead, as well as where both eyes come together — that is as much as the space of two noses, or two thumbs; this area is also divided into three equal parts: two are given to both of the eyes and one is the space between them. Again, the space between the eyes and the beginning of the earlobe should be the length of a nose, which should also be the length of the ear. Now to measure the whole body, painters must take a measurement of three noses — the distance from the root of the hair to the bottom of the chin — and with this should measure all of the body in this manner. Then all of the body should be made as long as nine or ten of these measurements that is required from the head, though should the figure be made with nine heads, the following should be done. From the base of the throat to the end of the torso should measure three of these, and two from here to the knees, and another two to the neck, or top of the foot; another then divided into three parts should one be from the forehead or root of the hair to the top of the head, the second one until the neck, and the third from the sole of the foot to the top, called the mount of the foot. Then from the base of the throat to the beginning of the arms makes one, and from here until the wrist makes three; furthermore, in a manner such that from the shoulder until the elbow there is one and two-thirds from here until the wrist will be one and one-third, and the hand is as equally long as the head. Whoever wishes to make a body of ten heads [should note that] the first head is from the top of the head to the base of the nose, while from here until the base of the throat is another; the third the middle of the chest, the fourth until the navel, the fifth until the genitals, two are along the thigh until the bone over the knee, and from here until the soles of the feet there ought to be three, which all joined together makes ten. Likewise, the transverse size should be measured in this manner, making the outstretched arms and hands together equal ten heads. And this is the universal measure that is used by modern painters, who have demonstrated their usefulness in highly selective examples from nature and ancient statues. Nevertheless, they can see that the measurements of our Dürer are more assured and indisputable as each particle is measured. Although small, these are the principal members, and, besides giving those measures to all sorts of bodies that can be found among men, should only be of nine or ten heads. Students should then not regret studying the measurements of Dürer, as these discourses, most assuredly, have the power to reveal the nature of men in order to imitate the best in nature as they should, and to bear that fruit that their labors deserve.
149The end of the fifth and final book.
150May the honor and the glory be given only to God.
Notes
1 Though often reserved for principles of religion, I have kept the translation of dottrina as “Doctrine” to highlight the author’s belief that the stratagem he elaborates is supported by and found in biblical examples, as well as philosophical and poetical.
2 Gallucci divides physiognomic types used in painting to those derived from nature (dal naturale), idealized types for history painting (dalle historie), and those drawn from the imagination (nell’animo scolpita).
3 Vasari’s conception of disegno considers the way in which the “Idea” of the artist can be transcribed via the intellective faculty through an artist’s dexterity, after innumerable studies drawn from nature. Vasari, Le vite de’ più eccellenti pittori scultori e architettori: nelle redazioni del 1550 e 1568, ed. Rosanna Bettarini and Paola Barocchi, 6 vols (Florence: Sansoni, 1966–1987), I: Technical Introduction. Michelangelo also used the analogy of “carving” images from an Idea in his sonnets, reiterated by his biographers. James M. Saslow, The Poetry of Michelangelo (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 1991), 305; William Wallace, “Michelangelo, Tiberio Calcagni, and the Florentine ‘Pietà’,” Artibus et Historiae, 21.42 (2000), 81–99, at 87, https://doi.org/10.2307/1483625
4 Gallucci uses lineamentì to refer to both the appropriate complexion of different forms and the contours of the form of various figures. Likewise, the colori del capo is elaborated on in later chapters as including the complexion of the skin, color of the hair, lips, eyes, etc.
5 Building on his Preface where painting and poetry are discussed as “sister arts,” Gallucci often uses dipingere as opposed to dire in order to reinforce the manner in which poets “paint” with words and painters “speak” with their images.
6 See “6. How One Should Paint a Furious and Angry Man,” below. Homer, Iliad, transl. Barry Powell (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 1: 1–4, 85; 19: 349–353.
7 The temperaments (vitij) that he refers to are presented as self-evident, and based on everyday observation.
8 The most widely read treatment on martyrdom as a model for Christian living from the medieval and Renaissance eras survives in multiple editions and translations. Written in 1260, The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Varagine would be challenged in Gallucci’s own time due to its apocryphal content, but remained highly influential, regardless. Jacobus de Varagine, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints, transl. W. G. Ryan, 2 vols (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993).
9 The Barbary Coast includes the Berber coastal regions and cities throughout the middle and western coastal regions of North Africa — now Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya.
10 Torquato Tasso, The Liberation of Jerusalem, transl. Max Wickert (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 17: 21. The description of the peoples of the Levant includes the myriad of nationalities participating in the epic war, from Egyptians, Arabs, Turks, Ethiopians, etc.
11 The Mediterranean region.
12 Giovanni Paolo Gallucci, Della simmetria dei corpi humani, libri quattro (Venice: Roberto Meietti, 1594), 1: 1–2, 5, 21–22, https://archive.org/details/dialbertodurero00gallgoog/page/n4
13 The seminal ancient treatise on physiognomy, originally attributed to Aristotle and now considered pseudo-Aristotelian, forms the armature on which Gallucci builds his character assessments. In anthropomorphizing animal taxonomy, pseudo-Aristotle writes: “This being so, the lion of all animals seems to have the most perfect share of the male type”; “Among the animals reputed to be brave the panther is more female in appearance except in the legs…” Pseudo-Aristotle, Physiognomics, 5: 809b.15, 5: 810a.1; Aristotle, Minor Works, transl. Hett, 110–111. See also Aristotle, The History of Animals, transl. D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910), 9: 1.
14 Although not cited as such, the description is an almost exact quotation of that found in: Pseudo-Aristotle, Physiognomica, 5: 809b.15–35; Aristotle, Minor Works, transl. Hett, 110–112.
15 Pseudo-Aristotle, Physiognomica, 5: 809b.15, 5: 810a.1; Aristotle, Minor Works, transl. Hett, 110–113.
16 Homer, Iliad, transl. Powell, 3: 13–16.
17 “I stooped and slipped over my neck and broad shoulders a tawny/ Lion’s skin for a cloak; then I raise up my burden.” Virgil, Aeneid, transl. Frederick Ahl (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), 2: 722.
18 The portrait of Laura, model for the ideal beauty and woman as precious object, becomes formalized early on in Petrarchan sonnets as a topos. “There was never such beauty, ancient or modern, / nor will be, I believe: but so concealed/ the world in error hardly noticed it./ She left us soon: and I am glad to lose that little glimpse of her that heaven gave me, / only to take more pleasure in her sacred light.” Petrarch, “Canzone 350,” The Complete Canzoniere, transl. A. S. Kline ( [n.p.]: Poetry in Translation, 2001), 487.
19 The legend dates from the fourth century BCE and was recorded in succeeding centuries by Cicero and Pliny in slightly modified forms. In his De Inventione (84 BCE), Cicero noted an early version in which Zeuxis, in order “to embody the surpassing beauty of womanhood” in painting Helen for the temple of Juno in the city of Croton, chose five of the most beautiful girls of the city, “because he did not think that all the qualities he sought to combine in a portrayal of beauty could be found in one person, because in no single case has Nature made anything perfect and finished in every part.” Marcus Tullius Cicero, De Inventione, transl. H. M. Hubbell (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1952), 168–169; “Inspexerit virgins eorum nudas et quinque elegerit, ut quod in quaequae laudatissimum esset pictura redderet.” Pliny, Natural History, transl. Healy, 64, 308–309.
20 “First paint for me her locks, both soft and black.” Anacreon, “Ode 28: On His Mistress,” The First Twenty-Eight Odes of Anacreon in Greek and English, ed. John Broderick (London: Sherwood, Gilbert and Piper, 1827; repr. 2011), 197.
21 Homer, Iliad, transl. Powell, 3: 35–37.
22 Ibid., 3: 37–45.
23 Gallucci returns to this section of the Rhetoric throughout his Book Five in order to reinforce points of different aspects of masculine beauty. As Aristotle opens the section: “Beauty varies with each age. In a young man, it consists in possessing a body capable of enduring all efforts, either of the racecourse or of bodily strength, while he himself is pleasant to look upon and a sheer delight. This is why the athletes in the pentathlum are most beautiful, because they are naturally adapted for bodily exertion and for swiftness of foot.” Aristotle, Rhetoric, transl. John Henry Freese (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1960), 1: 5.10–14; 55.
24 In the late 1580s, Gallucci translated into Latin the Catechismus of the Spanish Dominican Luis de Granada (1505–1588). Luis de Granada, Catechismus in symbolum fidei, transl. Giovanni Paolo Gallucci (Venice: Damiani Zenari, 1586). In the Platonic dialogue, Socrates debates the definition of beauty with Hippias and rotorts: “whatever is useful is beautiful.” Plato, Hippia Maior, 295; David Sider, “Plato’s Early Aesthetics: ‘The Hippias Major’,” Journal of Aesthetics & Art Criticism, 35.4 (1977), 465–470, at 465, https://doi.org/10.2307/430612
25 “In a man who has reached his prime, beauty consists in being naturally adapted for the toils of war, in being pleasant to look upon and at the same time awe-inspiring.” Aristotle, Rhetoric, transl. Freese, 1: 5.10–14; 55.
26 A dancer and performer of pantomimes in Augustan Rome, Bathyllus was born in Alexandria and was the favorite comedic performer of Maecenas. Anacreon writes of his visage: “Power that awes, and love that trances;/ Steal from Venus bland desire, / Steal from Mars the look of fire, / Blend them in such expression here, / That we by turns may hope and fear!” Anacreon, “Ode 22,” The Odes of Anacreon, transl. Thomas Moore (London: John, Camden Hotten, 1871, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/38230/38230-h/38230-h.htm; repr. 2011), 112; Tacitus, Annals, transl. Ronald Mellor (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 1: 54.
27 Ariosto, “Canto 10,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 95–96; 103.
28 The Syrian sorceress sent to seduce the Christian camp uses her “sex’s gifts” to request ten champions of the Franks. Tasso, The Liberation of Jerusalem, transl. Wickert, 4: 29–31.
29 Anacreon, Odes of Anacreon, transl. Moore, 17.
30 “Quel sempre acerbo et honorato giorno.” Petrarch, “Canzone 251,” The Complete Canzoniere, transl. Kline, 251.
31 The description occurs after Ruggiero witnesses Marfisa in battle. Ariosto, “Canto 26,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 23–31; 310.
32 The episode comments on the magical quality of women’s lips as the excised passage finds Angelica using the ring to cloak herself in invisibility from her pursuing suitors. Ariosto, “Canto 12,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 34; 120.
33 Catullus completes the stanza with a reminder that beauty resides in the totality of the parts: “It’s Lesbia who’s beautiful, and, being wholly lovely, has stolen from all of the others their every charm.” Gaius Valerius Catullus, Poems of Catullus, transl. Peter Green (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2007), 86: 1–6; 193.
34 “A woman is not beautiful when her ankle or arm wins compliments, but when her total appearance diverts admiration from the individual parts of her body.” Seneca, Letters from a Stoic, transl. Robin Campbell (London: Penguin Classics, 2004), 33: 6.
35 “And now with all thy pencil’s truth, / Portray Bathyllus, lovely youth!… Oh! let this pictured god be mine, / And keep the boy for Samos’ shrine;/ Phœbus shall then Bathyllus be, / Bathyllus then the deity!” Anacreon, The Odes of Anacreon, transl. Moore, 17; Tacitus, Annals, transl. Mellor, 1: 54.
36 The pagan princess of Antioch, bent on helping her unrequited love Tancred, spies armor and laments the strength that she has been denied being a woman. Tasso, The Liberation of Jerusalem, transl. Wickert, 6: 83.
37 Marcus Tullius Cicero, Dream of Scipio, transl. Andre Chaves (Pasadena: The Clinker Press, 2012), 6.
38 The warrior-virgin Marfisa admires the warriors as she approaches to challenge them. Ariosto, “Canto 18,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 100; 205.
39 Ariosto, “Canto 9,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 56; 88.
40 Homer, Iliad, transl. Powell, 3: 222–225.
41 Erminia surveys knights arriving with Godfrey, leader of the crusader army. Tasso, The Liberation of Jerusalem, transl. Wickert, 3: 63.
42 The youthful arrogance of Alzirdo leads to his undoing, for in challenging the Prince of Anglant, he was “run through the heart.” Ariosto, “Canto 12,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 74; 124–125.
43 The description does not come from Dante’s poet-prophet, but rather the Aeneid when Aeneas holds funerary games for his father and the first challenger for boxing described is the Trojan Dares. Virgil, Aeneid, transl. Ahl, 5: 367–378.
44 Seneca, Letters from a Stoic, transl. Campbell, 25: 1–7.
45 Book three is dedicated to the breeding and selection of best horses for war and other endeavors. Virgil, Georgics, transl. Janet Lembke (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005), 3: 75–80.
46 Ariosto, “Canto 13,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 35; 141.
47 Ariosto, “Canto 31,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 107; 382.
48 Ariosto, “Canto 39,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 32; 469.
49 The cowardly retreat incurs Hector’s curses. Homer, Iliad, transl. Powell, 3: 27–35.
50 As the Trojans and Greeks drank and banqueted, Zeus caused a thunderstorm and ensured that no celebration would be had until proper rituals be carried out. Homer, Iliad, transl. Powell, 7: 480–482.
51 Ariosto, “Canto 10,” 95–96; 103.
52 “Tereus, Procne, and Philomela,” Ovid, Metamorphoses, transl. A. D. Melville (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 6: 501–532.
53 Virgil, Aeneid, transl. Ahl, 12: 867–868.
54 Ibid., 4: 280.
55 Ariosto, “Canto 1,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 29; 4.
56 Tasso, The Liberation of Jerusalem, transl. Wickert, 13: 22.
57 Ariosto, “Canto 1,” 76; 90.
58 “The signs of the coward are soft hair, a body of sedentary habit, not energetic; calves of the legs broad above; pallor about the face; eyes weak and blinking, the extremities of the body weak, small legs and long thing hands; thigh small and weak; the figure is constrained in movement; he is not eager but supine and nervous; the expression on his face is liable to rapid change and is cowed.” Pseudo-Aristotle, Physiognomics, 3: 807b.5–10; Aristotle, Minor Works, transl. Hett, 98–99.
59 “Thus Temperance and Courage are destroyed by excess and deficiency, and preserved by the observance of the mean.” Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, transl. William Heinemann (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1962), 2: 2.6–7; 77.
60 Lucius Anneaus Seneca, “De Ira,” Dialogues, transl. A. Bourgery (Paris: Les Belles lettres, 2003).
61 Mandricard publicly strikes Gradasso, causing him to lose hold of Durindana. Ariosto, “Canto 27,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 64; 330.
62 In failing to calm Marfisa with words, the two come to blows in a duel. Ariosto, “Canto 36,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 53; 437.
63 The Christian knight Tancred is shamed that he did not initially meet the taunts of Argant, allowing Otho to ride into battle first. Tasso, The Liberation of Jerusalem, transl. Wickert, 6: 31.
64 Homer, Iliad, transl. Powell, 19: 334–339, 457. The rage of Achilles is central to the extant books of the Iliad. The very opening of the epic begins: “The rage sing, O goddess, of Achilles, the son of Peleus, / the destructive anger that brought ten-thousand pains to the/ Achaeans and sent many brave souls of fighting men to the house of Hades and made their bodies a feast for dogs/ and all kinds of birds.” Homer, Iliad, transl. Powell, 1: 1–4.
65 Rambault, who was charmed by Armida to abandon Christianity, battles Tancred. Tasso, The Liberation of Jerusalem, transl. Wickert, 7: 42.
66 Ariosto, “Canto 7,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 56; 66–67.
67 Ariosto muses, “… you cannot insult a woman worse than by telling her she is old and ugly.” Ariosto, “Canto 20,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 120; 243.
68 Achilles contemplates killing Agamemnon for the insult of losing his war prize, Briseïs. Athena appears and persuades him otherwise. Homer, Iliad, transl. Powell, 1: 185; 17.
69 Ariosto, “Canto 33,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 41.
70 The Circassian warrior Argant engages the leader of the Gascon crusaders, count of Toulouse, in combat. Tasso, The Liberation of Jerusalem, transl. Wickert, 7: 87.
71 Virgil, Aeneid, transl. Ahl, 4: 361–365.
72 Tancred violently pursues the traitor Rambault. Tasso, The Liberation of Jerusalem, transl. Wickert, 7: 37.
73 Ibid., 10: 56.
74 Seneca, “De Ira,” Dialogues, transl. Bourgery, 3: 1.
75 Because humors also determined skin color, “complexions” became an alternative term when discussing style and humoral balance. “But the excessively fair are also cowardly; witness women.” Pseudo-Aristotle, Physiognomica, 6: 812a.15; Aristotle, Minor Works, transl. Hett, 126–127.
76 When Lomazzo became blind and abandoned painting for writing, he advised his fellow artists to mix their colors to make the skin of sanguine figures rosier, melancholics swarthier, cholerics yellower, and phlegmatics paler. Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Scritti sulle arti, ed. Roberto P. Ciardi, 2 vols (Florence: Centro Di, 1973– 1974), II: 262–69.
77 The prolific inventor actually derives his name from the Greek term for “craftsman” or to “work artfully” (Daidalos). R. S. P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 296. The fame of Daedalus is importantly related through his role as an innovator in many fields by later Roman authors. Pliny, Natural History, transl. Healy, 7: 198; Penelope Reed Doob, The Idea of the Labyrinth: From Classical Antiquity through the Middle Ages (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1992), 36.
78 In a characteristic Homeric epithet, Athena is described as “The grey-eyed goddess.” Homer, Iliad, transl. Powell, 1: 212.
79 Pseudo-Aristotle, Physiognomica; Aristotle, De Sensu, 45: 18–20; quoted in T. K. Johansen, Aristotle on the Sense-Organs (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), esp. 98–100.
80 “These are the marks of the little-minded man. He is small limbed, small and round, dry, with small eyes and a small face, like a Corinthian or Leucadian”; “Bulging eyes mean stupidity; this is appropriate and applies to the ass…” Pseudo-Aristotle, Physiognomica, 3: 808a.30; 6: 811b.22–25; Aristotle, Minor Works, transl. Hett, 105, 123–125.
81 Ariosto, “Canto 7,” 53–55; 66.
82 Recounting the tale of ‘Salamacis and Hermaphroditus, ’ Ovid warns of being overcome by avariciousness as in her raptured state Salamacis “entwined him, like a snake” and “both bodies merged.” Ovid, Metamorphoses, transl. Melville, 4: 318–320; 83–84.
83 Virgil, Aeneid, transl. Ahl, 9: 613–617.
84 “The eyes are the abode of shame. That is why they feel more ashamed before those who are likely to be always with them or who keep watch upon them, because in both cases they are under the eyes of others.” Aristotle, Rhetoric, transl. Freese, 2: 6: 1384a.13–19.
85 The reaction of Angelica follows a description that compares her to a statue fashioned by a sculptor. Ariosto, “Canto 10,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 98–99; 104.
86 Ariosto, “Canto 20,” 99; 241.
87 Ibid., 130; 244.
88 Ovid, Metamorphoses, transl. Freese, 6: 27–58; 122.
89 Ibid.
90 Tasso, The Liberation of Jerusalem, transl. Wickert, 4: 94.
91 Seneca, “On the Blush of Modesty,” Letters from a Stoic, transl. Campbell, 11: 7.
92 Plautus, Pseudolus, transl. David Christenson (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2013), 174.
93 Horace, Odes and Epodes, transl. C. E. Bennett (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1968), 3: 28; 273.
94 Ariosto, “Canto 23,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 67; 274.
95 Ariosto, “Canto 28,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 39; 343–344.
96 Ibid., 25–27; 342.
97 Arioso, “Canto 43,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 67; 516.
98 Arioso, “Canto 40,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 73; 484.
99 Arioso, “Canto 1,” 39; 5.
100 C. Suetonius Tranquillus, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, transl. Alexander Thomson ( [n.p.]: Simon and Brown, 2013), 50: 285.
101 Suetonius relates that he purposefully cultivated such an figure: “His countenance, which was naturally hideous and frightful, he purposely rendered more so, forming it before a mirror into the most horrible contortions.” Ibid.
102 Martial, Epigrams, transl. Nisbet, 2: 36; 131.
103 This majestic processional dance was popular among the aristocracy, commonly opening ceremonial balls and was used as a display of elegant dress.
104 Virgil, Aeneid, transl. Ahl, 4: 890.
105 The Fury Allecto sends a serpent to drive Amata, wife of King Latinus, mad. Virgil, Aeneid, transl. Ahl, 7: 375–380.
106 Ariosto, “Canto 10,” 20–21; 95.
107 Tasso, The Liberation of Jerusalem, transl. Wickert, 16: 67.
108 Ariosto, “Canto 46,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 38; 561.
109 Ariosto, “Canto 10,” 4; 93.
110 Tasso, The Liberation of Jerusalem, transl. Wickert, 10: 17.
111 Ariosto, “Canto 10,” 89; 103.
112 In his description, the Italian poet Jacopo Sannazaro cites Ovid: “Cacco, qui è detto per antonomasia e per disprezzo Ovidio nel Lib. i. de’ Fasti, ove narra come questo mostro fu ucciso da Ercole, così lo descrive: Cacus Aventinae timor, atque infamia silvae, Non leve finitimis, hospitibusque malum. Dira viro facies; vires prò corpore; corpus Grande: pater monstri Mu.la.ber hujus erat.” Jacopo Sannazaro, Arcadia (Roma: Carocci editore, 2013), 129.
113 Hercules, who pulls him into the light from his cave to be seen in all his beastly form, dispatches the cattle thief. Virgil, Aeneid, transl. Ahl, 8: 265–267.
114 Ariosto, “Canto 14,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 87; 147.
115 Ariosto, “Canto 3,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 72; 29.
116 Gallucci, Della simmetria, 3: 80–85.
117 Ariosto, “Canto 29,” Orlando Furioso, transl. Waldman, 60; 358.
118 “Those who are longer from the navel to the chest than from the chest to the neck have good appetites.” Pseudo-Aristotle, Physiognomica, 3: 808b.4–5; Aristotle, Minor Works, transl. Hett, 104–105.
119 “He has pale skin and is covered with straight, thick, black hair; his temples are also covered with black, straight hair. He has a bright and appetive eye.” Pseudo-Aristotle, Physiognomica, 3: 808b.5–10; Aristotle, Minor Works, transl. Hett, 104–105.
120 “In stature he was a little below the common height; his skin was foul and spotted; his hair inclined to yellow; his features were agreeable, rather than handsome; his eyes grey and dull, his neck was thick, his belly prominent, his legs very slender, his constitution sound…” Suetonius, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, transl. Thomson, 51: 379.
121 “Dire Envy will fear the Furies and the grave stream of Cocytus and the twisted serpents of Ixion and the huge wheel and the rock that cannot be overcome.” Virgil, Georgics, transl. Lembke, 3: 37–39; Virgil, Aeneid, transl. Ahl, 1: 294–296.
122 See “Chapter 3: On the Beauty of Human Bodies, Especially Women.”
123 The grotesque description is based on alternates of proportion of over-small and over-large features. Horace, Satires and Epistles, transl. Smith Palmer Bovie (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002), 1: 2: 93.
124 Catullus, The Poems of Catullus, transl. Peter Green (Berkeley, CA: Univeristy of California Press, 2005), 43: 1–4; 91.
125 Ariosto, “Canto 7,” 72–73; 68–69.
126 Homer, Iliad, transl. Powell, 2: 247.
127 The thirteenth-century Byzantine scholar had been the first to write a biography of Aesop based on The Aesop Romance suggesting that he was Ethiopian based on his name. Maximus Planudes, Aesopi Phrygis Fabulae (Lyon: Jean de Tournes, 1570), 9; Frank M. Snowden, Jr., Blacks in Antiquity: Ethiopians in the Greco-Roman Experience (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 1971), 264.
128 The only man in Homer’s Iliad to be described as ugly. He opposes the war and is promptly beaten and scapegoated.
129 Horace, Odes and Epodes, transl. Bennett, 2: 10.
130 Pseudo-Aristotle, Physiognomica, 6: 810a.20–25; Aristotle, Minor Works, transl. Hett, 114–15.
131 From this comes the proverb Ex pede Herculem — “you may know Hercules by his foot.” Aulus Gellius, The Attic Nights, transl. John Carew Rolfe (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015), 1: 1.
132 Virgil, Aeneid, transl. Ahl, 2: 168; 4: 10.
133 Along with Philo of Alexandria, Plato described the chest as the location of the soul. The amount of fat around the chest was associated with temperament of an individual. Plato, Timaeus, transl. Benjamin Jowett (New York: Dover Publications, 1985), 70c-d.
134 Hera (Juno) is referred to as “white-armed.” Homer, Iliad, transl. Powell, 1: 59; Nausicaa “… Nausicaa of the white arms led them in their song.” Homer, Odyssey, transl. E. V. Rieu (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1966), 6: 57; 104.
135 “Therefore as portrait-painters are more exact in the lines and features of the face, in which the character is seen, than in the other parts of the body, so I must be allowed to give my more particular attention to the marks and indications of the souls of men, and while I endeavour by these to portray their lives, may be free to leave more weighty matters and great battles to be treated of by others.” Plutarch, Life of Alexander the Great, transl. John Dryden (New York: Modern Library, 2004), 1.
136 Juvenal, Satires, ed. Richard George (St. Albans: Baikal, 2012), 3: 58–125.
137 According to the Greek writer Ctesias of Cnidus, Sardanapalus was the last king of Assyria. Later Diodorus compiled the lost works of Ctesias. Dressing in women’s clothes and wearing make-up, Sardanapalus was said to have exceeded all previous kings in sloth and luxury, ending his life in a self-destructive orgy.
138 The numbering of the chapters as printed in the original edition contains a misprint. Chapter 45 is used twice in both Diversita’ di labbri, & bocca conveniente a diverse figure and Modo di formare il mento a diverse immagini. The incorrect order has been retained to correspond to the original for reference.
139 “Those who have thin lips and slack parts at the joining of the lips, so that the upper lip overhangs the lower at the join, are magnanimous; witness the lion.” Pseudo-Aristotle, Physiognomica, 6: 811a.18–20; Aristotle, Minor Works, transl. Hett, 120–21.
140 Philippians 3: 19: “Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.”
141 The denigration of a woman’s beauty was earlier tied to the dryness of her mouth and lips. Should a figure have an overly wet mouth (i.e. drooling), they lack refinement. As the poet writes, “Hail, girl, with not over-much of a nose, with no pretty foot, nor black eyes, nor long fingers, nor dry mouth, nor particularly pleasing tongue, hail, spendthrift Formianus’ mistress!” Catullus, “Poem 43: The Mistress of Formianus,” The Poems of Catullus, transl. Green 63: 315; 43: 1–4; 91. Another poem by Catullus was also carefully crafted and meant to be read alongside the Argonautica. R. Clare, “Catullus 64 and the Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius: Allusion and Exemplarity,” Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society, 42 (1997), 60–88, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0068673500002042
142 Virgil relates that disfigurement was a common punishment for criminals: “Here he sees Priam’s son, every part of whose body is mangled: / This is Deiphobus, all of whose face is completely disfigured, / Face, yes, and both of his hands: ears ripped from dehumanized/ temples, / Nose lopped off as a common criminal’s mark of dishonor.” Virgil, Aeneid, transl. Ahl, 6.494–97.
143 Gallucci, Della simmetria, 3: 80–85.
144 Suetonius describes Augustus: “His eye-brows met; his ears were small, and he had an aquiline nose.” Later he writes of Galba: “In person he was of a good size, bald before, with blue eyes, and an aquiline nose…” Suetonius, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, transl. Thomson, 79: 130; 21: 414; Physiognomic tracts reiterated this association as referenced in the Physiognomica. See Jennifer Montagu, The Expression of the Passions: The Origin and Influence of Charles Le Brun’s Conférence sur l’expression générale et particulière (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994).
145 Gallucci, Della simmetria, 3: 80–85.
146 Matthew 26: 36–46
147 Suetonius, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, transl. Thomson, 50: 285.
148 Ibid.
149 In fact, his later biographers reiterated that he may have received his name from the very breadth of his forehead. Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, transl. R. D. Hicks (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015), 3: 4.
150 Juvenal, Satires, ed. George, 9: 1–47.
151 Ibid.
152 Gallucci, Della simmetria, 3: 80–85.
153 “His eye-brows met; his ears were small, and he had an aquiline nose.” Suetonius, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, transl. Thomson, 79: 130.
154 Ficino quotes the poet Agathon, who is an interlocutor in Plato’s Symposium: “Glowing because it influences the character of Man at the blooming and glowing age, and it desires blooming things.” Marsilio Ficino, Commentary on Plato’s Symposium on Love, transl. Sears Jayne (Dallas, TX: Spring 1985), 96.
155 Pseudo-Aristotle, Physiognomica, 6: 812b.1–13; Aristotle, Minor Works, transl. Hett, 127–29.
156 “It is said that he was tall, of a fair complexion, round limbed, rather full faced, with eyes black and piercing…” Suetonius, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, transl. Thomson, 45: 30.
157 “His eyes were bright and piercing; and he was willing it should be thought that there was something of a divine vigour in them.…” Ibid., 49: 130.
158 Second Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian line who was highly criticized by Roman historians such as Suetonius and Tacitus. Ibid., 51: 379.
159 In the Dream of Scipio, he travels through the planetary spheres and notes the light is “too bright for your eyes,” and that “I was amazed at these wonders, but nevertheless I kept turning my eyes back to earth.” William Harris Stahl, transl., Commentary on the Dream of Scipio by Macrobius (New York: Columbia University Press, 1990), 74; also see: Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, Commentarii in Somnium Scipionis, transl. James Willis (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2013), 1: 3.
160 “The other parts of his body were much covered with hair.” Suetonius, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, transl. Thomson, 50: 285.
161 “In stature he was a little below the common height.” Ibid., 51: 379.
162 “His cruel and sanguinary disposition was exhibited upon great as well as trifling occasions.” Ibid., 34: 324.
163 Alternatively translated by Jayne as “Arrangement, Proportion, and Aspect.” Ficino, Commentary on Plato’s Symposium on Love, transl. Jayne, 93.
164 Ibid., 88.
165 The section was cribbed almost verbatim by Nicholas Poussin for one of his longest aphorisms published in Bellori’s Lives, “Della Idea della Bellezza.” Anthony Blunt, Nicolas Poussin (London: Pallas Athene, 1967), 364. Giovan Pietro Bellori, Le vite de pittori, scultori e architetti moderni, ed. Evelina Borea and Giovanni Previtali (Turin: Einaudi, 1976), 461–2. Also see Bellori, The Lives of the Modern Painters, Sculptors and Architects, transl. Helmut Wohl and Alice Sedgwick Wohl (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 339.
166 Likewise in Poussin’s aphorism on the descent of beauty we find that: “And thus we conclude that painting is nothing but an idea of incorporeal things even though it shows bodies, for it only represents the order and the mode of the species of things and it is more intent upon the idea of beauty than on another thing.” Blunt, Nicolas Poussin, 364.
167 Ghiberti and earlier Renaissance writers reiterated the proportions of Polykleitos in his lost Canon as recorded by Pliny. Pliny, Natural History, transl. Healy, 34: 55, 58, 65.
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