The Vitruvian Man. Arguments, reflections and hypotheses

Abstract

The contribution is an updated examination of Leonardo's famous drawing, the so-called Vitruvian Man. The historical-artistic analysis proposed here considers the novelties achieved thanks to new scientific-technological and linguistic studies. This analysis strengthens the hypothesis of dating to 1490, as previously suggested by Carlo Pedretti in 1978. The essay pays particular attention to the relationship between Leonardo and Luca Pacioli and the mathematical language of beauty. This paper argues that Leonardo's drawing was made to illustrate a Vitruvian text by Friar Luca Pacioli.