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GOLDENRATIO

DURINGRENAISSANCEPERIOD

by Nikhat Parveen, UGA

The Renaissancewas a great cultural movement which broughtabout a period of scientific revolution and artistic transformation,at the dawn of modern European history. It marks the transitionalperiod between the end of the middle Ages and the start of theModern Age. The Renaissance is usually considered to have begunin the 14th century in Italy and the 16th century in northernEurope. It is also known as "Rinascimento" (in Italian).

The Renaissance artists used the Golden Mean extensively in theirpaintings a The Renaissance artists used the Golden Meanextensively in their paintings and sculptures to achieve balance

and beauty. Leonardo Da Vinci, for instance, used it to define allthe fundamental proportions of his painting of "The Last Supper,"from the dimensions of the table at which Christ and the disciplessat to the proportions of the walls and windows in thebackgroundnd sculptures to achieve balance and beauty.

The Renaissance artistsknew it as the

Divine Proportion

http://goldennumber.net/goldsect.htmhttp://goldennumber.net/goldsect.htm

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and used it for beautyand balance in the

design of art

Was the pentagon as important during the Middle Ages throughRenaissance as it was during the time of Pythagoras? Definitely.In fact, until the Middle Ages, no one realized exactly howimportant it was. Only then was the particular proportion of itselements was considered divine and attributed an uniquemysticism.

In Stephan Lochener's painting "The Virgin in the Rose Garden" acircle tangent to the sides holds a double pentagon. One of thepentagons is at the bottom of the painting, placed an equaldistance from the parts determining the circle. Certain diagonalsof the pentagon are extended make the construction of the arbour.The small wall that surrounds the Virgin follows the arch of thepentagon at the top of the picture.

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After the Middle Ages, the pentagon continued to be used in someparts of the world as a sign that represented the craftsmen. Mostof the time this sign was placed next to where craftsman's namewas carved on his work.

The publishing of Fra Pacioli's book "The Divine {roportion", inVenice in 1509 turned its subject from a memory of the past to thenews of the day. Pacioli's work, with paintings made by Leonardoda Vinci, established five proprieties which makes the golden ratioworthy of the name "divine"(or "dal ciel mandata"):

As God, it is unique. As the Holy Trinity it consists in the unity in three, being

made of three terms. As God can not be defined in words, it can not be expressed

in a rational number.As God, it is always equal to itself.

As there are four elements, which form all of nature, so theholly proportion permits the construction of the

Dodecahedron, the expression of quintessence.

In the Middle Ages the composition was based, in general, on aPythagorean geometrical figure; the complex pattern is followedto the smallest bit of detail, but most of the time hidden from theprofanes--the non-artist community. The usage of the pentagonsin art was unsophisticated--artists used them to place surfaces inan aesthetic arrangement, but never realized the complexity ofwhat they were dealing with.

For example, when Vermeer created "The Painter's Workshop",he filled the space with tables, chairs, an easel, curtains...basicallywith lines, planes, angles and perspectives. Being brought to thesurface of the painting, these lines are part of a network composed

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by orthogonal and oblique lines afferent to the golden ratio. Butwait, there's more: Vermeer seeks to render the exact perceptionof the objects by using contrast between colors to create light anddepth.

The Germans, influenced by mathematics of the time, brought theGolden Ratio to light once again during the early nineteenthcentury. The father Didier(P. Lenz) made the "holy measure" theartistic creed of the Benedictine monastery from Beuron.

The French artists had known the golden ratio through Serusier.Serusier, who published his book, "ABC de la peinture" in 1921 ,was teaching his students at the Ranson academy as early as 1908the principles of the Golden Ratio.

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The cubists (Jacques Villon, Marcel and Raymond Duchamp,Picabia) were impressed by these principles and even organized"The Golden Ratio Exhibition " in 1912. Jacques Villon said "As inthe Middle Ages one told a prayer before beginning a painting, I

relay on the golden section for the surety of ancient times".

But the French painters did not dare to go so far in pure geometryand in the use of the golden ratio as the Dutch painter Mondrian.Mondrian was a member of the group that published the "De Stijl"magazine, with a large influence on painters, sculptors andarchitects. In the magazine he published many of his thoughts andmeditations: the art must seek the peace and quiet of the soul,which can be achieved only by the harmony of ratios and straightlines. In Broadway Boogie - Woogie, the horizontals and theverticals are all in the golden ratio.

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