Da Vinci and His (Mathematical) Depictions of Christ

My innate repulsion towards math would have become total disregard at this point if I had not once been directed toward a list of quotes exclaiming the beauty of mathematics, among them the recurring theme that humans did not artificially create math, but discovered it. Among these quotes [1] is an admonition from Leonardo Da Vinci to acknowledge the wisdom that threads both artists and scientists obtain when employing mathematics into their designs.

While it could be assumed from last week's lecture that modern artists, by using calculation-driven technologies, must posess a modest command of mathematics, in this week's lecture I was astonished to learn that Renaissance artists like Da Vinci (nevermind Old Kingdom Egyptian and Mediterranean architects [2]!) had long adopted reliable techniques. Keeping with the religious theme that I had mentioned in my previous post, I revisited one of his most famous paintings that I had numerously seen in Catholic sanctuaries, "The Last Supper" [3]. 

Around the 3-minute mark it is noted that Christ forms an equilateral triangle by which a perfect circle, a halo, may be drawn around his head. At 6 minutes, observe that the perspective lines come to a vanishing point centered on Christ's face.

Here, Da Vinci intentionally uses geometry and perspective to invite the viewer into the story and allude to its sacredness. It is even believed that he painted the proportions of each object (people, table, walls, etc.) using a method of divine sections [4]. Divinity is undeniably painted into other religious works such as the long-lost "Salvator Mundi": from the proportions of Jesus' face to the embroidery on his garment, the secret ratio remains to be uncovered [5]. 

In "Salvator Mundi", Da Vinci captures the divine using a consistent measurement, the Golden Ratio, which can appropriately divide every structure into proportionally bigger and smaller sizes.

For one more stroke of emphasis, we see the divine proportions embedded into "The Annunciation" [6]. 

Da Vinci's use of the Golden Ratio is revealed in his religious and non-religious content alike, and it evokes attention to every object and interaction in the artwork through subliminal symmetry [7]. It seems to me, then, that math is the underlying 'cause' of nature, while science and art are the effects that explain the natural world, from events as random and dynamic as the stock market and human body, to those as precise and pristine as DNA or flowerheads [8].

[1] “Top 25 Mathematics Quotes (of 1000): A-Z Quotes.” A-Z Quotes, https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/mathematics.html.

[2] Rossi, Corinna. “Egyptian Architecture and Mathematics.” Handbook of the Mathematics of the Arts and Sciences, 2018, pp. 1–12., https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70658-0_57-1.

[3] Smarthistory. “The Last Supper.” Youtube, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV6_wTrkd70.

[4] Allen, Shelley. “The Golden Ratio in Art and Architecture.” Master Fibonacci: The Man Who Changed Everything, Fibonacci Inc., 2019.

[5] phimatrix1618. “Leonardo Da Vinci, Salvator Mundi and the Divine Proportion.” Youtube, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXDmAtTJ6JY.

[6] “The Annunciation.” Omeka RSS, http://www.goldenratioinart.artinterp.org/omeka/neatline/show/annunciation.

[7] Meisner, Gary, et al. “Divine Proportion/Golden Ratio in the Art of Da Vinci.” The Golden Ratio: Phi, 1.618, 8 Nov. 2020, https://www.goldennumber.net/leonardo-da-vinci-golden-ratio-art/.

[8] TrunksXV. “Fibonacci, Fractals and Financial Markets .” Youtube, 2007, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE2Lu65XxTU.

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