The Golden Ration in the Renaissance Art: A Comparative Study on the Geometrical Layout of the Mona Lisa and the Annunciation

Research Article
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The Golden Ration in the Renaissance Art: A Comparative Study on the Geometrical Layout of the Mona Lisa and the Annunciation

Ruitong Liu 1*
  • 1 University College London, Gower Street, London, United Kingdom    
  • *corresponding author ruitong.liu.22@ucl.ac.uk
CHR Vol.3
ISSN (Print): 2753-7072
ISSN (Online): 2753-7064
ISBN (Print): 978-1-915371-29-4
ISBN (Online): 978-1-915371-30-0

Abstract

Nowadays, the golden ratio is involved in many fields, for instance, to pursue the perfect face shape and features, people advocate referring to the golden ratio of the human face to carry out cosmetic surgery. People also match different clothes and fashion accessories to better shape the golden ratio of the human body structure, the ratio can also be used as an aid in painting or photography. It is worthwhile to answer the questions like why and when was the golden ratio extensively applied in art, as well as what evidence of the evidence behind would support the utilization of the golden ratio. To answer these questions, this paper would engender the answer by appreciating the Renaissance artwork with a golden ratio. The Renaissance would be a flourishing of the application of the golden ratio, which can be reflected by hundreds of Renaissance artworks that have used this ratio and have become classics. The golden ratio can be correctly used because the existence of this ratio is invented in ancient Greek and is based on science, the ratio has stood the test of time and can be expressed by mathematics proportion.

Keywords:

Annunciation, The Renaissance, Art and Science, Golden Ratio and Spiral, Mona Lisa

Liu,R. (2023). The Golden Ration in the Renaissance Art: A Comparative Study on the Geometrical Layout of the Mona Lisa and the Annunciation. Communications in Humanities Research,3,316-323.
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References

[1]. Black, Winston. (2019) The Middle Ages: Facts and Fictions. ABC-CLIO.

[2]. Hall, Alfred. (2014) The revolution in science 1500-1750 (New York: Routledge.

[3]. Raphael, Minder. (2013) The Wonders of the Islamic Worlds of Art and Science, Illuminated, New York Times.

[4]. Powers, A. (2020) “Why Art is Vital to the Study of Science”, New York Times, Jul 31, 2020.

[5]. Landau, D., Peter W. (1994) The Renaissance print: 1470-1550. New Haven; London: Yale University Press.

[6]. Sokurov, В. В. (1983) An Introduction to Philosophy in the Renaissance. In Other Words. Translated by Peking University Press. Beijing: Peking University Press.

[7]. Kilroy-Ewbank, L., Graham, H. (2011) A brief introduction on Renaissance, Brewminate frontpage, https://brewminate.com/types-of-patronage-in-renaissance-art-and-architecture/.

[8]. Martin, K. (2011) Leonardo. Oxford University Press; Revised ed. Edition.

[9]. Brooks, S. (2019) The Renaissance (Inside Art Movements). Compass Point Books; Illustrated edition.

[10]. Braida, M., Natali, A., Lorusso, S.(2022) Is the Louvre Mona Lisa Leonardo's second version?: methodological path, historical-bibliographic sources, final judgment. Roma: L’ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER.

[11]. Carlson, SC. (2022) “golden ratio.” Accessed on September 3, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/science/golden-ratio.

[12]. Green, C. (1995) Psychological Research on the Aesthetics of the Golden Section. Perception 24, no. 8, PubMed.

[13]. Lichfield, J. (2005) "The Moving of the Mona Lisa." The Independent, Accessed on September 3, 2022, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-moving-of-the-mona-lisa-530771.html.

[14]. Rama, Kundu., Pradip Kumar, Dey., Santwana, Haldar., Tanuka, Das., Asit Kumar, Biswas, Jayanta, Bhattacharya., Pradipta, Sengupta. Widening horizons: essays in honor of [Professor] Mohit K. Ray. New Delhi: Sarup & Sons, 2005. Google Book.

[15]. The Mona Lisa Foundation. “Leonardo and Mathematics.” Accessed August 12, 2022. https://monalisa.org/2012/09/12/leonardo-and-mathematics-in-his-paintings/.

[16]. Vadachkoriia NR, Gumberidze NSW, Mandzhavidze NA. "["Golden proportion" and its application to calculate dentition]." Georgian Medical News, Jan 01, 2007. PMID:17327645.

[17]. Lüttge, Ulrich, and Gustavo M. Souza. "The Golden Section and beauty in nature: The perfection of symmetry and the charm of asymmetry." Progress in biophysics and molecular biology 146, (September 2019): 98-103. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0079610718302128.

[18]. Meisner, Gary B. The Golden Ratio: The Divine Beauty of Mathematics. New York: Race Point Publishing, 2018. Google Book.

[19]. Kulski, Jerzy K. Leonardo Da Vinci and the Pacioli Code: Who was Fra Luca Pacioli? ISBN Bowker Kulski: International Standard Book Number, 2019.

[20]. Mario, Livio. “The golden ratio and aesthetics.” Plus Magazine, November 1, 2002. https://plus.maths.org/issue22/features/golden/feat.pdf.

[21]. Irene, Plonczak. and Susan, Goefz Zwirn. “Understanding the Art in Science and the Science in Art through Crosscutting Concepts.” Science Scope Science Scope 38, no. 7 (MARCH 2015): 57-63. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43691253.

[22]. Thapa, Gyan Bahadur. and Thapa, Rena., "The relation of the golden ratio, Mathematics, and aesthetics," Journal of the Institute of Engineering 14, no. 1 (August 2018): 188–199. Figure 1, https://doi.org/10.3126/jie.v14i1.20084.

[23]. Jun-Sheng Duan, “Shrinkage Points of Golden Rectangle, Fibonacci Spirals, and Golden Spirals.” Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society 2019, (2019). https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/3149602.

[24]. The Met. “The Annunciation.” Accessed September 3, 2022. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/459016.

[25]. Jones, Christopher. P. “How to Read Paintings: The Annunciation by Botticelli." Published in February 2021 at the Medium. https://christopherpjones.medium.com/how-to-read-paintings-the-annunciation-by-botticelli-f5a3ae1ea902.

[26]. Richard, Stapleford. “Botticelli and the Golden Section in the Lehman "Annunciation".” Artibus et Historiae 35, no. 69 (2014): 35-51. IRSA s.c.

[27]. Rudolf, Arnheim. Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye. California: University of California Press, 1966. Google Book.

Cite this article

Liu,R. (2023). The Golden Ration in the Renaissance Art: A Comparative Study on the Geometrical Layout of the Mona Lisa and the Annunciation. Communications in Humanities Research,3,316-323.

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About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the International Conference on Interdisciplinary Humanities and Communication Studies (ICIHCS 2022), Part 1

ISBN：978-1-915371-29-4(Print) / 978-1-915371-30-0(Online)
Editor：Faraz Ali Bughio, David T. Mitchell
Conference website: https://www.icihcs.org/
Conference date: 18 December 2022
Series: Communications in Humanities Research
Volume number: Vol.3
ISSN：2753-7064(Print) / 2753-7072(Online)

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References

[1]. Black, Winston. (2019) The Middle Ages: Facts and Fictions. ABC-CLIO.

[2]. Hall, Alfred. (2014) The revolution in science 1500-1750 (New York: Routledge.

[3]. Raphael, Minder. (2013) The Wonders of the Islamic Worlds of Art and Science, Illuminated, New York Times.

[4]. Powers, A. (2020) “Why Art is Vital to the Study of Science”, New York Times, Jul 31, 2020.

[5]. Landau, D., Peter W. (1994) The Renaissance print: 1470-1550. New Haven; London: Yale University Press.

[6]. Sokurov, В. В. (1983) An Introduction to Philosophy in the Renaissance. In Other Words. Translated by Peking University Press. Beijing: Peking University Press.

[7]. Kilroy-Ewbank, L., Graham, H. (2011) A brief introduction on Renaissance, Brewminate frontpage, https://brewminate.com/types-of-patronage-in-renaissance-art-and-architecture/.

[8]. Martin, K. (2011) Leonardo. Oxford University Press; Revised ed. Edition.

[9]. Brooks, S. (2019) The Renaissance (Inside Art Movements). Compass Point Books; Illustrated edition.

[10]. Braida, M., Natali, A., Lorusso, S.(2022) Is the Louvre Mona Lisa Leonardo's second version?: methodological path, historical-bibliographic sources, final judgment. Roma: L’ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER.

[11]. Carlson, SC. (2022) “golden ratio.” Accessed on September 3, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/science/golden-ratio.

[12]. Green, C. (1995) Psychological Research on the Aesthetics of the Golden Section. Perception 24, no. 8, PubMed.

[13]. Lichfield, J. (2005) "The Moving of the Mona Lisa." The Independent, Accessed on September 3, 2022, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-moving-of-the-mona-lisa-530771.html.

[14]. Rama, Kundu., Pradip Kumar, Dey., Santwana, Haldar., Tanuka, Das., Asit Kumar, Biswas, Jayanta, Bhattacharya., Pradipta, Sengupta. Widening horizons: essays in honor of [Professor] Mohit K. Ray. New Delhi: Sarup & Sons, 2005. Google Book.

[15]. The Mona Lisa Foundation. “Leonardo and Mathematics.” Accessed August 12, 2022. https://monalisa.org/2012/09/12/leonardo-and-mathematics-in-his-paintings/.

[16]. Vadachkoriia NR, Gumberidze NSW, Mandzhavidze NA. "["Golden proportion" and its application to calculate dentition]." Georgian Medical News, Jan 01, 2007. PMID:17327645.

[17]. Lüttge, Ulrich, and Gustavo M. Souza. "The Golden Section and beauty in nature: The perfection of symmetry and the charm of asymmetry." Progress in biophysics and molecular biology 146, (September 2019): 98-103. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0079610718302128.

[18]. Meisner, Gary B. The Golden Ratio: The Divine Beauty of Mathematics. New York: Race Point Publishing, 2018. Google Book.

[19]. Kulski, Jerzy K. Leonardo Da Vinci and the Pacioli Code: Who was Fra Luca Pacioli? ISBN Bowker Kulski: International Standard Book Number, 2019.

[20]. Mario, Livio. “The golden ratio and aesthetics.” Plus Magazine, November 1, 2002. https://plus.maths.org/issue22/features/golden/feat.pdf.

[21]. Irene, Plonczak. and Susan, Goefz Zwirn. “Understanding the Art in Science and the Science in Art through Crosscutting Concepts.” Science Scope Science Scope 38, no. 7 (MARCH 2015): 57-63. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43691253.

[22]. Thapa, Gyan Bahadur. and Thapa, Rena., "The relation of the golden ratio, Mathematics, and aesthetics," Journal of the Institute of Engineering 14, no. 1 (August 2018): 188–199. Figure 1, https://doi.org/10.3126/jie.v14i1.20084.

[23]. Jun-Sheng Duan, “Shrinkage Points of Golden Rectangle, Fibonacci Spirals, and Golden Spirals.” Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society 2019, (2019). https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/3149602.

[24]. The Met. “The Annunciation.” Accessed September 3, 2022. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/459016.

[25]. Jones, Christopher. P. “How to Read Paintings: The Annunciation by Botticelli." Published in February 2021 at the Medium. https://christopherpjones.medium.com/how-to-read-paintings-the-annunciation-by-botticelli-f5a3ae1ea902.

[26]. Richard, Stapleford. “Botticelli and the Golden Section in the Lehman "Annunciation".” Artibus et Historiae 35, no. 69 (2014): 35-51. IRSA s.c.

[27]. Rudolf, Arnheim. Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye. California: University of California Press, 1966. Google Book.

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