Golden Section Paintings

If you were to overlay the golden spiral atop the mona lisa for example you d find her body lines up perfectly to those swooping proportions.

Golden section paintings. The law established by the ancient architect called vitruvius states. Many patterns found in nature like the organic growth. Painted at the end of the 15th century various architectural and design features display clear.

You may be familiar with michelangelo s creation of adam painting on the sistine chapel s ceiling. The finger of god touches the finger of adam precisely at the golden ratio point of the width and height of the area that contains them both. The law of the golden section a classic mathematical formula for distributing weight in a painting.

Classical paintings leonardo da vinci made use of the golden ratio in many of his works. Taking inspiration from leonardo da vinci dali positioned the table exactly at the golden section of the height of his painting. Georges seurat bathers at asnières 1884.

Even if the underlying golden ratio grid isn t seen our eyes are naturally drawn to a spiral s center. This is only a tool though and not a rule for composition. Da vinci s the last supper is often given as one of the best examples of the golden ratio in art.

Golden rectangles are still the most visually pleasing rectangles known and although they re based on a mathematical ratio you won t need an iota of math to create one. Here s da vinci s painting the last supper with golden sections highlighted. Laying out a painting on a canvas with golden section ratio as the golden section is found in the design and beauty of nature it can also be used to achieve beauty and balance in the design of art.

How to make a rectangle based on the golden ratio. In this painting by georges seurat the golden ratio appears to have been used throughout the painting to define the horizon to place points of interest and to create balance in what would appear to be a very active scene. Portrait painters since the renaissance have adopted the use of this formula which is also applicable to any other subject as well.