---
node: vitruvian_man
type: art
slug: vitruvian_man
title: "Vitruvian Man"
lead: "The Vitruvian Man is Leonardo da Vinci's pen-and-ink drawing of a man inscribed in a circle and a square, made around 1490. It illustrates the ideal human proportions described by the Roman architect Vitruvius."
published: 2026-07-11
updated: 2026-07-11
image_file: vitruvian_man.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Da_Vinci_Vitruve_Luc_Viatour.jpg"
image_author: "Leonardo da Vinci"
image_license: "Public domain"
---

## Overview

Around 1490 Leonardo drew a male figure in two superimposed poses, fitted simultaneously into a circle and a square, following the proportional scheme of the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius. Notes in Leonardo's mirror writing frame the figure above and below.

## Description

The figure's four arms and four legs record two poses at once: arms level with legs together for the square, arms raised with legs apart for the circle. The drawing joins empirical observation to a classical ideal — the reason it is read as an emblem of Renaissance humanism.

## History and legacy

The sheet is kept in the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice but, like all old master drawings, is light-sensitive and only rarely exhibited. It has become one of the most reproduced images in the world, shorthand for the union of art and science.