THE SCIENCE OF BEAUTY, AS DEVELOPED IN THE FORM OF THE HUMAN FIGURE.
The manner in which this science is developed in the symmetrical proportions of the entire human figure, is as remarkable for its simplicity as it has been shewn to be in those of the head and countenance. Having gone into very full details, and given ample illustration in two former works[19] upon this subject, I may here confine myself to the illustration of one description of figure, and to a reiteration of some facts stated in these works. These facts are, 1st, That on a given line the human figure is developed, as to its principal points, entirely by lines drawn either from the extremities of this line, or from some obvious or determined localities. 2d, That the angles which these lines make with the given line, are all simple sub-multiples of some given fundamental angle, or bear to it a proportion expressible under the most simple relations, such as those which constitute the scale of music. 3d, That the contour is resolved into a series of ellipses of the same simple angles. And, 4th, That these ellipses, like the lines, are inclined to the first given line by angles which are simple sub-multiples of the given fundamental angle. From which four facts, and agreeably to the hypothesis I have adopted, it results as a natural consequence that the only effort which the mind exercises through the eye, in order to put itself in possession of the data for forming its judgment, is this, that it compares the angles about a point, and thereby appreciates the simplicity of their relations. In selecting the prominent features of a figure, the eye is not seeking to compare their relative distances—it is occupied solely with their relative positions. In tracing the contour, in like manner, it is not left in vague uncertainty as to what is the curve which is presented to it; unconsciously it feels the complete ellipse developed before it; and if that ellipse and its position are both formed by angles of the same simple relative value as those which aided its determination of the positions of the prominent features, it is satisfied, and finds the symmetry perfect.
Müller, and other investigators into the archæology of art, refer to the great difficulty which exists in discovering the principles which the ancients followed in regard to the proportions of the human figure, from the different sexes and characters to which they require to be applied. But in the system thus founded upon the harmonic law of nature, no such difficulty is felt, for it is as applicable to the massive proportions which characterise the ancient representations of the Hercules, as to the delicate and perfectly symmetrical beauty of the Venus. This change is effected simply by an increase in the fundamental angle. For instance, in the construction of a figure of the exact proportions of the Venus, the right angle is adopted. But in the construction of a figure of the massive proportions of the Hercules, it is requisite to adopt an angle which bears to the right angle the ratio of 6:5. The adoption of this angle I have shewn in another work[20] to produce in the Hercules those proportions which are so characteristic of physical power. The ellipses which govern the outline, being also formed upon the same larger class of angles, give the contour of the muscles a more massive character. In comparing the male and female forms thus geometrically constructed, it will be found that that of the female is more harmoniously symmetrical, because the right angle is the fundamental angle for the trunk and the limbs as well as for the head and countenance; while in that of the male, the right angle is the fundamental angle for the head only. It may also be observed, that, from the greater proportional width of the pelvis of the female, the centres of that motion which the heads of the thigh bones perform in the cotyloid cavities, and the centres of that still more extensive range of motion which the arm is capable of performing at the shoulder joints, are nearly in the same line which determines the central motion of the vertebral column, while those of the male are not; consequently all the motions of the female are more graceful than those of the male.
This difference between the fundamental angles, which impart to the human figure, on the one hand, the beauty of feminine proportion and contour, and on the other, the grandeur of masculine strength, being in the ratio of 5:6, allows ample latitude for those intermediate classes of proportions which the ancients imparted to their various other deities in which these two qualities were blended. I therefore confine myself to an illustration of the external contour of the form, and the relative proportions of all the parts of a female figure, such as those of the statues of the Venus of Melos and Venus of Medici.
The angles which govern the form and proportions of such a figure are, with the right angle, a series of twelve, as follows:—
| Tonic. | Dominant. | Mediant. | Subtonic. | Supertonic. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (¹⁄₂) | (¹⁄₃) | (¹⁄₅) | (¹⁄₇) | (¹⁄₉) |
| (¹⁄₄) | (¹⁄₆) | (¹⁄₁₀) | (¹⁄₁₄) | |
| (¹⁄₈) | (¹⁄₁₂) |
These angles are employed in the construction of a diagram, which determines the proportions of the parts throughout the whole figure. Thus:—