A Lesson About the Complementarity of Anatomy and Physiology
Seen at Every Level of Organization in the Human Body
The Vitruvian Man. When most people see this 15th-century drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci, they think of the human body. And rightly so.
The drawing is based on the correlation of geometry and human proportions, as described by Vitruvius, a famed ancient Roman architect.
Vitruvius described the human figure as being the epitome of perfect proportion among the Classical orders of architecture.
Leonardo's drawing is named in honor of this architect. The Vitruvian Man is often used as a cultural icon and symbol of the symmetry of the human body.
But what you may not know is that one of the positions depicted by The Vitruvian Man, is very close to what anatomists refer to as the "anatomical position,"
a standard body posistion used as a reference point to describe all body structures accurately.
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