Albrecht Dürer. De Symmetria...

Albrecht Dürer. De Symmetria Partium in Rectis Formis Humanorum Corporum / Underweysung der Messung - Octavo; Multilingu edition (March 2003) | ISBN 1891788078 | PDF | 566 pages | 636 MB
This Octavo Edition reproduces a rare volume that brings together the first two books of Dürer’s De Symmetria Partium in Rectis Formis Humanorum Corporum (Books on the normal proportions of the parts of the human form) with Underweysung der Messung (Instruction in measurement). This sammelband (a volume containing more than one work) is bound in exquisite Bohemian vellum with the arms of Emperor Rudolf II impressed on the front cover. Rudolf II’s widely varied interests transformed Prague into a European cultural center, attracting the era’s most influential scientists and artists. Rudolf was a passionate collector of Dürer’s work, and it is fitting that a book intended for artists bears his arms.
De Symmetria is Dürer’s beautifully illustrated study of the measurements and proportions of the human form. Underweysung der Messung is a pioneering work in scientific illustration that contains over 150 woodcuts, including outstanding examples of orthographic projection and several of Dürer’s most intriguing designs. It presents a wide range of geometric subjects, with the basics of linear, plane, and solid geometry laying a foundation for practical applications for architecture and art, including the construction of columns and the rendering of alphabets. Its most notable achievement is the analysis of perspective; in that regard, Dürer’s treatise had a major impact on Northern Renaissance art.

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part 2
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part 4
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part 7
part 8
part 9