Revealing the secret hidden for 500 years in Da Vinci's paintings
The "Vitruvian Man" painting was thought to be only artistic, but it contained a shocking mathematical and biological message when it was recently decoded.
Báo Khoa học và Đời sống•10/07/2025
The painting “Vitruvian Man” was painted by the famous artist Leonardo da Vinci around 1490. This is one of the most famous paintings of this outstanding artist. Photo: Getty Images. In his painting “The Vitruvian Man”, Da Vinci depicts a naked man with his arms and legs spread out in two overlapping positions, placed within a square and a circle. Photo: Dr Rory Mac Sweeney/Journal of Mathematics and the Arts.
This drawing is an idealised illustration of human proportions, inspired by the Roman architect Marcus Vitruvius – who believed that bodies had harmonious proportions like perfect temples. Photo: Dr Rory Mac Sweeney/Journal of Mathematics and the Arts. However, Vitruvius did not give a specific mathematical formula for this geometric relationship. For more than 500 years, how Da Vinci achieved the perfect “match” between the square and the circle has been a great mystery. Photo: Dr Rory Mac Sweeney/Journal of Mathematics and the Arts. Recently, Dr. Rory Mac Sweeney, a dentist with a degree in genetics in London, England, said that he could solve the mystery that exists in Da Vinci's drawing "Vitruvian Man". Photo: Dr. Rory Mac Sweeney/Journal of Mathematics and the Arts.
According to Dr. Rory's research published in the Journal of Mathematics and the Arts, this iconic image reflects the same design principles found in nature and human anatomy. Photo: Granger/Shutterstock. Dr Rory said that Da Vinci used a little-noticed detail: an equilateral triangle, which he noted in his sketch. When analyzed, this triangle showed similarities to the “Bonwill triangle” - an oral anatomy concept that describes an imaginary equilateral triangle connecting the two jaw joints and the midpoints of the two lower incisors, which serves to optimize chewing force. Photo: Alamy Stock Photo. The repetition of the equilateral triangle around the navel six times created a hexagonal pattern, which helped Da Vinci achieve a square-to-circle-radius ratio of about 1.64 - 1.65. Photo: indigomusic.com.
The figure is close to the “optimal ratio” of 1.633, which occurs widely in nature and is considered the most efficient principle for organizing space, such as the hexagonal close-packed pattern of a sphere. Photo: indigomusic.com. Dr Rory believes that Da Vinci had a clear understanding of the ideal design of the human body but never explained it clearly. This genius was centuries ahead of his time. Photo: Museum of Science.
Readers are invited to watch the video: Behind the success of scientists . Source: VTV24.
Báo Khoa học và Đời sống•10/07/2025
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