The Da Vinci Code novel jogged our memory on the Phi number, also known as the Golden Ratio, Golden Section, Divine Proportion, and 1.618(…). We recall Professor Langdon striding across the Louvre and discovering the Fibonacci number scrawled on the wooden floor by the body of a dead man who is enclosed in Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man circle.
The Golden Ratio was discovered by the great thinkers of antiquity when they observed this proportion in nature, and labelled it perfect and magical. Everything this ratio encompasses is deemed beautiful and aesthetically pleasant by artists and architects.
Mathematically, the Golden Ratio is a proportion defined by the number Phi (= 1.618033988749895… ). We find the Golden Ratio when we divide a line into two parts so that: The whole length divided by the long part is also equal to the long part divided by the short part. This calculus is also associated to the Fibonacci Sequence and Cross-multiplication.
From ancient to current times the Golden Ratio has been used by artists, artisans, architects, and engineers. It is a trait that speaks of nature’s principles of dynamism and growth.
The number is found everywhere, from the spirals of sunflower heads to our limbs, and even in the female uterus. According to Belgian doctor Jasper Verguts, women with an average ratio of length to width of 1.6 were more fertile, a ratio that happens when women are between the ages of 16 to 20.
We present to you the following ten art works that characterized by the Golden Ratio. For some, this ratio defines the beauty in all things.
The relation between art and mathematics has existed for centuries as both disciplines pursue perfection in the natural world. In your opinion, how many of these artists found in this article used the Golden Ratio sometime in their careers?
If numbers and proportions aren’t your forte, you can enjoy these erotic illustrations.
Translated by Laura Calçada
