The beauty of nude is geometrical 2 / Raphael

 Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael are generally considered as the three greatest Renaissance painters.
The former two are famous for their interesting episodes,
but Raphael is most important as a formal artist.
German art historian Walter Friedländer says,
"With the death of Raphael, the classical renaissance began to decline".(wikipedia)


  I make a model of the central figure of Raphael's completed drawing, [Three Graces]: more important work than [Mona Lisa]

                                     Raphael [Three Graces]

   Raphael [Tree Graces] circle-cross model

 The outline of the body is made up of five different circles.

The biggest purple unit that forms the lower part of the left thigh is the most important structurally.
On the horizontal diameter,
  A) another purple unit is attached ontop.
  B) two taching yellow-green units are placed .
There is another yellow-green unit on the vertical line of the left unit.

Four pink units are connected vertically and horizontally.

More than three intersecting points (pivots) are linned up.

I overlay the four circles of the scale on the arc model so that they pass through the top of the head.

  Raphel  [Three Graces]  body-proportioned circle model

I have made two models for the previous blog.

Granach [Venus]  body-proportioned circle model

   Seurat [The Model]  body-proportioned circle model

I made the three models together to compare.

   three body-proportioned circle models

Placing three models together, we can see the difference clearly.

Theｙ all use small Scale (type of circle required to make all arcs).

Raphael 5
Cranach 4
Seurat 3

The proportion of the circle to the body creates the character of the body.
  
① The size of the largest circle relative to the height of the body can be compared.

Seurat＞Cranach＞Raphael

 A large circle makes a long curved part of the body.
in Seurat the circles make upper arms and thighs  to make the body longer.
in Cranach this is used only for exaggeratedly long,thick thighs.
in Raphael this circle, being the diameter is close to two-thirds of the height, is very harmonious with the other circles.


② Second largest circle

C＞S＞ R

in Cranach this circle make the long part together with the largest circle.
 it is useful for creating proportions where the contrast of  parts is conspicuous.
in Seurat this is used for most of the slender body .
in Raphael this  makes most undulations with the third largest red circle.

③Third largest circle

R＞C＞S

in Raphael this circle is used most frequently at regular interval throughout the body.
in Cranach this is most expressive; undulating lines of left arm, nallow waist and fleshless knees.
in Seurat this is used only for the shoulder.

Limited arcs effectively expresses body features.

The contour is a looped melody line.
Just as music is made of musical notes, the masterpiece seems to be made of arcs