Vitruvian Man

Vitruvian Man (Italian: L'uomo vitruviano) is a drawing by the Italian Renaissance artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci, dated to c. 1490. Inspired by the Roman architect Vitruvius, it depicts a nude man in two overlapping standing positions, inscribed within a circle and a square. Art historian Carmen C. Bambach described it as "justly ranked among the all-time iconic images of Western civilization". While not the only drawing inspired by Vitruvius, Leonardo's work uniquely combines artistic vision with scientific inquiry and is often considered an archetypal representation of the High Renaissance.

The drawing illustrates Leonardo's study of ideal human proportions, derived from Vitruvius but refined through his own observations, contemporary works, and the treatise De pictura by Leon Battista Alberti. Created in Milan, the Vitruvian Man likely passed to his student Francesco Melzi, and later to Venanzio de Pagave, who encouraged engraver Carlo Giuseppe Gerli to publish an engraving of it, spreading the image widely. It was then owned by Giuseppe Bossi, before being acquired in 1822 by the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, where it remains. Because of its fragility, the drawing is rarely displayed. It was loaned to the Louvre in 2019 for the 500th anniversary of Leonardo's death.