Mimarlık Üzerine On Kitap

The composition of temples depends on symmetry, the rules of which architects must observe with the greatest diligence. Symmetry is derived from proportion, which in Greek is called analogy. Proportion is the balanced agreement of the parts in any work and of the whole, from which the ratio of symmetry is calculated. For no temple can have a coherent system of composition without symmetry and proportion, that is, unless it possesses an exact relationship of parts, just like those of a well-formed human being. For nature has so composed the human body that the face, from the chin to the top of the forehead and the lowest roots of the hair, it is a tenth part of the whole height. Likewise, the palm of the hand from the wrist to the tip of the middle finger is the same amount. The head, from the chin to the highest point of the crown, is an eighth part. From the base of the neck, measured from the top of the chest to the lowest roots of the hair, is a sixth part; to the highest point of the crown, a fourth part. As for the height of the face itself, the first third is from the bottom of the chin to the underside of the nostrils; the nose, from the underside of the nostrils to the middle point between the eyebrows, is the same; and from that point to the lowest roots of the hair, where the forehead begins, is likewise a third part. The foot is one-sixth of the body's height; the cubit is one-fourth; the chest is also one-fourth. The other limbs also have their own proportional measurements, which the famous painters and sculptors of antiquity used to achieve great and infinite renown. In a similar way, the components of sacred temples ought to have a most suitable proportional correspondence in relation to the total magnitude of the whole. Furthermore, the natural center of the body is the navel. For if a man is placed on his back with his hands and feet spread out, and the center of a compass is placed on his navel, the circle described by the compass will touch the fingers of both hands and the toes of the feet. No less than how a scheme of roundness is produced in the body, so too a square arrangement is found within it. For if a measurement is taken from the soles of the feet to the very top of the head, and that same measurement is applied to the outstretched hands, the width will be found to be the same as the height, just like floor spaces that are squared according to a set rule.