The canon of the face: front and profile heads

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Bibliothèque de l'Institut de France, Paris

[I]

The cut, or rather, the corner,1 of the lower lip of the mouth is midway between the bottom of the nose and the bottom of the chin.2

The face of a man, viewed directly, with an analytical square superposed. Two diagonal lines connect the bottom of the nose with the outer corners of the two eyes. A line of symmetry shows that the bottoms of the two ears are level with the bottom of the nose.

Profile of a youth, with analytical markings. On a faint and imprecise square drawn about the face, the corner nearest the top of the back part of the head was labeled a, then canceled. The back of the head is labeled a; the juncture between the eyebrows is labeled b; the top of the forehead is labeled c; the bottom of the chin is labeled d. The middle of the nose is labeled n; S marks the bulge before the ear canal; r, the crease between the flare of the nostril and the cheek; q, the corner of the jaw; p, the lower lip; h, the back of the neck at the height of the Adam's apple; K, the Adam's apple; m, the outer corner of the eye; 4, the top of the upper eyelid; and 5, the bottom of the lower eyelid. A point is labeled x on the square, behind the head, at the same level as S and r. Labels:

(a) c – a b – 4 m n – 5 – x S r – q p – d – h K

Profile of a man, with various analytical markings. A square is superposed on the profile, with corners at the top of the nose and ear and under the lower lip and corner of the jaw. A line parallel to the base of the square connects the bottom of the nose with the bottom of the ear. A diagonal line connects the top of the ear with the parting of the lips. [II]

The face forms a square in itself, whose width is from one extreme to the other of the eyes and whose height is from the very top of the nose to the bottom of the lower lip of the mouth.3 Then what remains above and below this square makes the height of another such square.

The distance from a to b is the same as the distance between c and d.

The distances from d to n and, also, from n to c and, likewise, from S to r, q to p, and h to K are all the same as one other.

It is as far4 from m to S as it is from the bottom of the nose to the chin.

The ear is exactly as long as the nose.

It is as far from x to S as from the nose to the chin.

The parting of the mouth viewed in profile points to the corner5 of the jaw.

The ear ought to be as high as from the bottom of the nose to the top of the eyelid.

The distance between the eyes is equal to the width of one eye.

The ear falls at the middle of the neck in profile.

It is as far from 4 to 5 as it is from 5 to r.

Reader's Edition — described with AI from the e-Leo transcription.

[I]

The face of a man, viewed directly, with an analytical square superposed. Two diagonal lines connect the bottom of the nose with the outer corners of the two eyes. A line of symmetry shows that the bottoms of the two ears are level with the bottom of the nose.

The corner of the lower lip

Front view of the face within a square

Profile of a youth with lettered points

The face as a square; the intervals of the features

The canon of the face: front and profile heads

On this page

The corner of the lower lip lies midway between nose and chin

Front view of the face within a square

Profile of a youth with lettered points (a b c d n S r q p h K m)

The face as a square; equal intervals of the features