The Harmonic Method in Qreek Art. 45 



measure which Leonardo called " the trae proportion ;" " the pro- 

 portion of an individual in regard to himself. ;" "which should 

 be different in all the individuals of a species," but in which "all 

 the parts of any animal should be compared to the whole ;" and 

 which, as Bossi adds, " Yaries in every figure, according to the 

 age, circumstances and particular character of each." In short, 

 this method for the harmony of parts in each distinct individual ; 

 this method, presenting rules perfectly precise, yet infinitely vari- 

 able, has, in all its elements, been clearly laid down before the 

 reader (though not enunciated as a rule) in the locomotive^ nutritive 

 and thinking systems, or, generally speaking, of the limhs^ the 

 trunk and the AeacZ, and in the three species of beauty founded on 

 them. 



These, it is evident, present to the philosophic observer, the sole 

 means of judging beauty by harmonic rule, the great object of 

 Leonardo da Yinci's desires and regrets. They present the great 

 features of the Grreek method, if that method conformed to truth 

 and nature, as it undoubtedly did. This will be rendered clearer 

 by a single example. 



Thus, if any individual be characterized by the development of 

 the nutritive system, this harmonic rule of nature demands, not 

 only that, as in the Saxon English, the Dutch and many Germans, 

 the trunk shall be large, but consequently that the other two por- 

 tions, the head and the limbs shall be relatively small. That the 

 calvarium shall be small and .round and the intellectual powers 

 restricted ; that the head shall nevertheless be broad, because the 

 vital cavities of the head are large, and because large jaws and 

 muscles of mastication are necessary to the supply of such a sys- 

 tem ; that the neck shall be short, because the locomotive system 

 is little developed ; that it shall be thick, because the vessels 

 which connect the head to the trunk are large and full, the former 

 being only an appendage to the latter. That the lower limbs 

 shall be both short and slender ; that the calves of the legs shall 

 be small and high ; that the feet shall be little turned out, etc. 

 So, also, if any individual be characterized by the locomotive 

 system, the harmonic rule demands not only that the limbs shall 

 be large, but consequently that the other two portions, the head 



