The Culturist Profile picture
Oct 21, 2024 18 tweets 7 min read Read on X
Deep in his notebooks, Leonardo da Vinci had a mind-blowing idea:

That the human body is a scale model of Earth.

And that's just the beginning — his theory will change the way you see everything… 🧵 Image
While dissecting the human body, Leonardo noticed its workings reflected the natural world.

Branching blood vessels were like tributaries flowing into rivers... Image
Image
The expansion and contraction of breathing mirrored the ebb and flow of ocean tides... Image
Image
And erosion and deposition of sediment by rivers was like the deterioration of our blood vessels as we age.

But then he went way beyond simple comparisons... Image
Leonardo began comparing the size of different parts of branching systems — like tree branches and blood vessels — and comparing their various angles. Image
Image
This all led him to a belief that pervaded every aspect of his work — that humans are not just part of the cosmos, but a miniature representation of it.

The "macrocosm-microcosm" analogy... Image
When you look for it in his work, you start to see it everywhere. Notice how, in the Mona Lisa, the river in the background seems to flow into Lisa's scarf.

"Man is the model of the world," Leonardo wrote.Image
The idea wasn't originally Da Vinci's — it's ancient. Comparison of physiological functions to cosmology can be found as far back as ancient Mesopotamia.

Plato even suggested the cosmos itself could be considered alive... Image
But with Leonardo's help, the theory became the defining idea behind Renaissance Humanism.

If human beings were not just one creature among many, but a miniature instantiation of the cosmos, then human life had potential for greatness. Image
Image
Whilst grappling with humanity's place in the universe, Leonardo turned to an ancient, unsolvable math problem: squaring the circle.

How do you draw a square with the same area of a circle, using only a compass and straightedge? Image
This question was about far more than geometry — circles represented the divine and infinite, while the square was an ancient symbol of the physical world.

Solving the riddle was essentially answering: can the physical world ever be fully united to the divine? Image
The math is not solvable (due to the nature of pi), but Leonardo solved it symbolically. He asked: perhaps humanity was so important that proportions of the body could solve geometrical puzzles?

That's where this famous image comes in...Image
By measuring the "ideal" proportions of the male body against a square and circle, the Vitruvian Man solved the unsolvable problem.

Notice the man's limbs are at two positions: touching the borders of the circle, and meeting perfectly at the edges of the corresponding square.Image
With a simple sketch, Leonardo showed that it is man himself who squares the circle.

He can exist in both the earthly and the divine realms (the square or the circle) — it just depends on what he chooses...Image
Or, in other words, human beings do have a significant place in the universe.

The unique place of uniting the earthly with the divine. Image
Image
If threads like this interest you, I go deeper in my FREE newsletter!

91,000+ people read it every week: art, history and culture 👇
culture-critic.com/welcome
And here's the full article if you want to go deeper:

Decoding the Vitruvian Man...
culture-critic.com/p/decoding-the…
If you enjoy these threads, please give the original post a retweet! 🙏

And I'll break down more of Leonardo's work...

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with The Culturist

The Culturist Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @the_culturist_

Apr 20
This is where Jesus was buried — and rose from the dead.

But is it really the authentic, historical tomb?

Well, something astonishing was just found underneath it… (thread) 🧵 Image
The Gospels say Christ was buried in a rock-cut tomb owned by Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy disciple.

According to Matthew, Joseph "rolled a great stone across the entrance"... Image
Image
The precise location of that tomb has, unsurprisingly, been a hot matter of debate ever since.

Today, the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem claims to be the site — but is it? Image
Read 19 tweets
Apr 10
The Narnia books are deeply Christian — but as a child you probably misunderstood them entirely.

Aslan is a clear Christ figure, but it goes way beyond simple allegory.

C.S. Lewis's stories were written to profoundly awaken your imagination… (thread) 🧵 Image
You read Narnia books as a child, or had them read to you, but you likely weren't aware of their spiritual depth.

C.S. Lewis infused them with important Christian ideas, often glaringly obvious ones… Image
Edmund, a stand-in for sin, eats the Turkish Delight before betraying his siblings to the White Witch, seduced by pride.

We see the poisonous influence of the Serpent in Eden. Image
Read 20 tweets
Apr 7
This 600-year-old altarpiece might be the most complex and deeply symbolic artwork in history.

It will change what you think a painting is capable of doing — because this isn't detail for detail's sake.

Step *inside* it and you'll see why... (thread) 🧵 Image
Jan van Eyck's (and his brother Hubert's) Ghent Altarpiece was centuries ahead of its time in 1432.

When closed, it depicts the Annunciation in intentionally muted colors, anticipating what's to come... Image
Open it up, and color and light explode at you — out of the darkness comes revelation.

Everything that the Fall, prophets, and Annunciation led up to is revealed in the coming of Christ. Image
Read 19 tweets
Mar 28
Reminder: Tolkien hated Disney.

He called them "hopelessly corrupted" and knew they'd ruin any story they touched.

Why? Tolkien's storytelling philosophy was profoundly different… (thread) 🧵 Image
The Hobbit was published a few months before the Snow White movie came out in 1937.

Tolkien watched it with his friend C.S. Lewis, and later insisted that Disney *never* adapt his own works… Image
Image
Tolkien dedicated his life to the study and creation of myths and what he called "fairy-stories".

For him, age-old tales like Beowulf weren't just entertainment, but vehicles of profound truth, emerged from cultural soil over generations. Image
Image
Read 16 tweets
Mar 21
JRR Tolkien hated Dune because its ethics are fundamentally wrong.

The Lord of the Rings is a profoundly different take on Good and Evil — and how to live a moral life.

Here's why… (thread) 🧵 Image
Tolkien, in an unsent letter, said he disliked Frank Herbert's Dune "with some intensity".

Why? He didn't explain, but Dune's protagonists are directly opposed to the heroes of Middle-earth... Image
Dune, GoT and others adhere to the idea that good and bad actions are defined by their consequences.

Their characters are pragmatists, choosing the lesser of evils to forge a path they deem is good. Image
Image
Read 21 tweets
Mar 14
America built the greatest train stations ever seen — and then demolished them.

Here's what the American railway was like at its peak.

And what destroying it says about us… (thread) 🧵 Image
Right now, the US has more railway tracks than any other country (155,000+ miles).

Most of this, of course, is freight... Image
But Americans also once had the greatest passenger system in the world. Note the decline since the mid-20th century.

1962 vs. 2005: Image
Image
Read 19 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(