21st CENTURY

Renaissance Architecture and the Golden Section
"Wherever each function of human activity is to be served, the form of design employed
shall be the principle of harmonic ordering congruent with the golden section."
Here, the temple that forms the
backdrop of Raphael's painting "The
Marriage of the Virgin," signed and
dated 1504, when the artist was only 21
years old.
46 November-December 1988 21st CENTURY
The composition is based on the octave,
the 2:1 ratio that is the first ratio
of the Fibonacci series, a series that
rapidly converges on the golden section.
This ratio isgiven bythe rectangle
in the building, as defined clearly
across its short side by the placement
of the artist's signature, which is a 2:1
rectangle. All the other rectangles of
the structure are related closely to this
proportion, which, by its repetition,
gives the sense of self-similarity.
As seen in the projection, the building
as a whole is divided by this same
octave ratio, with the cornice of the
bottom story rising from the platform
the same distance as the height of the
upper story up to the springing of the
dome. Likewise, the height of the dome
(as a ratio on the surface of the painting)
is equal to the height of the steps
that lead to the platform, giving another
"octave" between the lower story
plus the steps, and the upper story plus
the dome.
Throughout the Renaissance period,
architects calculated the visual effect
of their creations as seen in projection,
which makes our observations
based on the linear surface ratios perfectly
legitimate. The height of the
painting is also divided into octaves, as
the imaginary line separating the architecture
from the group of figures
occurs exactly halfway up.
The ratios of 2:1, 3:2, 5:3, and so
forth, converging on the golden section,
were always employed by Leonardo
da Vinci to create the outer
boundaries and major internal divisions
of his paintings. The most famous
example, "The Last Supper," begins
from the 2:1 ratio, which defines
the rectangle of the picture as a whole.
The architect Bramante, a close friend
of both Raphael and Leonardo, built a
small, two-story circular monument
known as the "Tempietto" in Rome in
1501, which also pivoted around this
octave ratio. It is often compared to
Raphael's 16-sided building in this picture,
and ranks as one of the few creations
of the High Renaissance architectural
style that was not only conceived,
but actually built.
—Nora Hamerman