Dürer, Albrecht
Della simmetria dei corpi humani
1591, Venetia (Venice), Domenico Nicolini
First Italian Edition
First Italian edition of Albrecht Dürer’s celebrated treatise on human proportion, translated from the Latin version printed in Nuremberg between 1532 and 1534. Originally conceived as an instructional manual for artists and first published in German in 1528, the work applies mathematical proportion to the depiction of the human body in pursuit of harmonious form. Dürer’s position within Renaissance debates is distinctive: unlike Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo, he rejected anatomical dissection, believing that anatomy fragmented the body and obscured its unity. Geometry and proportion, by contrast, offered a comprehensive vision of the figure. Published posthumously in Venice by Nicolini in 1591, this folio edition is a cornerstone of scientific anthropometry. The translation by Giovanni Paolo Gallucci expands the original four books with a fifth, addressing the artistic representation of human diversity. Celebrated and influential, the work bridges Renaissance art theory and scientific inquiry.
This treatise, written, illustrated, and designed by Dürer, is the first printed work to address comparative and differential anthropometry, drawing on classical sources (Villard de Honnecourt, Vitruvius, Alberti, and da Vinci) while presenting an original study of human physiques. Dürer’s mathematical system of proportion aimed to provide artists with tools to depict all human types, treating beauty as relative and grounded in geometry. The four books cover proportions of adults and infants, mathematical transformations of proportions, and the geometry of bodily movement, accompanied by detailed woodcut diagrams with early cross-hatching techniques. The volume contains three double-page plates and over a hundred full-page woodcut illustrations demonstrating Dürer’s mathematical and geometric approach to the human form. The illustrations are copies of the original woodcuts from the first German edition (Nuremberg, 1528), executed by Hieronymus Andreä "Formschneider" (literally "the woodblock cutter") after Dürer's widow request. The text systematically examines human proportions through constructed scales and measurements: the body divided into seven and eight parts, separate studies of men, women, and children, variations of corpulence and thinness governed by mathematical rules, and figures shown in movement and foreshortening. Giovanni Paolo Gallucci’s Italian translation proved the most enduring and frequently cited version of Durer's masterwork during the following centuries. The work is grounded in the relationship between beauty and proportion, and between microcosm and macrocosm, concepts central not only to early modern visual theory but also to music, physiognomic and humoral theory, astronomy and astrology, cosmology, theology, philosophy, and even mnemonics and poetry. Gallucci further expanded the original work by adding a Preface, a Life of Dürer, and a Fifth Book, which provides a philosophical framework for interpreting Dürer’s original four books and situates the mathematical study of the body within a broader humanistic worldview.
A chance to see inside Dürer’s mind as he works through form, proportion, and beauty, across more than a hundred woodcuts on his own design, supporting his original approach: rigorous, systematic, and unmistakably brilliant.
Leaves [1] f.e, [6], 143 (including 3 folded plates), [1] colophon; [1] r.e.
Modern period-style binding, full morocco, with blind and gilt tooling to boards and spine; spine with five raised bands. Leaf 29 misnumbered 27; leaf 74 skipped in the pagination (but complete, as in other copies). Four double-page plates on three folded leaves (the first two only on the recto; the others printed on recto and verso on the same leaf, pp. 96–97). 110 woodcut illustrations throughout the text. Very small numerical calculations in ink on the front endpaper, in an early hand; possibly the same hand annotated the rear endpaper with notes in Italian relating to the subject matter of the book, with references to Michelangelo Buonarroti. Minor worming at the upper inner margin of the last 40 leaves, well away from text and images. The folded plate 98 has been professionally restored at the back of the fold. Light browning to a few of the final text pages. A crisp copy, in very good condition.
Dimensions (inches): 13 1/4 x 8 3/4 x 1 1/4
Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), German Renaissance master painter, printmaker, and theorist who revolutionized Northern European art. Hieronymus Andreae, or Andreä, or Hieronymus Formschneider (died 7 May 1556) was a German woodblock cutter ("formschneider"), printer, publisher and typographer closely associated with Albrecht Dürer.
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