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An Interesting Three-Part Perspective, 1560

JF Ptak Science Books  Quick Post 

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I'm not sure if I've ever seen a 16th century human perspective drawing showing the body in plan and elevation and cross-section.  Jehan cousin the younger (1522-1595, in France), the son of Jean Cousin the Elder (1490-1560), a painter and sculptor, produced such an image in his Livre de Perspective, which was published in 1560. Well, the image definitely was published in 1560, though the artist may have been father and it may have been son--they worked closely together, and the Younger was taught at great length by the Elder, so much so that their work became indistinguishable. Nevertheless, the images I think are quite extraordinary, as we see below: 

 

And so by Andreas Mantegna, a classic example:

The following images come from the 1608 edition of the Cousin Perspective. a number of which are fairly unusual (all from the Library of Congress site, here):

Cousin_p16

Cousin_p21

Cousin_p37

Cousin_p32


Cousin_p09

Cousin_p04

Cousin 1

Title page of Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Titlepage

Woodcut illustration with four parts, showing two male heads facing the viewer in the top two quadrants with proportional lines and measurements applied to the one on the left, and at bottom two heads facing to the right with proportional lines and measurements applied to the one on the left, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 3

Woodcut illustration divided into four quadrants showing two male heads in the top two quadrants turned three quarters to the right with the one on the left showing proportional lines and measurements, and in the two lower quadrants two heads of the back of a man’s head with the one left showing proportional lines and measurements, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 5

Woodcut illustration showing eight male heads from different positions: from the upper left, a head facing forward but looking upwards, a head facing to the left but looking upwards, a head facing forward but looking downwards, a head facing left but looking downwards; on the lower half of the page, a head viewed from above, a head viewed in profile but looking to the top of the page, a head viewed from below, and a bald head looking upwards to the top of the page, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 7

Woodcut illustration showing eight male heads from different positions: from the upper left, a bald head looking to the right viewed in profile looking downward, a bald head looking to the left viewed from slightly above, a bald head viewed in profile looking upward, a bald head viewed from the front looking upward and to the left; on the lower half of the page, a male head with hair looking to the right and mostly viewed from behind, a head viewed from below looking up and to the left, a head with hair looking to the left but mostly viewed from behind, and a head viewed from below looking up and to the left, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 9

Woodcut illustration of eight hands, mainly flat, viewed from different angles, including the palm, the back of the hand, and several different side views, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 11

Detail of hands at different angles with their proportional measurements, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 13

Woodcut illustration showing twelve different views of hands from many different angles mostly, open or pointing, including the palm, the back of the hand, and several different side views with some proportional measurements, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 15

Woodcut illustration of eight feet, mainly flat, viewed from different angles, including the top, the back of the foot, and several different side views, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 17

Woodcut illustration showing twelve different views of feet from many different angles, including several different side views with some proportional, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 19

Woodcut illustration showing twelve different views of feet from many different angles, including several different side views with some proportional, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 21

Woodcut illustration of two anatomical figures standing side by side showing the musculature in detail viewing the body from the front and the back, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 23

Woodcut illustration of two anatomical figures standing side by side showing the musculature in detail viewing the body from the side the image on the left with the arm raised, the image on the right focusing on the lowered arm, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 25

Woodcut illustration of four images of details of the musculature of the male arm, the upper two show the inside of an arm outstretched to the left, the lower two show the outside of an arm outstretched to the right, all with markers showing the length proportions of the parts, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 27

Woodcut illustration of seven images of male arms from different angles along with their proportions measured out, shown from above, below, and outstretched at different angles to the viewer, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 29

Woodcut illustration of five images of male arms from different angles along with their proportions measured out, shown from above, below, and outstretched at different angles to the viewer, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 31

Wiidcut illustration of four images of the musculature of the legs viewed from different angles- front, back, sides- with measured proportions of each shown, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 33

Woodcut illustration of two images of the musculature of the legs viewed from the inside and outside, with measured proportions of each shown, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 35

Woodcut illustration of three images of the musculature of the legs with bent knees viewed from the side and above, with measured proportions of each shown, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 37

Woodcut illustration of three images of the musculature of the legs with bent knees viewed from the sides, with measured proportions of each shown, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 39

Woodcut illustration of standing three full length anatomical figures, the one on the far left facing front, the middle one viewed from the side, and the one on the right viewed from the back, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 41

Woodcut illustration of two nude female facing anatomical figures, both images in identical poses facing slightly to the left in a pastoral setting, with the left hand image showing the proportions of the figure measured out, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 43

Woodcut illustration of two nude female anatomical figures viewed from behind, both images in identical poses facing slightly to the left in a pastoral setting, with the left hand image showing the proportions of the figure measured out, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 45

Proportion and measures of female and child figures viewed from the side, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 47

Woodcut illustration of two nude male child facing anatomical figures, both images in identical poses facing slightly to the left in a pastoral setting, with the left hand image showing the proportions of the figure measured out, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 49

Woodcut illustration of two nude male child anatomical figures viewed from behind, both images in identical poses facing slightly to the left in a pastoral setting, with the left hand image showing the proportions of the figure measured out, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 51

Woodcut illustration of two nude male anatomical figures viewed from the front, both images in identical poses facing to the right holding a staff in his right hand, with the left hand image showing the proportions of the figure measured out, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 53

Woodcut illustration of two nude male anatomical figures viewed from behind, both images in identical poses facing to the right with right hand raised as if holding a staff, with the left hand image showing the proportions of the figure measured out, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 55

Woodcut illustration of two nude male anatomical figures viewed from the side, both images in identical poses facing to the right with right hand holding a staff, with the left hand image showing the proportions of the figure measured out, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 57

Woodcut illustration of two nude male anatomical figures descending stairs, viewed from front and back, both images in identical poses facing each other with both hands uplifted with hands open, with the left hand image showing the proportions of the figure measured out, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 59

Woodcut illustration of two nude male anatomical figures reclining on large pediments, viewed from front and back, both images in identical poses facing each other with left hands uplifted with hands open, both images showing the proportions of the figure measured out, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 61

Woodcut illustration of two nude male anatomical figures lying down on their backs on a flat surface, viewed from the side and from the feet, both images in identical poses, both images showing the proportions of the figure measured out, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 63

Woodcut illustration of two nude male anatomical figures lying down on their backs on a flat surface, viewed from the side and from the head, both images in identical poses, both images showing the proportions of the figure measured out, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 65

Woodcut illustration of two nude male anatomical figures lying down on their stomachs on a flat surface, viewed from the side and from the feet, both images in identical poses, both images showing the proportions of the figure measured out, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 67

Woodcut illustration of two nude male anatomical figures lying down on their stomachs on a flat surface, viewed from the side and from the head, both images in identical poses, both images showing the proportions of the figure measured out, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 69

Woodcut illustration of two nude male anatomical figures reclining on small pediments, viewed from the sides, both images in identical poses facing each other with left hands uplifted with hands open, both images showing the proportions of the figure measured out, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 71

Woodcut illustration of the various lines, curves, and angles used in this book, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

Page 73

Woodcut of the royal seal of Henri IV of France on the colophon of the books, from Jehan Cousin’s Livre de pourtraiture, NLM Call no.: WZ 250 C8673L 1608.

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