Golden ratio & Symbolism

My research paper:

Ancient Greek mathematicians were the first to come up with the principles of the golden ration; this was because it presented frequent appearances in the study of geometry. They used the concepts of the golden ratio to explain the relationship between two distinct quantities. With time, the school of thought of the golden ratio got to be adopted by many other individuals including the engineers, musicians and artists. They were able to incorporate the concepts in their works in terms of geometric proportion and dimension to achieve the desired results. For example, they argued that the isosceles triangles that make up a pentagram corners each have the unique properties of having the ratio of the longer side to the shorter side being consistent to the golden ratio. Similarly, in an apple, the seeds arrangement depicts a star pattern in a pointed fashion, thus a natural occurrence of the golden ratio (Werness 78).

Research further reveals that the concepts of the golden ratio helped influence the ancient works of painting. A famous philosopher, Agrippa Heinrich drew a pentagram and a man inside the circle, depicting an application of the golden ratio (See fig.1). Additionally, the illustrations by Leonardo da Vinci of polyhedral in regard to the divine proportion and his thoughts that most bodily proportions are in consistent with the golden ratio made most scholars speculate that he made use of the concepts of the golden ratio in his artistic works. However, the implication that his painting; the Mona Lisa employed the golden ratio ideology has not yet been fully confirmed.

Fig.1

For Symbolism in relation to the inspiring paints of ancient history, the symbolism concepts appeared as a revival of the mystical tendencies adopted by the Roman tradition. Symbolism to a great extent depicts a reaction against realism and naturalism. Where the naturalists and realists sought to focus on optical reality in their objectivity rather than what was considered ideal, implying that symbolists sought more insight within their dreams and imagination. A common feature of the symbolic paintings included the dream imagery and the mythological phenomenon’s, entailing intensely personal, obscure, private and ambiguous references. 

Works Cited
Werness, Hope B, Joanne H. Benedict, and Tiffany Ramsay-Lozano. The Continuum Encyclopedia of Native Art: Worldview, Symbolism and Culture in Africa, Oceania and North America. New York: Continuum, 2000. Print.

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