Abstract
Through the ages, the human form has been featured greatly in the artistic expression of artists and sculptors. In the fifth century BC, the Greek sculptor Polykleitos created Doryphorus, the bronze sculpture that exemplifies the perfectly harmonious and balanced proportions of the human body. This muscular nude male exhibits athletic readiness in classic “contrapposto,” or counterpose, where the arms and shoulders twist off axis to the legs and hips. There is minimal body fat and excellent muscular definition. His contemporary, Phidias, is regarded as one of the greatest sculptors of Classical Greece. Phidias’ colossal chryselephantine and gold statue of Zeus at Olympia was regarded as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Simblet S (2001) Anatomy of art. In: Anatomy for the artist. DK Publishing, New York
Buss DM (2003) The evolution of desire. Strategies of human mating. Basic Books, New York, pp 55–57
Sheldon WH (1940) The varieties of human physique: an introduction to constitutional psychology by W.H. Sheldon with the collaboration of S.S. Stevens and W.B. Tucker. Harper, New York
Klein JA (1987) The tumescent technique for liposuction surgery. Am J Cosmet Surg 4:236–237
Cimino WW (2011) Ultrasound-assisted lipoplasty: basic physics, tissue interactions, and related results/complications. In: Prendergast PM (ed) Aesthetic medicine. Art and techniques. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg
Hoyos AE, Millard JA (2007) VASER-assisted high-definition liposculpture. Aesthet Surg J 27(6):594–604
Mazur A (1986) US trends in feminine beauty and overadaptation. J Sex Res 22(3):281–303
Banner L (1983) American beauty. Knopf, New York
American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery statistics. Website: www.cosmeticsurgery.org
Fisher ML, Voracek M (2006) The shape of beauty: determinants of female physical attractiveness. J Cosmet Dermatol 5(2):190–194
Singh D (1993) Adaptive significance of female physical attractiveness: role of waist to hip ratio. J Pers Soc Psychol 65:293–307
Singh D (2004) Mating strategies of young women: role of physical attractiveness. J Sex Res 41:43–54
Singh D, Young RK (1995) Body weight, waist to hip ratio, breast, and hips: roles in judgements of female attractiveness and desirability for relationships. Ethol Sociobiol 16:483–507
Cornelissen PL, Toveé MJ, Bateson M (2009) Patterns of subcutaneous fat deposition and the relationship between body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio: implications for models of physical attractiveness. J Theor Biol 256(3):343–350
Toveé MJ, Hancock PJB, Mahmoodi S, Singleton BRR, Cornelissen PL (2002) Human female attractiveness: waveform analysis of body shape. Proc Biol Sci 269(1506):2205–2213
Swami V, Toveé MJ (2005) Female physical attractiveness in Britain and Malaysia: a cross-cultural study. Body Image 2(2):115–128
Platek SM, Singh D (2010) Optimal waist-to-hip ratios in women activate neural reward centers in men. PLoS One 5(2):e9042
Toveé MJ, Cornelissen PL (1999) The mystery of human beauty. Nature 399(6733):215–216
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hoyos, A.E., Prendergast, P.M. (2014). The Human Form as Art: Contours, Proportions, and Aesthetic Ideals. In: High Definition Body Sculpting. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54891-8_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54891-8_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-54890-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-54891-8
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)