What Is The Golden Mean? AKA The Golden Ratio, The Divine Proportion, The Golden Rectangle, The Golden Section

The Ancients Knew! The Origins of the Golden Mean are lost to us, but we know that the Egyptians used the idea to build the pyramids.

The Egyptians The Pyramids at Giza were built more than 4,500 years ago using the ratio or 1.6 to 1. Meaning that they are 1.6 times a high as they are wide. Why?

The Greeks In 477, the Greek city state of Athens built the famous temple to Athena, known as the Parthenon. It’s dimensions are a perfect Golden Rectangle.

But What Is It? A Golden Rectangle is based on the concept that a rectangle that is 1.6 times as long as it is tall can be divided into perfect sections that can be broken into that ratio 1:1.6 again and again. Golden Rectangle Calculator

So What? Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) studied both art and science. He saw that nature used the “divine proportion”

Golden Mean in Nature Leonardo saw that humans were proportioned using the same ratio. So he copied it in his artwork.

Art of Leonardo Da Vinci Such as the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper Mona Lisa's Golden Rectangle

How Does This Affect Modern Imaging? All modern imaging systems come from the development of 35mm film, including digital cameras, movie film, DV cameras and HDTV screens.

The Rule of Thirds The modern rule of thirds comes from the principle of the golden mean as a useful method to determine where to place an object in the frame.