Geometry and Art
The Mystery of Rennes-le-Château
Pentagonal
Signature Geometry
While investigating the possibility of a geometrical key underlying Poussin's
Shepherds of Arcadia the author uncovered a possible tradition from the late
Gothic through Renaissance, Mannerist and Baroque art that employed a pure form
of geometry in picture composition and the determination of canvas size and
viewing frame.
The technique came to be called, in my own mind, Pentagonal Signature Geometry.
The links below direct the reader to pages containing images relating to
works of the artists it is believed may have used such a scheme. Descriptive text
will be added as time allows, but the interested reader should be able to
reconstruct the figures from the diagrams, as the
designs mostly employ common constructional angles.
The inclusion of works mostly depends upon identifying paintings with 'pointers'
to, or 'indicators' of, a pentagonal geometry. These may typically take the form
of straight edges such staffs, walking sticks, lances, spears, arrows, ladders
etc. or arcs of a circle. A common form of 'indicator' is the pointing finger
marking a major constructional line. There are also 'confirmers', apparently
introduced for this sole purpose, which appear incidentally out of the design.
A
Barn Interior by Teniers the Younger provides an excellent example of this.
Some of the more abstruse pentagonal signatures employ angles that cannot be
properly constructed, that is, those based on the enneagon (40 and 50 degrees).
However, there are ways to produce these using a marked straight edge and, as
this was known to the Ancient Greeks, would not have caused a problem for
'Renaissance Man', or Woman!
Note: At present, this is just a concept. Analysis is hampered by not having
precise and authenticated sizes of paintings both in and out of the frame
together with accurate images (web images are notoriously inaccurate and even
those in brochures and books are sometimes truncated). I am also aware that it
is very easy to create something from nothing!
Introductory Article
This article can be found, together with complementary articles concerning
the mystery of Rennes-le-Château from a range of authors,
at:
Andrew Gough's Arcadia
Works of Art Potentially Employing Pentagonal Signature Geometry (by Artist)
Pentagonal Signature Designs Associated with the Mystery of Rennes-le-Château