The Golden Ratio and Michelangelo's Influence in Gaspar Becerra's Flayed Man.

Introduction: This manuscript presents an unprecedented hypothesis that the Flayed Man [Taoula. I. del Lib. II] by Gaspar Becerra (1520-1570), published in the classic study on the Historia de la composicion del cuerpo humano (1556) by Juan Valverde de Amusco (ca.1525-1587), may have been elaborated according to a mathematical relation known since antiquity as the Golden Ratio (GR) (1.6), which is identified in the organization of numerous biological structures, in both the animal and plant kingdoms. Materials and methods: To test this hypothesis, we used Image Pro Plus Software 6.0 [Media Cybernetics, Silver Spring, MD, USA] to measure the distances between critical elements within the Taoula. I. del Lib. II. Results: The way in which the GR is presented in the Flayed Man by Gaspar Becerra, uniquely resembles the pattern previously used by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) in the figure of Saint Bartholomew, painted in the fresco of the Last Judgment (1536-1541) in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, Italy. Conclusion: Currently there is no known description attributed to Michelangelo himself regarding the use of the GR in his art. Nevertheless, the present study provides evidence to show Michelangelo may have personally instructed Gaspar Becerra regarding the foundations of the GR and the ways in which it might be applied in works of art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]