PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN 51

Greek Proportion. Any study of proportion must begin with
the achievements of the ancients, because they set standards that
are followed to this day. The Greeks, through long study, be-
came very sensitive to fine relations in space. They formulated
rules based on the proportions of the human body.

The three orders or designs in Greek architecture illustrate some
of the cultural attributes of proportion. The Doric column, the
first, about six diameters in height, expresses the vigor and austerity
of the race during the period of its development. The Ionic
column, which is the next type, has a height between eight and
nine diameters and is characteristic of its period, being more grace-
ful and delicate, in agreement with the advancing refinement of
the race. The Corinthian column, with its height of ten diameters
or more, and rich, elaborate ornament, typifies the greater pre-
tentiousness of the people of that final period. Proportions em-
ployed changed from the sturdy and useful to the attenuated and
sophisticated.

The golden section used by the Greeks is considered to be a
model of good proportion. This proportion is found in any rec-
tangular oblong which can be divided into two unequal areas, one
of which is a square, so that the smaller one is to the larger as the
larger is to the whole. In the same way, any line can be divided
at a point so that the shorter line will be to the longer as the longer
is to the whole line. This division of a line is pleasing.

Geometric Divisions. To the layman it may be somewhat
shocking to find that artists often use mechanical means of obtain-
ing fine divisions of space. Two great art periods, the Greek and
the Renaissance, exhibit the use of geometric divisions. J. Ham-
bidge's books on dynamic symmetry deal with the geometric divi-
sions used in Greek proportion.

The trained person as a rule creates good proportion without
conscious effort, but the untrained person generally finds some
system of geometric division very helpful. After practice with
mechanical divisions of spaces, a person becomes sensitive to space
relations and may be able to depend entirely upon his judgment,
It has been observed that space divisions freely chosen by highly
trained artists very often agree exactly with the space divisions
obtained by applying some mechanical scheme.