In this section I offer analysis of 15 paintings from the western canon, both to show how they respect the format divisions (whether intended or not by the artist), and to illustrate how departures from the formatting principles are interesting for the effects or insights they can reveal.
In all images, white or gray lines are used to show the six format half and quarter folds (C, M, c, m), red lines the six square folds (h', c' and m'), and orange the eighth fold frame (mm and cc). The square folds h' and c' (w' and m' in portrait format) are shown as bold lines.
Two cautions are necessary when doing this. First, paintings may have been trimmed during relining, stretching or restoration, or arbitrarily cropped to fit page formats in books, and these proportions will give a distorted idea of the format proportions of the original work. Second, paintings are rich with detail, which means only large or important forms should be interpreted.
format proportions in a painting by Pollaiuolo (1.43:1)
The first example, a large oratory panel of The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian (1475) usually attributed to Piero del Pollaiuolo, is famous for its arbitrarily formal design devices — a triangular arrangement of figures including six archers in three poses viewed two ways. As you can see, the design also builds on the format proportions. The heads of the four central archers lie very close to the four corners of the central rectangle (defined top and bottom by the strong division at w'/c') and this rectangle roughly defines the height of the back two archers. However, the keystone rectangles are empty of visual interest, which pushes the structural emphasis outward, to the triangular lines of aim taken by the four archers. The left standing archer is as high as M and the balance of both corner archers is along cc. The position of St. Sebastian does not correspond well to the format divisions — the placement would be stronger if his shoulders were at mm — but as I will explain later, this displacement appears to have an important expressive purpose.
format proportions in a painting by Botticelli (1:1.61)
The second example, Sandro Botticelli's Birth of Venus (c.1485), has exactly the aspect ratio of a golden rectangle, and it captures the "portal" implications of that format in the arrangement of attending immortals on either side of the newly created figure of Venus. On the right, the two hands and face of Hora (and the coast behind her) fall on h', m' and c respectively, and Hora's figure leans into but does not cross c. The centerline C, which runs through the left side of Venus, her raised thigh and her weight bearing foot, emphasizes the tilt to her left that prepares her first step on land; most of her torso falls within two of the four keystone rectangles. (An interesting compositional detail is that, in the golden rectangle format, the central rectangle formed by h' and c' is also a golden rectangle, as are the two rectangles outside the h' divisions.) The location of the horizon, just above the waist of the two standing figures, implies that we viewers are kneeling on the shore. The shell carrying Venus is not centered between c and m' (as if pushed backwards and to the left by her step), but the width of the shell exactly equals the distance between Hora's face and the blowing mouth of Zephyr. On the left, the major features in the figure of Zephyr (blowing mouth, right shoulder) and his companion (face, left shoulder, right knee) also lie along the lefthand format lines, and the figure of Zephyr leans into c along a diagonal drawn from edge points of the centerline top to the lower c' at left; by tilting the figures in this way the emphasis on the lefthand division is reduced and space is opened below to receive the implied movement of the floating shell. Asymmetrically, the figure of Hora is centered along a diagonal from the righthand h' top to the lower right corner. The divisions m and c' are not clearly accented above or below, which reduces the spatial layering of the image. I think it's more common for c' top and bottom to define the height of standing figures in the 1:1.6 format, but here the measure is the eighth fold frame — mm top and bottom — which seems to bring us and the figures closer together. In addition, the feet or legs of the companion gods extend outside this frame, which creates a kind of spatial expansion away from Venus, and this is supported by the beautiful flow of her hair into the upraised drape and Hora's garments. Finally, Venus's head pokes above the mm line at top, which gives greater vertical emphasis to her already elongated (more than 8 heads high) proportions.
format proportions in a painting by Titian (1:1.40)
Another secular image of beauty, the Venus d'Urbino (1538) by Titian, with an aspect ratio of about 1:1.4, is interesting for the ways it "violates" the design principles outlined in the previous section — for example, by placing the edge of the drapery along the centerline C. Figure nudes are difficult generally because the landmarks are created by the continuous curves of the figure. The points of emphasis depend on the posture of the figure and how it has been cropped. Usually the top of head, eyes, shoulders, breasts (in females), elbows or hands, hips, groin, knees, and ankles or feet are the points of emphasis horizontally or vertically. The point of greatest inflection in the spine, or the center of gravity of a standing or sitting figure, can also be marked. In this horizontal Venus (as in the vertical Venus of Botticelli) the figure pushes outside the eighth folds on both sides, though the girl's heel and head mark them. Recession is marked by placing the base of the back wall on M and the ledge above on c'. The format lines clarify the balanced assymetry in the composition: the heel of the lady's foot and the head of the servant are at the top and bottom mm at right, while her head and hand are bracketed by the upper and lower c' at left.
format proportions in a painting by Caravaggio (1:1.36)
Caravaggio's paintings, for all their violent contrasts and dramatic action, often have an overall visual balance that seems painstakingly planned. In the The Taking of Christ (1598) there is a general shoving of humanity across the picture plane, but this dynamic flow is controlled by the format placement. The key event, the Judas kiss between two faces, is placed on the lefthand strong lines, and the actors' eyes are gathered along the upper c' and their shoulders along M. Especially significant are the picture details that lie outside the eighth folds (orange rectangle). The shout and upraised hand of the disciple explode to the left like water splashed from an impact, balanced by the portrait profile of Caravaggio crowding in from the right. I especially like the variety of hands outside the frame — two matching hands joined below, two dissimilar hands separated above. The keystone rectangles are completely empty of interesting content, so our attention is forced to the edges of the format as if jostled there by the action. The format lines help the viewer appreciate other points of conceptual symmetry behind the visual asymmetry that is characteristic of Caravaggio's carefully designed pictures: one arm stretched across the picture vs. two raised arms above on either side, three heads above the hand vs. three heads along the line behind the shoulder, two foreground heads facing one another matched by two foreground heads facing in the same direction, and so on. (All of Caravaggio's compositions merit close study.)
format proportions in a painting by Poussin (1:1.39)
There is a huge number of classicizing landscapes that I find difficult to tolerate, such as Nicholas Poussin's Summer (Ruth and Boaz) (1664). Some might admire the spatial staggering of trees and fluffy clouds, or the contrived figure placements. It seems obvious, however, that Poussin was not much concerned with the format proportions: the disjointed, stagey feel of the painting reveals it. I especially dislike the placement of the foreground figures along the bottom edge of the picture, well below the lower eighth fold mm. These are esthetic decisions consistent with Poussin's aim, which was to present a familiar (Biblical) story in familiar dramatic terms, not to dissect or recreate our perception of the physical world. In fact, the flatness of everything behind the three foreground figures looks remarkably like the painted backdrop to a three actor morality play: I wonder whether contemporary dramatic conventions and perspective principles of set design influenced Poussin's concept.
format proportions in a painting by Vermeer (1.19:1)
In contrast, Vermeer's Woman in Blue Reading a Letter (1664) has a stillness and harmony that must have been conceived in terms of the format proportions. Too many features coincide to be coincidental, and there are too few edges and forms to create random correspondences. Broad, rectangular forms are placed outside the eighth fold frame and all are cropped by the format (except for one chair, which is cropped by the table); the figure is slightly off center, enclosed within a narrow column defined by the midline square m' on the left and the centerline fold c on the right. The woman's head is topped by h', her eyes by m, her hands by c' and her elbow by M. Even the lower centerline square c', which doesn't seem to indicate anything visible, runs directly through the hidden fetus — corresponding to the c' above, through the hands holding the letter.
format proportions in a painting by Velázquez (1:1.46)
The Rokeby Venus (c.1650) of Diego Velázquez is closely modeled on Titian's pose — but viewed from the back! Like Titian, Velázquez places the major accents at the knees, hips and shoulder, the head against one cc, with the elbow and foot jutting beyond the eighth fold frame. But he adds several important innovations. The format itself is elongated horizontally, reducing its visible headroom and drawing both h'/m', and c'/m closer together. To compensate, Venus's legs are slightly flexed (not fully extended as in Titian), the curve of the buttocks is accented, not the point of greatest weight at the hips, and the torso is contracted upwards to bring the left shoulder and right margin of the rib cage (accented below by darkened folds in the gray bedsheet) into h'; in this way the whole figure is made larger within the format (closer to the viewer). Velázquez also emphasizes the opposing h' and m' format lines through the relationship between Venus and her reflection and Venus and the putto, whose heads are symmetrically placed around C. Velázquez places the reflected portrait of Venus within one of the keystone rectangles, and the contrivance is revealed by the fact that this is optically implausible (it allows us to see Venus, but does not let her see herself). The righthand dominant verticals are marked by the putto's knee, crossed hands, the fabric dangling from his wrist, the edge and corner of the mirror frame, and the right foot peeking under Venus's crossed leg. The upper boundary made by m/c' is marked by the top edge of the glass, the amorino's elbow and wing, and the top of Venus's head and reflected head. The gray and crimson fabrics are separated by M. The lower boundary is marked by her feet and rib cage; the sag of her hip below this line, reinforced by the broad curve in the gray bed cover, creates an erotic focus on this part of her figure.
format proportions in a painting by David (1:1.28)
The Oath of the Horatii (1784) by Jacques-Louis David utilizes the format proportions in an explicit way that does not require detailed explanation. Note that the aspect ratio of 1:1.28 (in watercolors, typical of the medium or demy sheets) creates an unusual spacing system: a strong vertical emphasis at c/h' (where h' is actually closer to the edge than c) linking the three warriors with their three wives opposite; the contrasting horizontal division of the image into nearly equal intervals (approximately corresponding to the feet, knees, waist/heads, shoulders, upraised swords, capitals and arch centers); and the small, nearly square central area created by the midline square m' and centerline square c'. As in Poussin, the figures extend below mm and again the effect (with the lighting) suggests a dramatic stage. I like the way one keystone rectangle contains the nexus of upraised swords and hands, symbolizing the oath; the way that the strong emphasis at h'/c unites the group of warriors at left, but divides the group of grieving women at right; and the bridging function of the central archway and the feet of the foreground figure, which connect the two m' lines and pull the figures and background into a single, continuous frieze.
format proportions in a painting by Manet (1:1.26)
There are many Impressionist and later painters, from Edouard Manet to Paul Cezanne to Pablo Picasso to Barnett Newman, who do not seem much aware of the format proportions. In every case the question is how this disregard affects the impact of the image. In Le Dejeuner sur l'Herbe (1863), Manet has chosen a format that spaces out the format lines into an almost even grid, but unlike David he uses them haphazardly. There are many obvious points of correspondence — the capped man's head and hand on h'/c, his hand on m', the head of the far woman at m'+c', the line of feet, knee, hand and hip along the lower m, etc. But look at the way the upper format lines are lost in vague foliage, or the way the basket and picnic covers spill out of the frame at lower right. One of the things that has always puzzled me about this picture is the peculiar alley of lawn and shade that recedes along the lefthand h'/c, between trees and bushes on that side. (If there is water back there, its color disconnects it from the water in which the woman is wading.) Yet I think the h'/c lines really do indicate some kind of emphasis, since the direction is also indicated by a line through the man's cane, knee, hands, and the head of the facing male figure — whose portrait occupies one of the important keystone rectangles. That recession always had an unsettling effect on me, a tunnel of obscurity contrasting with the field of light on the opposite side. (I will show later that these oddities have a good purpose.)
format proportions in a painting by Degas (1:1.48)
Format proportions can be wildly disregarded in paintings by Edgar Degas, as in his The Rehearsal (1873-78). But Degas was among the 19th century artists whose design sense was strongly influenced by photographic materials, and this shows in his bold use of empty space, cropping, and unusual points of view or strong perspective. Here, except for the edge and central support of the large window at right, which fall along h'/c and mm respectively, the line of heads along c', and perhaps the location of the two front dancers at left, it's hard to see many format correspondences. But I think this illustrates two basic points about the format proportions: (1) they seem to represent or symbolize the natural distribution of human visual attention, and (2) they tend to produce balanced, somewhat static images. In Degas's conception the cropping of the windows and the violinist at right seem to assert a flat, photographic rather than human focus, and the composition is dramatically off kilter (like the position of the dancers). However, the warm, analogous color scheme seems to place the emphasis on light itself — flowing through the windows, across the floor, and through the gossamer dresses of the dancers — and it's possible that strong format markers would disrupt this effect of gradation and flow, captured so beautifully in the colors of light along the floor and walls.
format proportions in a painting by Renoir (1:1.34)
The eternally happy Danse au Moulin de la Galette (1876) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir shows how the format proportions can control an image lacking any strong edges. This lovely format, which is very close to the full sheet, places the h' and c intervals close together, and puts m' halfway between them and C. The closest two female faces are placed like cameos within two keystone rectangles, facing the male whose head is against the righthand c/h'. On the opposite side, the strong h'/c division is marked by a dancing couple (actually, the back of the man, who seems to lean against it); the m' division is marked by a second dancing couple behind them. On the right, a man in a blue coat leans against c/h' in the opposite direction, and his angle carries up into the tree trunk and down into the back of the seated man, lending the composition a wonderfully lightheaded, lilting effect. All the legible faces of the background figures fall within the m/c' divisions at the top of the sheet; everything above m is an indistinct crowd, and the foot of the male dancer is on m below.
format proportions in a painting by Signac (1:1.44)
Another painter who seems to have consciously used the format proportions was Paul Signac, as shown in his Quai de Clichy (1913). Composed in a format close to a half sheet, there are too many precise alignments to be due to chance: the placement of h' on the trees on opposite sides of the street, of m' with the distant smokestack, c' with the top of the roof at right and the base of the two trees, M with the horizon and top of the fence at right, C with the distant house and c with the side of the fence at right and the row of trees at left. This picture also gives a sense for the feeling of balance, stability and spatial recession that is created when the format proportions are explicitly accented by major image elements.
format proportions in a painting by J.S. Sargent (1.29:1)
The format proportions work just as well in portrait format, as this lovely painting of Lady Agnew of Lochnaw (1893) by J.S. Sargent demonstrates. The only difference in the portrait orientation are that the largest square in this format (equivalent to a demy or medium sheet) is formed by the width of the canvas (w'), and what used to be the midline (the horizon in landscape format) is now the centerline C. Lady Agnew's eyes and the top of the chair are perfectly aligned with the area of emphasis created by m and w' at top, matched by the location of her left hand below. Her nose, pendant and left eye lie along C, her torso is bracketed by m' on both sides. Her right forearm is flexed to lie with her crossed leg along the lower c', while her neckline dips down to the upper c'. The top of her head does not extend above the top eighth fold (mm), while her left forearm and hand lie exactly along the right eighth fold (cc). The edge of the chair and the shadow behind it push outside the eighth fold on the right, just as the woman's left arm and the shadow behind it push out on the right; this seems effective to accent the Lady's turned position in the chair and draws attention to the angular flow of her waist sash. Her skirt flows outside the bottom mm, but this is fine because it is cropped by the bottom of the picture.
format proportions in a painting by O'Keeffe (1.22:1)
Typical of many modern paintings, Summer Days (1946) by Georgia O'Keeffe shows less interest in the format proportions, despite the strong centering of the major form and the sprawl of the antlers. These do roughly hang on the upper m (usually a weaker line than w') to match the location of the red blossom below, the lower antler curve is along c' the skull eye orbits are within two keystone rectangles, and the upper border of blue sky is along the lower h', but the overall sense of floating is created by the curvature of the horns and the broad background of undifferentiated clouds. In cases where the image does not seem strongly formatted, it is instructive to digitally alter it to make it so, then assess the differences between the two images.
format proportions in a painting by Hopper (1:1.43)
Finally, there is Bill Latham's House (1927) by Edward Hopper, in a format close to a half sheet. As we've seen, this format tends to create an "opposition" emphasis, which Hopper exploits in the strong placement of the tree on the left and the house (and small fencepost) on the right. Hopper places the visually most delicate and active details of branches and foliage within the central rectangle; each keystone subdivision contains a contrasting visual pattern. The upper division at m/c' is accented by the widest part of the dark foliage, the lower division only weakly, by the lowest branches in the tree. The midline M defines the eaves of the roof and tops of the windows, and is positioned exactly between the ocean horizon and the horizontally extended branch extending left from the tree.
These "analyses" invite the obvious and legitimate rebuttal that geometrical interpretations applied after the fact can always be made to match some aspects of a painting: that doesn't mean the proportions actually highlight key aspects of the composition.
That's a fair challenge, and a fair test is to find a composition that does not seem to correspond to the format proportions in an obvious way, then change the major elements to coincide with those proportions and see what effect this has on the image.
To illustrate the basic procedure, I will use a painting by Edward Hopper: Portland Head Light (1923).
a painting altered to accent the format proportions
The original image is at top; the three lower images above show the editing process. The second shows the format proportions scribed over the original image; the painting is in the half sheet proportions (1:1.47). The composition seems based primarily on the horizontal thirds; the vertical divisions do not correspond to strong image elements.
To accent these proportions, the center of the lighthouse was shifted left to fall on the closely spaced h'/m' lines. The base of the tower and small house were dropped to the lower m/c' lines, and the top catwalk in the light tower was moved down to the upper m/c' lines. The small house was moved inward between c and m', and the main house was shifted slightly to bring the join between large and small parts of the house to h' and the porch to cc along the right edge of the picture (third image). The bottom image shows this altered painting with the proportion lines removed.
To me, the revised composition has a less dramatic and compact effect than the original, but it has a greater feeling of openness and visual stability. There is a distinct tension between the tower and house, and a more interesting rhythm connecting the buildings with the rocky beach. The weight of the horizon is greater, partly because the height of the tower has been reduced and the ocean's area within the central rectangle has been increased. (In my experience, emphasizing the format proportions often creates a stronger sense of recession and a greater feeling of space.)
I chose this example partly because the original seems to have been painted (or sketched for painting) in a open field. The altered image would closely correspond to the view that Hopper could have taken by standing about 50 feet to his left. That is, unless there was a cliff or obstacle out of view on that side, Hopper could have easily chosen to sketch the buildings as they appear in the revised image. But he didn't. He may have chosen his design to reduce the amount of horizon between the tower and house, or to link all the buildings together as a single complex and isolated form. In any case, the analysis clarifies the probable intentions of his design.
the Pollaiuolo painting altered to improve format proportions
As another example, here is the Pollaiuolo panel analyzed above, with the saint lowered to bring his shoulders onto mm, his hips to m, his groin to w' and his feet to M. Although the changes are very minor, they significantly alter the image. The archers do not seem to be working as hard, nor the saint suffering as much: tension has been lost. In the original the saint's unseen heart is at the intersection of mm and C and at the apex of the archers' aim; his head pushes against the picture limits much as his spirit strains to leave its body. In the revised version he just seems to be having a bad day.
By making the archers correspond closely to the format divisions, Pollaiuolo invested the displacement of the saint's body from these divisions with greater expressive significance: the misalignment symbolizes the agony. More generally, the effect of using the format proportions consistently throughout a design is to produce a more balanced and integrated image, which can also cause the picture to seem static or tidy. For some painting goals this will not be desirable!
the Manet painting altered to improve format proportions
And here finally is the Manet painting I complained about earlier. Here the changes, though clumsy, are more substantial and involve almost all parts of the image. In particular the sky has been opened behind so that the arc of four heads leads into the bright distance, and landscape layers have been aligned with the divisions to accent this recession. The basket has been moved up and in, the figures shifted and edited, the near trees brought to the strong picture divisions, and that strange alley of lawn diverted to run off the side rather than into the picture.
The composition has become more balanced and stable, and in the process more domesticated. The grouping of figures is tightened in a way that seals them off from the uncanny woods around them, there is more light and bourgeois interest in keeping food nearby. One misses the unsettling effect in the original of the strong tilt of the figures and lawn downward to the left, which doesn't consciously register until it has been removed. The revised version makes it seem as if ladies go naked in the park because men are docile and the lawn free of insects. The insouciance of the avant garde has been lost.
I conclude with a hazard that is obvious by now: that one can "explain" any random distribution of forms in a rectangle with some system of proprotional or geometrical divisions, provided you can use as many lines or curves as necessary. The problem is especially vexing in Charles Bouleau's Charpentes, because he applies circles, ellipses, triangles, interval divisions, musical ratios, diagonals and other constructions differently from one painting to the next, with no systematic justification and often imprecise results. Reproduced below as one example is his "explanation" of Vermeer's Allegory of Painting, using a "framework" of 45 unique lines!
the arbitrary effect of explaining a composition with too many lines
Most of these lines do not define any important edge or form in the painting. Analytic clarity is lost in the complexity, and we have no reason to believe Vermeer ever considered such a network or that these lines indicate how most viewers would look at the painting.
My approach has been to choose the proportional constructions in advance, apply them consistently to historical examples or my own works, and from this study develop principles that describe the effects that result when a design adheres to or ignores the format proportions. This minimizes the arbitrariness of the activity and increases my understanding of design decisions.
I urge you to browse any book of art reproductions, choose paintings that seem especially well composed or satisfying to you, then establish the format proportions in the image to see how well these correspond to significant guidelines. Try them in your own paintings, too.
defining format proportions
