oss bar in the same proportion as that found in the sides of the golden rectangle. This happens also to be the same proportion that exists between a side and a diagonal of a regular pentagon. This proportion has intrigued mathematicians, artists, and architects for over 4000 years. Thousands of years ago the Greeks named this the golden ratio. This proportion has many unique qualities. If the small part is called S and the large part is called L the proportion can be mathematically stated as follows S/L = L/S+L. More simply, the ratio of the small to the large is the same as the ratio of the large to the total. In the case of the cross, the relationship between the smaller top and the large bottom if the same art the relationship between the large bottom and the entire main stem. This proportion best known as Phi. Other evidence of the use of the golden rectangle in architecture can be found throughout history and all over the world an example would be the exterior dimensions of the Partehenon in Athens, built in about 440 BC. The dimensions form a perfect golden rectangle and the proportion can be found elsewhere in the structure. The Greeks appear to have bee strangely influenced by Golden Proportions. It is for Phidias, considered the greatest of Greek sculptors, that the golden ratio was named phi. The proportion can be found abundantly in his work, including the hands of sculpture that run above the columns of the Parthenon. Much Renaissance art and architecture was inspired by the Greek sense of beauty and proportion. It is not surprising then, that a lot of buildings and statues are based on the golden ratio. Artists from 12th century Le Corbusier all of the way to Leonardo Divinche have purposely used the golden rectangle. The link between nature’s proportions and the proportions found in art and architecture has been pondered by philosophers over the years. It has been suggested that the golden ratio might be an underl...
