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c h a p t e r 1: UNDERSTANDING LIGHTING, COLOR, AND COMPOSITION ■

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Figure 1.35 The golden mean and golden rectangle used in a composition by Seurat. (Circus Sideshow.

1888. Oil on canvas. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.) The painting is repeated twice.

The golden mean has many natural occurrences. For example, the Fibonacci

series, a series of numbers in which the division of any two adjacent numbers is roughly

the golden mean, can be used to accurately predict the growth of ﬂower petals, seeds,

seashells, pine cones, and various plant leaves.

Numerous psychological studies have been undertaken since the late 1800s to

determine if humans have a natural bias toward the golden rectangle. Conclusions

have been varied; on average, they’ve recognized the rectangle’s slight advantage.

Nevertheless, since the golden mean and its geometric corollaries have consciously or

unconsciously been used in such a large body of popular art, you can beneﬁt from its

judicious use.

In addition to the golden rectangle, the golden mean can be expressed as a

golden triangle, a pentagram, or a decagon. For example, in Figure 1.36 the golden

triangle and pentagram are used in the composition of paintings by Raphael and

Leonardo da Vinci.

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