A Few Basic Shapes The alphabet of the visual language

In the early 1300s, Pope Benedict XI sent out emissaries to find the best artists in Italy for an important commission.

These officials met with numerous artists, and requested samples of their work to take back to Rome for evaluation.

Among the artists approached was Giotto.

When he learned of the request for sample work, he pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and charcoal, and proceeded to draw a perfect circle freehand – without any mechanical assistance – and handed it to the officials.

Of course, they could not believe that this was the sample, but Giotto assured them that the Pope would understand the significance.

And so the emissaries returned to Rome and laid the samples before the Pope. On seeing Giotto’s circle, the Pope immediately understood.

Giotto, of course, got the commission.

It’s a great story – it comes from Giorgio Vasari’s “Lives of the Great Masters” written around 1550, (well worth reading for some good stories about great artists).

It also sounds way too good to be true – to me at least.

But it doesn’t even matter if it actually happened or not.

Like many similar legends, it contains a deeper truth – that a few simple forms underlie almost everything we see in nature.

There are different versions of these forms, but basically something like sphere, cube, cylinder, cone, egg.

Many things are undisguised versions of the simple form: Mountains are cones, soup cans are cylinders, oranges are spheres, etc.

More complex forms can be understood as combinations of simpler ones.

The human body, for instance, can be understood as a few egg shapes (head and torso) and a set of cylinders (arms, legs, and neck).

Everything we see in nature – and the works of art derived from nature – are nothing but endless combinations of these simple forms, the way that every novel ever written in the English language is a series of combinations of the 26 letters of the Alphabet.

And, the artist who masters these simple forms and their combinations into complex ones can draw, paint, or sculpt anything… in theory, at least.

In fact, the beginning part of some methods of educating artists consists of weeks and months of nothing but drawing spheres, cubes, cylinders, cones, eggs… and drawing them perfectly, of course.

It’s a powerful and effective approach – it can lead to stiff, overly-stylized and rigid work if followed too closely, but there are hidden dangers in following any approach too slavishly.

By demonstrating that he had the technical ability to produce a perfect version of one of these basic forms, Giotto demonstrated both his profound understanding of this principle and his ability to execute any work of art – based on his understanding of that principle.

And… it’s a great story.