The Platonic figure of 12 triangles

De Divina Proportione. In 1509 Luca Paciola published this legendary book. Its illustrator. Leonardo Da Vinci. devised a method to portray the five Platonic shapes in 3-D perspective. shaded like real objects. rather than geometrical diagrams. From Plato‰?s time these forms had special significance to mathematicians and philosophers alike. representing symbols for earth and fire. wind and air.

The juxtaposition of science and art intrigued Renaissance intelligentsia. Wooden models commissioned at Milanese and Florentine courts became actual symbols of learning and sophistication. Besides their metaphysical and geometric importance. the Da Vinci polyhedral shapes are quintessential building blocks of matter.