PHOTO: The Leonardo da Vinci sketch Study of human proportion, also known as the "Vitruvian Man" (see "Vitruvian Man" wikipedia.org) was created circa 1490 and it depicts a man in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart inscribed in a circle and square. The drawing and text are sometimes called the Canon of Proportions or, less often, Proportions of Man. (See previous posts My grandmother gave me naked man sketch by Leonardo da Vinci (4/24/13) and da Vinci's missing penis (4/29/06))
The Theranos Company CEO Elizabeth Holmes is the head of a too good to be true blood test technology startup and she recently told a major business magazine how her company logo was inspired by da Vinci's naked man sketch shown in the photo above:
"The idea, Holmes says, is for the experience of having a blood test to be "wonderful," rather than like visiting a medieval torture chamber. The centers feature high-definition video screens that play undulating concentric patterns that can also be seen on display around Theranos headquarters. "In mathematics there's a term called the golden ratio," Holmes says, explaining that it can be found in seashells and tree trunks or da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. "That ratio is the foundation of our logo, which is the circle, which is the simplest form of what's called the flower of life."
(Quoted from Sheelah Kolhatkar and Caroline Chen, "Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes tries to take her company out of the crosshairs," Businessweek Dec. 14-20, 2015, p. 47, posted online Dec. 10, 2015 as "Can Elizabeth Holmes Save Her Unicorn? Theranos wants to convince the world it's for real.")
The "Vitruvian Man" sketch has always been popular with gay men because it is not only good looking artwork, but it can be used with impunity from prudes who want to censor nudity.
