Foot Deformity Correction Planning in the Sagittal Plane Based on the Vitruvian Foot First Metatarsal Mechanical Axis and Calcaneus Anatomic Axis
Leonid Solomin
et al J Foot Ankle Surg. 2021 Apr 14;S1067-2516(21)00126-5
I did some digging into this. Here is how the above authors in a different publication explained their attempt to find the Vitruvian Foot:
The 15th-century Italian Renaissance artist and scientist Leonardo
da Vinci described the relative proportions and relationships of the
human form in his iconic drawing of the Vitruvian Man (22). This
approach credits the great Roman architect Marcus Vitruvius as being
the originator of analytic descriptions of the human form (23); hence,
his appellation pays homage to Vitruvius (“Le proporzioni del corpo
umano secondo Vitruvio”). da Vinci was clearly familiar with the
rediscovered work of Vitruvius “On architecture” (circa 30 BCE), albeit
minus illustrations, particularly the third book (of 10 on the topic of
architecture) in which Vitruvius discussed the principles of symmetry
in architecture of temples and how it is analogous to the symmetry of
the human form. In the text around his drawing, da Vinci copied the
proportions described by Vitruvius and expanded on them. For example,
da Vinci quoted Vitruvius: “A palm is four fingers, a foot is four
palms, a cubit is six palms, and four cubits make a man.” da Vinci
expanded this analysis with his own measurements: “the length of
the outspread arms is equal to the height of a man, . . . the foot is one
seventh the height of a man.” Just as he was inspired by Vitruvius, da
Vinci’s work inspired the German Renaissance painter and printmaker
Albrecht D€urer to study human proportions, culminating in
the posthumous publication (1528) of his “Four Books on Human Proportion”
(24), which included D€urer’s analysis of the proportions of
the foot. In the spirit of da Vinci, D€urer, and other artists who have
studied the proportions and relationships of the human body, we propose
in this article an innovative description of the form of the human
foot (in the sagittal view) with a purpose of using the data to help surgeons
reconstruct normal foot anatomy and proportions after trauma,
disease, and birth defects. We title our work “The Vitruvian Foot” in
homage to the groundbreaking contributions of Marcus Vitruvius and
Leonardo da Vinci.