Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vetruvian Man, conforms to a system for measuring the human body in relation to ‘The Golden Mean’. This places man at the centre of a sacred geometry and underlies man’s divine creation. The human body does not conform to strict mathematical proportion - the drawing is idealised. The belief in a divine relationship is manipulated to serve a view. This is not constructive and Da Vinci’s famous drawing symbolises something very different from what was intended, i.e. Delusion is easy. Mankind has great difficulty in maintaining a harmonious relationship with itself and the world in which it lives.

‘Man on the Moon’ is a symbol of human ability and achievement. ' The Man in the Moon’ is a symbol of human imagination, naivety, superstition and spirituality. All non rational emotions but essential to the human condition. Of course it took great imagination to get to the moon but the two symbols are of a ‘confrontational dichotomy’. I imagine ‘The Man in the Moon’ smiled at ‘Man on the Moon’ and thought to himself,

“A giant leap for mankind has no value if man keeps stumbling on earth”

MEMENTO MORI

BONE COMB = symbol of human vanity
The comb is also a secular symbol of resurrection - a leitmotiv of the archaeologist

The Earth is both TOMB and WOMB

WOMB WOKEN BONE COMB TOMB TOKEN BROKEN WOMB

©Nigel Bridges 2003

www.nigelbridges.com