Around the enigmatic “Portrait of Luca Pacioli with student” which can be seen in the Museum of Capodimonte, we can observe the following:
– At centre stage “The master”, who is portrayed by the monk mathematician Luca Pacioli, on his right, his student Guidobaldo of Urbino.
– On the table we see books and drawing tools. On the right the large volume of the Summa bound in red with an inscription (LI.RI.LUC.BUR. or Liber reverendi Luca Burgensis).The book of Euclid is open on two propositions of the thirteenth book. The proposition of Elements indicated by the left hand of Pacioli is graphically displayed on the board to the right of the monk and on the edge of which is engraved the name “EUCLIDES.”
The drawing tools (compass, chalk, eraser, pen, square ruler, ink and pencil case) are scattered on the work table.
On the left, hanging by a thread and suspended is the dark refracting body of the Archimedean polyhedron of 26 faces rhombicuboctahedron; on the right side of the picture we see the presence of the platonic dodecahedron, which is on top of the Summa.
I wonder if in the past it could have been possible to find a model of an ENESSERE Hercules Wind Generator as a representation of geometric proportions.
