The Codex Huygens, a sixteenth-century manuscript by Carlo Urbino, includes drawings that explore harmonious correspondences between the proportions and motions of the human body. The Codex represents a kind of artists’ correspondence across time, too: Urbino's drawings are based on the writings of Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519). Urbino probably never met Leonardo and only knew his notebooks because Leonardo's artistic heir, Francesco Melzi, made the master's writings available to fellow artists.
Carlo Urbino (ca. 1510/20–after 1585), “Dezima figura,” fol. 27 of the Codex Huygens, ca. 1560–70. Pen and brown and red ink, and black chalk, inscribed with stylus and compass points, 186 x 133 mm. 2006.14:27.