Hi Dave

Yes Vitruvius did mention perimeters, also human measure, but strangely of the female kind. When discussing the measures employed on various architectural columns Vitruvius remarked that for aesthetic reasons they were taken from the female form rather than the male.

This has its parallel in Egyptian art where Isis is seen with arms at full stretch within the wings of Horus or supporting the wings of Horus. The wings are slotted to accommodate the fingers. In other words this could have a metrological interpretation especially as the arms are gauged by the slots.

If arms denote measure as they surely do with regards cubit then there is a wealth of Egyptian art in which we see the folded arms in the same monotonous pose, much the same as the statue of Ry, an overseer of building activities at the temple of Mut, Karnak. It has often been remarked that the features of Ry are very much those of a woman.

Was ancient measure always basically aesthetic, of the female variety, as Vitruvius implies?

Graham