This text needs to be corrected by a native English speaker
www.ludic-pedagogy.eu
Humanity
Leonardo da Vinci (Italian artist and scientist 1452-1519) drew the man according to ancient
Greek ideal beauty ratios.
In the Renaissance period revived the ideas of Pythagoras and Plato. Their beauty ratios for
humans were interpreted in the following way: the ideal human body would be based on a
basic ratio of about 8 heads, fitting in a circle and a square.
This Greek ideal of beauty of the physical man gets in the Renaissance mathematical
calculations and becomes then the beauty ideal for many art forms. The golden ratio was
decisive. Vitruvius (Roman military architect and ± 85-20 BC.) had already preceded them
here. He described the Greek beauty criteria for architecture in Italy as usual conceptions of
time. A building should reflect this human dimension.
This beauty ideal is sex, place and time bound: the woman was seen at the time not to be
equivalent. The human [man at that time] was the measure of all things in the Renaissance
and that we can in themselves questioning. However, people cannot otherwise than look
and think from their own perspective, even if one realizes that restriction. This human
dimension of outer western standards of beauty says nothing about the need to develop an
eye for inner beauty. Also the Greek philosophers wrote about this, but people refer to the
Renaissance much or less. Plato and Pythagoras probably approached this ideal of beauty
wider and more mythical. Da Vinci and his contemporaries appoint only the physical beauty
ideal proportions. They are limited in that mathematical calculation.
The human physical measure of all things
The ideal human body as a measure of beauty in many art forms. Constantijn Huygens, built
his house (Hofwijck Voorburg ZH) based on the principles of universality Uomini. Whether he
is in his music "Proba Me Deus" these principles applied is unknown to me. It is known that
This text needs to be corrected by a native English speaker
www.ludic-pedagogy.eu
in the construction of musical instruments the golden section is still used to find the right
proportions.
Classical painting, photography , the Renaissance gardens, they all applied the golden ratio
to the composition. It defines it the focus of the viewer, the naturally the eye is looking for it.
The figurative sculptures, Rodin, Paul Gregoire and Eddy Roos, meet also the golden ratio.
Rectangles with this ratio and the corresponding squares are common in the paintings of
Piet Mondrian. The Renaissance gardens of André Le Nôtre example are decorated according
to the golden section.
Leonardo da Vinci is called the personification of the Renaissance ideal of the universal man.
He was a painter, sculptor, architect, inventor, philosopher and scholar. The universal man of
the twenty-first century is not to be designated in the complex contemporary world, the
human possibilities are endless. The Renaissance ideal (based on the Greek ideal) was singly
focused on the male social functioning and not the whole person. Today (re)awakens the
valuation of the feminine qualities. Education can contributes a pebble in trying not to
impose universal for all standards to everyone. Lupe challenges everyone to express the
unique, in order to honour each individual in her/his being and to arise her/his full potential.
Ancient global symbols
In the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci, we see the human clearly as pentagram, we see the
human placed in the circle and the square. These three symbols are ancient, known
worldwide and meaningful. We note a random selection from this wealth of meaning,
because some of these symbols return in the theory of Ludic Pedagogy.
The pentagram
The upright pentagram bears some resemblance to the figure of a man with outstretched
arms and legs sideways, like Da Vinci drew the human.
The pentagram has many symbolic meanings. It's like a relationship between the mind or
spirit (inspiration, imagination) and the four traditional elements of matter: fire, water, earth
, air. The pentagram can be drawn in a continuous line, as the circle it knows neither
beginning nor end.
It is the ultimate symbol of man who knows to place himself in the right relation to the
universe, with both feet on the ground. It is seen as a symbol of perfection and femininity.
The five aspects of core competencies, elements of culture, learning phases and guidance
(see LuPe) have been created over the years and together with Lupes five aspects of Play
they offer an opportunity that youngsters can evolve more all round – more universal. By
This text needs to be corrected by a native English speaker
www.ludic-pedagogy.eu
the quintessence or the foundation that each pyramid strut, the qualities of each pyramid
comes alive.
The circle
You can place the vast human in a circle like da Vinci shows. The circle is also a very old
symbol worldwide. Indians dancing nimbly with more than ten circles turning around their
body. I'd like to have photographed them to show it here, but I was too fascinated at that
moment for it. The circle symbolizes the infinite perfection, in the blend of Alpha and
Omega, of life and death. The first houses were circular, as the old folk dances, circle dances.
The circle in a spiral, the evolution, the eternal change and growth.
The evolving theory for a Ludisch Pedagogical approach was shaped in circles. Like a drop of
water takes care for circles spreading, Ludic spreads itself through all awareness processes.
In the illustration of Homo Ludens by Johan Huizinga, we can also see this eternal changing
movement. As in the ratslag (circling on hands and feet) that some children continue repeat.
Lupe wants to introduce ratslag within education as a challenge to consider in moments
everything upside down. Play offers you all facilities.
The square
The effect of play like ripples in water, symbolizes for me the unfolding of human potential,
which eventually lead to a universal human.
The square is to be found in the connecting lines of the pyramids, they sign a developmental
route within each individual pyramid as a result of a Ludic Pedagogical approach. The
development route starts at the bottom and runs in clockwise direction. A result which in
turn, pretext for another process to launch.
The pentagram, the circle and the square
For the physically perfect match man [pentagram] according to Plato, is the navel at the
center of the circle. The top of the genitals is at the center of the square. In the drawing of
Da Vinci, the circle and the square come together at the base, but they both shape each
other out and the man pinches his feet with difficulty within the calculated curves in order to
stand.
This text needs to be corrected by a native English speaker
www.ludic-pedagogy.eu
In Lupe's pyramid, five (pentagram) and four (square) create a continuous flow, which is
constantly fed by the quintessence of the five , the foundation of each pyramid.
The spiral effect of the circles (see Lupes Pyramid) shows a continuous development of
human core competencies ( ), thanks to the use of cultural elements ( ) during an
inclusive learning (
) and under artistic and artisan quality guidance ( ). Yet not knowing
whither it leads to, (life) artists ( )follow the I's ( ). Intuition is often the knowing in
advance and the player dares to trust them. There is constantly advancing insight.
The Lotus flower
The oriental lotus flower is a symbol of the womb, you can interpret it as access to the
uterus. It symbolizes beauty, purity, access to the universe and the eternal birth of new
insights, opportunities and life forms.
Lupe aims to integrate beauty and ethics as inside - and outside of creation and of what
people create.
The dancing man in circle - square - diamond and hexagon
The anti-body view of Western culture, has not done well. The sensible of the senses is not
only to explore the world, leading to "know'' (ratio). She seduces man also and let her enjoy.
The sensuous (passion), is more moving humans than debating "whether or no sense." The
oriental dancer harmonizes all mathematical figures flowing in her movements and does not
care about tight rectilinear frames, she plays with it. We Western could learn from her, by
give space to the reins now and then, by recognizing that reality goes indeed beyond the
mind.
This text needs to be corrected by a native English speaker
www.ludic-pedagogy.eu
Lupe recognizes the playful as essential route to awareness, because play offers space to not
knowing it yet, not be able yet. Play awakens unexpected knowledge from the unconscious.
This learning occurred outside the boundaries of traditional education. Lupes pyramid can
permeate all education.