Open Access
CC BY-NC 4.0 · Arch Plast Surg 2015; 42(02): 226-231
DOI: 10.5999/aps.2015.42.2.226
Idea and Innovation

A Consideration of Breast Imagery in Art as Depicted through Western Painting

Kun Hwang
Department of Plastic Surgery, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, Korea
,
Ju Yong Park
Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, Korea
,
Se Won Hwang
Peninsula Medical School, Exeter, UK
Inha Research Institute for Medical Sciences, Incheon, Korea
› Institutsangaben

We are grateful to Kwan Hyun Youn, Ph.D., medical illustrator, for the illustrations.
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The aim of this study is to consider breast imagery in art as depicted through western painting. Twenty western art paintings were collated. Most of the sample paintings were created from the mid-nineteenth century to the late twentieth century and some are from the Renaissance period. Ten anthropometric items were used to measure 15 distances between two landmarks and 3 angles between three points. The distance from the nipple to the sternal notch and to the midclavicular point was the same and they were 0.46 of the distance from the sternal notch to the umbilicus. The shape of the projection of the breast was almost an isosceles triangle and the altitude of the triangle was at a proportion of 0.45 of the bottom length and 0.16 of the distance from the sternal notch to the umbilicus. The distance between the lateral ends of the breasts was 2.14 times the facial width and the distance between nipples was 1.36 times the facial width. Proportions from works of art are more ideal and attractive than clinically measured proportions. The desirable ratios measured from historical paintings might be useful in planning breast surgeries.



Publikationsverlauf

Eingereicht: 30. Juli 2014

Angenommen: 01. September 2014

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
05. Mai 2022

© 2015. The Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, permitting unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

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