The Divine Proportion: Origins and Usage in Plastic Surgery

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to summarize the existing literature on the origin of the concept of the divine proportion and its usage in the plastic surgery field. Methods: In PubMed, the search terms [golden ratio AND (plastic surgery OR aesthetic surgery OR face)] were used, resulting in 65 articles. Among them, 15 articles were excluded and 50 abstracts were reviewed, of which 45 were excluded. The remaining 5 full articles and 11 other mined articles were reviewed. Results: No evidence was found that the golden ratio had been used in any architecture or paintings before Pacioli's Divina proportione (Divine proportion) (1509), after which painters begin to use this ratio in their art. Fechner (1876) found that the golden ratio (1:1.618) was more aesthetically pleasing than any other proportion of rectangles. Recently Marquardt invented a facial mask containing decagons and pentagons that embody ϕ in all dimensions, and claimed that this mask yielded the most beautiful shape of the human face. However, it did not fit the average facial features of northwestern Europeans or their perceptions of ideal femininity. Conclusions: Mathematical regularity can be found in nature and in the human body. However, this does not necessarily mean that a "formula of beauty" exists in mathematics. From the contributions of modern aestheticians, we now know that the so-called "essence of beauty" cannot be derived from the mathematical "formula of beauty" in the object itself. Therefore, it is suggested that beauty is based on biology, rather than on mathematics.