A portrait of Luca Pacioli and student, attributed to Jacopo de' Barbari, 1495
By means of geometric symmetry and allegory, one may conclude that Leonardo da Vinci is the student in this painting. Da Vinci created many drawings of polyhedra for Pacioli's book, "The Divine Proportion."
The composition is derived through the use of the golden rectangle.
High renaissance painting utilized the golden rectangle and its associated geometry to infuse the work with organic energy. This was regarded as esoteric knowledge.
