The golden section in architecture and art

Many architectural buildings in antiquity, for example the Parthenon Temple on the Acropolis in Athens, reveal the proportions of the golden section, at least approximately.

In later epochs, too, there are numerous examples of proportions that correspond to the golden section, for example Florence Cathedral, which was completed in the 15th century.

From 1940 onwards the architect and painter Le Corbusier developed a uniform system of measurements based on the golden section. His work The Modular, in which he published these ideas, is today one of the most significant works in the history and theory of architecture.

Many artists consciously use the golden section. Art historians have subsequently found it in other works.

One artist in modern times who consciously uses the golden section is, for example, the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian.

The golden section and the Fibonacci numbers are also firmly anchored in music. Let us consider a piano keyboard: the 8 notes of the C-major scale are divided into 13 semitones, the C major triads, i.e. the small and large tierce, and its inversions, running along the Fibonacci sequence. Since the Middle Ages the tierce (1-3), the fifth (1-5) and the octaves (1-8) have been perceived as harmonious.

Or think of the pentatonic scale or the circle of fifths. The names alone tell us what it is about: they all refer to the number five.