La vraye science de la pourtraicture
La vraye science de la pourtraicture is a French treatise on drawing the human figure by Jehan Cousin (ca. 1522-ca. 1593), printed in Paris by Guillaume Le Bé and issued in 1671 for artists and students learning proportion. Its plates show anatomical figures set against grid and measuring diagrams, with lettered reference marks and numbered divisions. A designer could take from them the clean, linear method of constructing a body from geometric guidelines, with ink-hatched shadows and flat parchment-toned backgrounds.
