Divina proportione (15th century Italian for Divine proportion), later also called De divina proportione (converting the Italian title into a Latin one) is a book on mathematics written by Luca Pacioli and illustrated by Leonardo da Vinci, completed by February 9th, 1498[1] in Milan and first printed in 1509.
[2] Its subject was mathematical proportions (the title refers to the golden ratio) and their applications to geometry, to visual art through perspective, and to architecture.
The clarity of the written material and Leonardo's excellent diagrams helped the book to achieve an impact beyond mathematical circles, popularizing contemporary geometric concepts and images.
[2] Pacioli points out that golden rectangles can be inscribed by an icosahedron,[6] and in the fifth chapter, gives five reasons why the golden ratio should be referred to as the "Divine Proportion":[7] It also contains a discourse on the regular and semiregular polyhedra,[8][9] as well as a discussion of the use of geometric perspective by painters such as Piero della Francesca, Melozzo da Forlì and Marco Palmezzano.
He gave the first copy with a dedication to the Duke of Milan, Ludovico il Moro; this manuscript is now preserved in Switzerland at the Bibliothèque de Genève in Geneva.