Abstract Leonardo figures. Conceptual computer artwork of a male and a female figure depicted in the pose drawn by the Italian scientist and artist Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). Leonardo's original artwork is called Vitruvian Man, after Vitruvius, an Ancient Roman architect who stated that the human form with arms and legs extended could be fitted into both a circle and a square. Leonardo's drawing successfully demonstrated this. The square shows that human height is typically equal to the span of the arms. The linking of the human form to the square and the circle was thought to reflect an underlying symmetry in the world. Vitruvian Man is one of the world's most widely used symbols.